Karl-Anthony Towns says he played through a Grade 2 quad strain during the New York Knicks' 119-111 season-opening win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
"I've been banged up and haven't really got a chance to practice or play in those last two preseason games, but I didn't want to disappoint the fans," Towns said postgame, according to SNY.
Towns added: "It's not something that's easy to deal with, but we made it happen tonight. I'm glad the fans respected the effort I put in to play tonight."
Towns' last preseason appearance came nearly two weeks ago on Oct. 9 against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The five-time All-Star was downgraded to doubtful Wednesday afternoon before being upgraded to questionable an hour later.
Towns managed to put up 19 points and 11 rebounds in 31 minutes of action.
Towns has had trouble staying healthy throughout his NBA career. He missed at least 20 regular-season games in four of his last five campaigns with the T-Wolves.
New York acquired Towns from Minnesota in a blockbuster trade just weeks before the 2024-25 campaign. He has two more years remaining on his contract plus a $61-million player option for 2027-28.
