New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns, 29, who has been battling a right knee injury, sat out his team's 103-94 loss to the Orlando Magic at Madison Square Garden on Monday night, the club's third straight defeat following a nine-game winning streak.

Towns has missed the Knicks' last two games after injuring his Thumb during a Jan. 13 loss to the Detroit Pistons. The star center played through discomfort, posting 26 points and 12 rebounds on 7-of-17 shooting from the field, 4-of-9 from three and 8-of-10 from the free-throw line. He declined to say whether he underwent X-rays following the loss.

New York, New York, USA; New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) shakes hands with New York Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau as he exits the game during the th

In a tightly-contested Tuesday matchup, the New York Knicks took down its crosstown rival Nets, 99-95. New York has been fueled by its core four of Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby,