Karl-Anthony Towns Hurts Knee, Will Have MRI Today

Karl-Anthony Towns will undergo an MRI today to determine the severity of a right knee injury he suffered last night, according to Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic.

The Timberwolves‘ star center left Saturday’s win over the Wizards in the fourth quarter, appearing to tell trainers, “It just popped.” There was no contact on the play, which happened as Towns took an awkward step on an inbounds pass.

Interim coach Ryan Saunders said he doesn’t believe it’s a major injury such as an ACL tear, and sources told Krawczynski that Towns assured a couple of Washington players that he was all right. He was able to walk around the locker room after the game.

A serious injury to Towns would doom any flickering playoff hopes the Wolves still have and might wipe out next season as well. It would also continue a terrible run of luck for the franchise, as Krawczynski points out. Ricky Rubio, Al Jefferson and Zach LaVine all suffered similar non-contact injuries at critical times, and LaVine’s may have affected Minnesota’s decision to send him to Chicago rather than Andrew Wiggins.

Towns posted his second straight All-Star appearance this season and accepted a five-year extension that could pay him up to $190MM. He has been playing at a higher level since Jimmy Butler was traded in November and reached 40 points last night for the third time in five games.

The Wolves were already finishing out the season short-handed before Towns limped off. Robert Covington may not be able to return from a bone bruise, Luol Deng is sidelined with an aching Achilles tendon and Wiggins is sitting out with a quad contusion.