Nine days between games is a nice opportunity for the Wolves to refresh during the All-Star break, but when they return to the Target Center Feb. 21, they could once again be without star player Karl-Anthony Towns.
Towns sat out Wednesday’s loss to the Hornets with a left wrist injury. His injured wrist was wrapped in a brace of some sort, but details of his injury have remained a mystery. But The Athletic’s Jon Krawczynski reported Thursday that Towns will likely miss games after the All-Star break.
Krawczynski says Towns has “been dealing with pain” in the wrist for a few weeks. The good news, perhaps, is that the report says “there’s no sense that surgery will be needed.”
“It’s been bothering him,” said head coach Ryan Saunders Wednesday night, via the Star Tribune. “You get it checked out, you look into all those things. He’s out. … We’ll use the All-Star break to determine the severity of it, obviously speak to his representatives and him, and figure out what the best course for Karl and the organization is.”
Towns missed 15 games earlier this season because of a sprained knee.
Minnesota has 29 games remaining in what’s become a dead season. They own the second-worst record in the Western Conference and fourth-worst in the NBA. Having lost 29 of their last 35 games, the Wolves now appear to be faced with the challenge of winning without Towns again.
If Towns is out, the pressure to score falls on D’Angelo Russell and Malik Beasley, and pressure to rebound and defend opposing power forwards and centers falls on Jauncho Hernangomez, James Johnson and Naz Reid.
