Karl-Anthony Towns gifts Timothée Chalamet his jersey after the Knicks crush Memphis 143-106, signaling a new defensive era.

Perhaps the best indication of what’s important for these Knicks — or what’s most relevant to their status as either contenders or pretenders — was the theme of Wednesday night’s postgame locker room interviews.

Karl-Anthony Towns missed his second straight game because of a sprained right thumb, sitting out against his former team when the New York Knicks hosted Minnesota on Friday night.