{"id":1895,"date":"2026-06-07T07:04:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-07T07:04:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=1895"},"modified":"2026-06-07T07:04:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-07T07:04:13","slug":"knicks-karl-anthony-towns-prayed-to-late-mom-before-key-nba-finals-play","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=1895","title":{"rendered":"Knicks' Karl-Anthony Towns \u2018Prayed' to Late Mom Before Key NBA Finals Play"},"content":{"rendered":"

New York Knicks star Karl-Anthony Towns<\/strong><\/a> reached out for some divine intervention before a key play in Game 2 of the 2026 NBA Finals<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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“I needed a stop,” Towns, 30, joked during a post-game ESPN interview<\/a> following the Knicks’ 105-104 win over the San Antonio Spurs on Friday, June 6.<\/p>\n

Towns was shown on camera looking up to the heavens in a dramatic moment before his team’s final defensive play. The Knicks ultimately pulled out a squeaker victory in game 2 when the Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama<\/strong> failed to sink a jumper due to Mitchell Robinson<\/strong>‘s blocking.<\/p>\n

During the post-game interview, Towns clarified that he’d prayed for help from his late mother Jackie Cruz-Towns<\/strong>, who died at age 58<\/a> in April 2020 due to complications from COVID-19.<\/p>\n

“It’s amazing as you go through life, you lose a parent, you just look for signs. I’ll take any sign I can get and I prayed to her strong before that possession,” he explained. “A great player got a great shot, it just didn’t go in. It’s great defense. Shout-out to Mitch, shout-out to our team. But I take it as a sign my mom was here with me so I appreciate her so much.”<\/p>\n

Towns has frequently credited his mom with watching over him throughout the NBA Finals. Before Game 1, Towns told reporters that he “just felt a calm and a peace that I know had to come from the woman above.”<\/p>\n

He also speculated on what it would have meant for his mom to see him make it to the NBA Finals because of her own story as an immigrant.<\/p>\n

“It means a lot for my mother when she emigrated from DR [Dominican Republic] to New York,” he said<\/a>. “Saw Madison Square Garden for the first time and saw the energy the city has for MSG and the Knicks.”<\/p>\n

Towns revealed in March 2020 that both of his parents had tested positive for COVID-19. While the NBA star’s father, Karl Towns Sr.<\/strong>, ultimately recovered, his mother’s health declined and she suffered a stroke.<\/p>\n

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Following her death, Karl-Anthony shared in a November 2020 vlog<\/a> that he “pulled the plug” on his late mom when it was clear she would not recuperate.<\/p>\n

“At that moment I pulled the plug and just let her pass,” Towns recalled. “They told me she may be alive another hour, maybe two.”<\/p>\n

He remembered that Jackie eventually drifted into unconsciousness as family members spoke to her remotely via video calls.<\/p>\n

“She was sent off with laughter,” he noted.<\/p>\n

Karl-Anthony confessed at the time that he’d temporarily put his own grief on the back-burner to help his family deal with such an immense loss.<\/p>\n

“I think for me, I think if I was to say how am I coping and how am I healing from this, I’m trying to heal myself through others,” he explained. “I’m trying to do as much as I can for my sister and my father. Trying to take care of my friends, and I’m trying to heal myself through them.”<\/p>\n

He added, “It’s helped, but I think that one day, and I know it’s creeping up, I feel it every day, it’s gonna creep up and I’m going to have to find a way to deal with it, actually. That’s why I wanted to do this [vlog]. I thought this would be therapeutic for me to admit that these things are real and how I feel is real and being able to try to find some normalcy. Life is a game, and I’m just playing one chess piece at a time.”<\/p>\n

Karl-Anthony has experienced much happier times in recent years. In addition to making it to the 2026 NBA Finals, he announced his engagement<\/a> to Jordyn Woods<\/strong> on Christmas Day in 2025 after five years of dating.<\/p>\n

Read more Alexis Bledel Makes Very Rare Public Appearance at Tribeca Film Festival<\/a><\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 Us Weekly. All rights reserved<\/i><\/p>\n

This story was originally published June 6, 2026 at 8:55 PM.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New York Knicks star Karl-Anthony Towns reached out for some divine intervention before a key play in Game 2 of the 2026 NBA Finals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1894,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-read-todays-edition"],"yoast_head":"\nKnicks' Karl-Anthony Towns \u2018Prayed' to Late Mom Before Key NBA Finals Play - Durham Moving Hub<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=1895\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Knicks' Karl-Anthony Towns \u2018Prayed' to Late Mom Before Key NBA Finals Play - 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