Karl-Anthony Towns suffered what the Timberwolves are calling a right calf strain during Minnesota’s blowout loss to the Washington Wizards Monday night.
Towns fell to the ground and grabbed his right calf with 5:25 left in the third quarter.
“Obviously super concerned about that. Big blow for us,” said head coach Chris Finch after the game, “We’ll have an update tomorrow.” Finch said he’s hopeful that it’s a calf strain and not a torn Achilles.
“Does not appear to be Achilles by video,” tweeted renowned sport injury expert Dr. David J. Chao, better known as “Pro Football Doc.”
Injury experts at Sports Injury Central reviewed the play and agree with Chao.
“The eccentric loading injury mechanism is often associated with an Achilles tendon rupture but can also apply to a calf strain, as with Kevin Durant, Luka Doncic, and Damian Lillard in recent years,” Sports Injury Central explained late Monday night.
“The length of his absence will depend on the severity of the strain discovered by the MRI,” it added, noting that he could miss all of December.
“From what I can gather, everyone is breathing a big sigh of relief with Karl-Anthony Towns’ injury. Still more evaluation tomorrow, but it is looking like it could have been so much worse,” tweeted Timberwolves beat writer Jon Krawcyznski, of The Athletic.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski echoed that feeling: “Minnesota Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns will undergo an MRI on Tuesday, but there’s some early optimism that he may have avoided a substantial injury to his lower right leg, sources tell ESPN.”
More information is expected following Towns’ MRI on Tuesday.
