Karl-Anthony Towns is finally getting his Knicks game back on track

CLEVELAND – Karl-Anthony Towns’ biggest weapon would have to be his outside shooting.

And for much of this struggling season, the problem for the 7-footer wasn’t poor shot selection.

He just misses too much.

According to player tracking on NBA.com, Towns’ open three-pointer ratio (when no defender is within three feet) is about the same as last season. More than 95 percent of its doors are open.

His attempts have dropped slightly — from 4.7 per game to 4.5 — which coach Mike Brown explained Sunday as indicative of a deeper rotation and fewer minutes for Towns, along with the other starters.

But it’s harder to explain why Towns’ three-point percentage has dropped from 42 percent last season to 36.5 percent this season — a year-over-year decline worse than any other drop in his career.

So while much of the debate has focused on Towns’ discomfort in the new system, the increasingly clear reality is that he’ll just have to be a gunslinger again.

That’s why it feels like Towns has turned it around lately.

Over the past four games, Towns has led the Knicks in scoring with an average of 23.8 points while shooting an impressive 58.8 percent on treys. His three-point attempts over the four games were below his season average, but he is converting them at an elite clip and drawing praise.

He also played better defensively and won the defensive player of the game, awarded by Knicks coaches, after a 105-99 win over the Bulls on Sunday.

It’s all related.

“Every time you make shots and you’re called to action, you feel more engaged and you feel more in the flow of the game,” Josh Hart said. “Sometimes that’s all you really need for players to get back on track. So he had energy when making shots, but he also brought it defensively. He did a good job today and just has to keep that going.”

It’s a rarity in the NBA: a showdown at almost full power.

Both the Knicks and Cavaliers had relatively good injury reports for Tuesday’s game, with only the expected absences of New York’s Miles McBride (sports hernia surgery) and Cleveland’s Max Strus (foot surgery).

Mitchell Robinson returns for the Knicks after resting Sunday on the second night of a back-to-back.

The Cavs (36-22) have been streaking since acquiring James Harden and are just one game behind the Knicks (37-21) for third place in the East.

The Knicks clinched the tiebreaker earlier this season with two wins over the Cavs – one in the opener, the other on Christmas.