6:45pm: Towns was cleared to play after participating in pregame warm-ups, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.
3:12pm: Towns intends to go through shootaround and see how he feels before his status for tonight’s game is finalized, he said in a tweet.
2:24pm: Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns, who has been limited to just four games so far this season due to a wrist injury and a case of COVID-19, is expected to return to action on Wednesday night when the team hosts the Clippers, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (via Twitter).
Having Towns back in their starting lineup will be a welcome sight for the struggling Timberwolves. The team has a 2-2 record when the 25-year-old has played, but has lost 16 of the 20 games he has missed.
Towns, who hasn’t played since January 13, has averaged 22.0 PPG, 12.5 RPG, 4.3 APG, and 2.8 BPG in his limited action so far this season. Minnesota has a +6.1 net rating when he has been on the court, compared to a -8.9 mark when he isn’t playing.
Towns’ return figures to result in Naz Reid shifting back to a reserve role.
My final standing projection
12th seed Pelicans
13th seed Rockets
14th seed Wolves
15th seed Thunder
All 3 worst teams are in the East
Thunder have 45% chance to take top 4 draft pick
Warriors have 72% chance to take top 3 pick
T-wolves 1st is top 3 protected this year though.
Edit
Take the Wolves pick not top 3 pick
Thunder and Rockets chances combined
Just because the Rockets are 13th right now doesn’t mean they will finish the season there. When Christian Wood was healthy they were well in contention for the playoffs, and they will be again after he comes back.
Maby but that is a very difficult Situation for the Rockets. And I think this year is a lottery big most important than a play in tourney
That is a pretty bold prediction for the Rockets. When healthy, they are a top 8 team. To predict them to be 13th is premature right now. Give it another 3 weeks before starting to predicted standing. Team phase out and others get hot at the right time
Franchise has been cursed since 1989.
Doesn’t matter:
Who owns it.
Who the head coach is.
Who the assistant coaches are.
Who the GM/VP is
Who the players are.
Expect the worst, you won’t be disappointed.
Franchise hasn’t been cursed ….. they have just made some extremely poor decisions. That includes holding on to the #1 pick to draft Anthony Edwards. That came on the heels of trading for D’Angelo Russell, solely because his best friend is Karl-Anthony Towns. Neither Russell nor Towns plays any defense, so Minnesota will once again struggle to win 30 games.
Consistently making poor decisions since 1989 on:
Drafting Players.
Trading Away Players.
Obtaining Players via Trade.
Trading Draft Choices.
Hiring of Coaching personnel.
Hiring of Management personnel.
Sure seems like they are CURSED !!
Can you prove the extremely poor decisions aren’t the result of a curse?
The curse of Rick Mahorn?
Now that he is back,
Will Karl-Anthony go to TOWNS ??
No, looks like he went on a sympathy tour instead…Karl “My Vitals Weren’t Good” Towns.
KAT’s return is less about his performance & more about the teams’ ability to pull out wins with him in the lineup, and whether or not they should make trade decisions before the deadline.
KAT is a fine piece whether the focal point, or secondary star on the team. Not worried about his injury return all that much.
If 1-3 worst teams in the league a week from the deadline? You tank for that #1, and trade what you do not want or need for gain if you can.
My bet is Beasley gets moved & doesn’t move the needle much, even with Kat playing. Send him to the Pelicans, or maybe Orlando for Fournier.
Minny was a bad D team coming into the season. They still haven’t addressed that. Even when Towns went down. Rubio has always been a solid D player. Imo this is one reason he’s having issues fitting in. They need a 4 and it should be a rebounding D PF. They should be exploring a trade for one. A guy like Noel could start next to KAT. His D, rebounding, and size make him a solid fit. Or even another player similar style game.
Great KAT is back!
Was he very good, mon!
KAT rocked in his first game back, counting he ain’t in great shape physically but above all mentally… things can only get better!!!