Jalen Brunson and Knicks work to solve the mystery of Karl-Anthony Town

In Jalen Brunson’s first two years with the Knicks, they played virtually zero offensive plays for their centers.

Isaiah Hartenstein was a strong passer and Mitchell Robinson excelled at rolling to the rim for lobs, but their shared job was essentially setting screens and crashing the glass to clear offensive rebounds for putbacks or kickouts .

However, Karl-Anthony Towns has a completely different offensive skill set, leaving Brunson and the Knicks still three games into his Knicks tenure.

Towns managed just eight shots Monday’s home loss to the Cavaliersthe four-time All-Star’s second quiet offensive effort during the Knicks’ 1-2 start to Wednesday’s game in Miami.

“I would say no matter how good Karl is, no one can take him out of a game,” Brunson said after the game. ‘It’s up to us. It’s up to me as a teammate to make sure we’re all on the same page and make sure everyone eats.

“I have to be better when it counts and I have to adapt and get better.”

Towns, who was acquired in the blockbuster trade that sent Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo to Minnesota just before the start of training camp, has totaled 25 points on 17 field goal attempts in the Knicks’ two losses.

But he scored 21 with 15 rebounds in their only win last Friday against the Pacers.

Unlike the departed Hartenstein and the injured Robinson, so is the 7-foot Towns an established weapon from outsideshooting a career-high 39.8 percent from 3-point range, including a 4-of-6 success rate thus far with the Knicks.

“Part of it is I want the game to tell him what to do,” Tom Thibodeau said. “Part of it is that if you get a double team in the post, there are different ways he can get in there.

“We have to figure that out, whether it’s transition post-ups or what’s happening in the game with cutting and moving.”

Towns, 28, said several times Monday night that he needed to “watch the movie” to determine how he could get more involved, though he also noted, “I just need to be better.”

Even with the arrival of Towns and Thibodeau’s emphasis on shooting a higher volume from long range this season, the Knicks have attempted the fewest three-pointers in the league (85) ahead of Wednesday’s game against the Heat, including a 9-for-1 28 show. in Monday’s loss.

“That’s actually a simple answer, but I just have to look at the tape and see how we can get more threes,” Towns said. “Obviously Boston has something that they’ve shown that they could get 61 threes (against the Knicks last week), so there could be something to learn from it.

The Knicks also led the NBA in offensive rebounding last year, but with Towns replacing the Hartenstein-Robinson duo — and Precious Achiuwa also sidelined to start the season — they’ve pulled down 29 offensive boards in three games and are ​​they rank 27th in the competition. Monday’s action.

“I think it’s just a consistent effort,” Thibodeau said. “You have to keep going. I think if you force a defense to collapse and put them in rotation, you get the movement and it’s a drive-pass-pass, there’s going to be opportunities for missed shots to get it.

“I thought the rebounding in the first half (against the Cavs) was good, I thought the defense was good. But you have to aim to be a 48-minute team and we are nowhere near that yet. But we have to keep working on it and focusing on improvement to get better every day.”