Timberwolves' NBA title odds dive after Karl-Anthony Towns injury

Karl-Anthony Towns' injury leaves the Timberwolves in a difficult spot, especially with the playoffs set to begin in a little over a month.

On Thursday morning, disaster struck the Minnesota Timberwolves when reports came out that Karl-Anthony Towns, after already being ruled out in advance of their game against the Indiana Pacers later tonight, had sustained a torn meniscus, knocking him out of action for an indefinite period of time. With a little over a month before the postseason begins, this is the worst time for Towns to sustain a serious injury to his knee.

Towns hadn't yet decided on a path of recovery from his torn meniscus, as he is still gathering second opinions on how to proceed. Whatever the case ends up being, the Timberwolves will not want to rush him back in any shape or form, no matter how devastating it is to their hopes of competing for a championship.

Just to show a greater perspective of how Karl-Anthony Towns' injury affects the Timberwolves' title odds, BetOnline has already downgraded theirs considerably in the aftermath of this unfortunate development. Before Towns went down, BetOnline had their odds to win the championship at +1800, which was tied with the Oklahoma City Thunder's. Now, the Timberwolves' odds have fallen all the way down to +2800, which has them tied with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Dallas Mavericks, and Los Angeles Lakers.

Moreover, their odds to make the NBA Finals have declined considerably. Prior to Towns' torn meniscus diagnosis, BetOnline had their odds to come out as the Western Conference champion at +750, which, again, were tied with the Thunder's. Now, their +1400 odds put them more on par with play-in teams Lakers and Mavericks.

Losing Karl-Anthony Towns is a major blow to the team's star power; Towns is one of the best inside-outside big men in the NBA, a matchup nightmare given his elite floor-spacing ability, quickness off the bounce, and ability to bully his way towards the rim. Without Towns, the Timberwolves do not have another top-level scorer who could reduce the offensive burden on Anthony Edwards' shoulders.

Amid Towns' looming absence, the likes of Kyle Anderson and Naz Reid figure to play heavier minutes. Nonetheless, those two do not carry the same impact Towns does, hence the justifiable decline in their odds to make much noise in the postseason.