Knicks star can expect trash talk from former teammate in matchup vs. Bulls

New York Knicks All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns will have one opponent particularly coming for his head in his Wednesday night matchup against the Chicago Bulls.

Knicks: Bulls' Zach Lavine looks forward to trash-talking Karl-Anthony Towns

Towns' former teammate Zach LaVine understands the value that the Kentucky product brings to the Knicks. Taking notice of the stellar early season that Towns is putting forth in New York, the two-time Slam Dunk Contest champion is adamant about dishing out some trash talk when the two take the floor.

According to Chicago Sports Network's K.C. Johnson, LaVine had this to say about his approach ahead of the upcoming matchup (h/t Joey Linn of Chicago Bulls on SI):

"Zach LaVine on facing new-look Knicks with Karl-Anthony Towns: 'He gives them a lot of offense. Hopefully I can talk a little trash to him, throw him off his game. Say some old words to him, see if it makes him miss a couple 3s,'" Johnson published on X on Tuesday morning.

Towns' strong play calls for detracting tactics

LaVine has reason to want to trade jabs with Towns on the affair. Towns is connecting on a ridiculous 53.7 percent of his looks from three-point range. He ranks No. 7 in the NBA in that department. He's also putting up a strong 24.9 points and 12.3 rebounds per night in fringe-MVP fashion despite his assists per contest (2.3 APG) being down on the campaign.

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It will take a lot for the Bulls to slow him down, seeing that the former 2015 No. 1 overall pick has done much of his dirty work against the best defensive big men in the league including Bam Adebayo (Miami Heat) and Myles Turner (Indiana Pacers).