Deflating end of Knicks’ road trip raises concerning question that will follow them into playoffs

A tumultuous road trip ended Saturday night with Karl-Anthony Towns bolting to the locker room while his teammates were on camera hugging Draymond Green.

It was bad optics after Green, the loudmouth bully, accused Towns of ducking Jimmy Butler, yelled “he’s soft” about Towns during Saturday’s game and upchucked condescension in his press conference.

“If [what I said about Towns] forces a guy to play harder and more physical, that’s great,” Green said. “I ain’t never seen him willing to talk [back to me].”

Towns, to his credit, played like it was personal. Offensively, he was aggressive and effective. He went toe-to-toe with Green and won the matchup until the final minutes. I don’t know if Towns saw the footage of several Knicks being chummy with Green after the final buzzer, but, personally, I’d be deflated after all that has happened the past two weeks.