NBA News: Injured Timberwolves All-Star May Suit Up For Game Against Hawks

Minnesota Timberwolves fans are hopeful that they can have All-Star big man Karl-Anthony Towns back on the roster for their next game against the Atlanta Hawks.

Jon Krawcynzki of The Athletic noted that Towns had practiced with the team on Sunday, December 5, and may be set to return to the court on their December 6 game via CBS Sports.

Renowned NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski reported that x-rays on Towns’ lower back revealed no structural damage after taking a hard fall in the Timberwolves’ loss to the Washington Wizards on Wednesday, December 1 after dunking the ball.

Towns missed the Timberwolves’ next game, a loss to the Brooklyn Nets on Friday, December 3 due to the injury, but it now seems like he is primed for a return against the Hawks.

Fortunately for Minnesota fans, Towns will have had five days’ worth of rest by then and will be needing him to bang inside the paint against the Hawks’ big men in Clint Capela and John Collins.

The Timberwolves are right in the thick of things in the Western Conference’s play-in standings thanks to the performances of Towns and his solid supporting cast of D’Angelo Russell and 2020-21 NBA Rookie of the Year runner-up Anthony Edwards.

The Wolves’ big three have been accounted for the bulk of the team’s offense, putting up a combined 65 points, 19.2 rebounds, and 13.1 assists, which have them holding the ninth seed with a record of 11 wins and 12 losses.

According to the subscription-based stats website Cleaning the Glass, the Timberwolves are ranked 13th in efficiency differential with a plus-1.6, which simply indicates how well the team is playing on both sides of the ball.

They may rank 20th in points per 100 possessions with 107.6, but they more than make up for it with a solid effort on the defensive end by only allowing 106 points per 100 possessions, not bad for a team that many have written off from potentially making the playoffs.

With the Hawks putting up 113.6 points per 100 possessions but allowing 111.1 points, the Wolves should take advantage of their lackluster defense and aim to go all out to pick up the victory.

Should Towns be unable to play, backup center Naz Reid is set to make another start in his place.

Towns has been a fairly durable player throughout his seven-year career with the Timberwolves, but the cracks started to show during the 2019-20 season as he had only played 35 games then.

A dominant performance against the Hawks will help Towns and the Wolves down the road as they aim to snap a four-year playoff drought.