Will Minnesota Timberwolves’ Karl-Anthony Towns return before the NBA playoffs?
The Timberwolves couldn’t have asked for more. With less than two weeks before the playoffs, they are No. 1 in the West and about to see their star return.
As much as the T’Wolves were already the team to beat in the West when he went down in March with a knee injury, the loss of Karl-Anthony Towns to a knee injury sounded the alarm bells. Now, it seems that all is right once again in Minnesota as the team prepares for its final stretch of games and with KAT back in the mix.
Karl-Anthony Towns set to return before playoffs
There is reason to celebrate this week in Minnesota, with reports confirming that the team’s All-Star forward Karl-Anthony Towns participated in a scrimmage on Sunday. It marks the first time that Towns took to the court since he was sidelined by a knee injury on March 7th that later required surgery. To that end, the T’Wolves are now hopeful that KAT can return to full action before the playoffs begin in a week and a half. To be clear, there has been no official word on when exactly he will step on the court, but with the Timberwolves set to end the last week of the regular season with some tricky games, it would be fair to say the sooner the better.
As things stand the team will face the Washington Wizards at home on Tuesday, after which they will go on the road to take on the Denver Nuggets in what could be a prelude to the Western Conference Finals. After that, they will play two games at home to close out their campaign with the first against the Atlanta Hawks on Friday and then finally a date with the Phoenix Suns on Sunday. It’s important to note that the Timberwolves have secured a top-four seed in the Western Conference, which means they don’t begin their playoffs run until April 20th or 21st.
KAT’s return is a big deal for the Timberwolves
Though it’s stating the obvious at this point, yes, it would indeed be a big deal if the Timberwolves - currently No. 1 in the West - could see the return of Towns here and now. Consider for a moment that prior to the meniscus injury that sidelined him, KAT was enjoying possibly the best season of his NBA career so far. On an average of 22.1 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game, Towns was central to the Timberwolves sensational run. Of course, a nod must be given to the way in which both he and fellow big man Rudy Gobert have seemingly overcome the lack of synergy that existed between them last season.
As you can imagine, there is already excitement in the team with star guard Anthony Edwards hinting at his teammate’s return following a win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday night. “KAT coming back,” Edwards said. “KAT will be back.” We imagine the T’Wolves and their fans will be crossing their fingers and toes in the hope that it proves to be the case. Though, if we’re honest, the team didn’t exactly lose a step in the time he was out. During that time the Timberwolves went 11-5, however, it could be argued that those blips were largely tied to the lack of depth on the roster as opposed to simply missing his contribution.
Indeed, what we saw was Naz Reid - the central name in the Sixth Man of the Year conversation - taking on a more central role to the tune of 18.2 points per game across 12 starts. It would be reasonable to believe that we will see Reid returning to his role off the bench, while KAT will take his place in the starting lineup. Consider for a moment that the Wolves have scored 5.9 points more per 100 possessions when Towns is on the floor. Ultimately, KAT’s return will essentially put the Timberwolves at full strength for the start of the playoffs, thereby putting the rest of the conference and the wider NBA on notice. Having clearly made a leap in their level of play this season, expect to see the Timberwolves make a deep run in the postseason.