There was a lot to like in Karl-Anthony Towns' stat line in Thursday's victory over Sacramento. He had 30 points, 14 rebounds, five assists, five blocks while finishing a plus-22. In the process he became the second player in franchise history (Kevin Garnett was the other) to have a game with at least 30 points, 10 rebounds, five blocks and five assists.
Perhaps the most impressive part of that performance? The blocks.
Of late Towns has been blocking a lot of shots, 12 in the four games prior to Saturday's game with Arizona at Target Center.
Consider it a trend.
"As he continues to go vertical, I think that will be huge for him,'' Wolves coach Tom Thibodeau said.
More and more, Towns is getting to shots without committing fouls. That has a lot to do with being in better position. It's also due to his ability to, as Thibodeau said, stay vertical. "He has to fight the urge to whack down,'' Thibodeau said. "That's the biggest thing. When he does that, he's pretty good. Karl is so long, he's a hard guy to finish over. He's starting to figure out the body position part, the technique into the verticality. I think he'll continue to grow.''
Towns agreed that it was all about position.
"And I'm doing a better job of understanding everyone's traits, understanding what they like to do,'' he said. "If they like to use their left hand more than their right. I've always played off instinct. Recently I've done a good job of being more vertical. Against the Kings I did a better job of help-side blocking.''
