Despite all the controversies prior to their play-in game against the Los Angeles Lakers, the Minnesota Timberwolves were in a great position to come away with a win.
One of the big reasons for that was Karl-Anthony Towns, but his struggles in the later stages of the game led to the Timberwolves’ offense falling apart. When head coach Chris Finch was asked why Towns couldn’t get it going late, he blamed the officials.
“Well, he was in a heck of a rhythm until they whistled him to the bench,” Finch said. “So that was tough and we just never really had an offense from anywhere.”
(starts at 2:39 mark):
Towns picked up his fourth foul with 2:22 remaining in the third quarter when the Timberwolves were leading 84-72. He had to be subbed out and at that stage, he had scored 24 points. KAT wouldn’t score a point the rest of the way and really seemed to have lost his rhythm.
He picked up his fifth foul very early on his return in the fourth quarter but they kept him in the game. A hesitant KAT, however, took just two shots the rest of the way and wasn’t able to be remotely aggressive on defense either. While the fouls definitely hindered him, Towns really only has himself to blame as none of them were egregious mistakes from the officials. He should have realized that with Rudy Gobert being suspended, he had to be careful and stay out of foul trouble, but he wasn’t able to do that and they lost 108-102.
The Timberwolves Now Get Ready For The Most Important Game Of Their Season
When the Timberwolves traded for Gobert, it was with the expectation that he would take them to the next level. Making the playoffs would have been the bare minimum and they are now at serious risk of not making it. They now face a do-or-die game against either the New Orleans Pelicans or the Oklahoma City Thunder to get into the playoffs and the pressure will be through the roof in that game.
Gobert will be back for that one, as his suspension was for just one game, and he’ll be hoping to make amends for that punch on Kyle Anderson with a strong showing. Someone else who’d also have a point to prove would be Anthony Edwards, who had 9 points on 3-17 shooting from the field against the Lakers. The two of them will have to be at their best if the Timberwolves are to advance.
We sincerely appreciate and respect you as a reader of our site. It would help us a lot if you follow us on Google News because of the latest update.
Thanks for following us. We really appreciate your support
