It is especially important for Towns to be reliable defensively with Isaiah Hartenstein bolting for Oklahoma City and Mitchell Robinson still expected to be sidelined for multiple months.
The Knicks guard hurt his shoulder in the third quarter of Tuesday’s preseason contest, retreating to the locker room and never returning as his team beat the Hornets, 111-105, at the Garden.
Landry Shamet likely was going to be part of the Knicks bench rotation to open the season, but he clearly will need to be replaced for as long as he is sidelined.
Despite Indiana’s having advanced to the conference finals last season, Miller believes the revamped Knicks are the top threat to knock off the defending champion Celtics.