Karl-Anthony Towns was briefly forced back to the locker room during the New York Knicks’ game against the Denver Nuggets after a brutal head-to-head collision left him with a nasty cut.
Late in the first quarter at Madison Square Garden, Towns clashed heads with Nuggets forward Spencer Jones on a drive, which opened up a deep gash above his right eye.
Blood quickly poured out onto his jersey as the Knicks center was bandaged up on the sideline, before he made both of his three throws.
He was then subbed out for Mitchell Robinson to head back to the locker room for further treatment and a new jersey.
Towns, the six-time NBA All-Star who is in his second season in New York, returned before the end of the second quarter with new bandages and a fresh jersey.
‘I wanna play, I wanna play. This is a great game, this is great basketball being played right now on TV. This is what the fans want,’ he told ESPN before re-entering the game.
Karl-Anthony Towns suffered a gruesome cut during the Knicks’ game against the Nuggets
The center was bandaged up before making two free throws and heading to the locker room
Towns then joked: ‘It’s ok I look like I fought Shakur Stevenson.’
Jones was also impacted by the collision after the Nuggets announced he was questionable to return due to a head contusion. He failed to make it back onto the court as Denver were beaten 134-127 by the Knicks after two overtime periods.
Towns registered 24 points and 12 rebounds for the victorious Knicks, with Jalen Brunson also recording a game-high 42 points and OG Anunoby getting 20.
Jamal Murray put up 39 points for the visitors, while Nikola Jokic was also on hand with 30 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.
New York has extended its winning streak to eight games under head coach Mike Brown ahead of Friday’s trip to Detroit to face the Pistons. They follow that up with another road game against the Boston Celtics on Sunday.
As for Denver, they go away to the Chicago Bulls on Saturday before returning home to face the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday.
