The Minnesota Timberwolves received a painful blow with star big man Karl-Anthony Towns on the shelf due to a right calf injury. Towns is arguably still the best player on the roster of the Timberwolves, so losing him, even temporarily, is a huge setback for the team. Nevertheless, Minnesota head coach Chris Finch is not losing confidence in Anthony Edwards and the rest of the team in their ability to step up while Towns is making his way back to 100 percent form.
“It's not that he has to do more. Everyone's gotta do more often,” Finch said when asked about what he is looking to coax from Edwards and the Timberwolves while Towns is in street clothes. “We just gotta raise our consistency (h/t Canis Coopus).”
Towns suffered the non-contact injury during Monday's clash with the Washington Wizards on the road. Before leaving the game, Towns scored just eight points to go with four assists, and a couple of rebounds in 22 minutes, which were obviously not enough to prevent Minnesota from losing to Kristaps Porzingis and company, 142-127.
Towns leaves a gaping hole on the active roster of the Timberwolves. He is the team's leader — by a mile — in Value Over Replacement Player (0.9). However, there is still enough talent on the roster to weather his absence. Edwards is leading the team with 22.6 points per game and that should improve while Towns is out. D'Angelo Russell, Rudy Gobert, and Jaden McDaniels are all expected to deliver more as well for the Timberwolves, who will look to snap a three-game skid Wednesday at home versus Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies.
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