Karl-Anthony Towns out tonight for personal reasons; Timberwolves-Spurs game preview
It’s a battle of the top of the West vs. the bottom of the West as San Antonio and star rookie Victor Wembanyama visit Target Center. But the Wolves know not to take the Spurs lightly.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
February 27, 2024 at 8:16PM
vs. San Antonio Spurs, Target Center, 7 p.m. Tuesday
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Updated odds: Wolves by 12½.
Pregame reading: Looking at the rhythmic fluctuations of the Wolves offense.
Chris Hine’s preview:
Opening bell: The Wolves head into another set of back-to-back games vs. San Antonio on Tuesday and Memphis on Wednesday. The Spurs are 4-17 in their last 21 games, but one of those games was a win over the Wolves in San Antonio on Jan. 27. The Wolves announced Tuesday afternoon that Karl-Anthony Towns would miss the game for personal reasons, adding a potential hurdle for the Wolves in their quest for an easy win. This is only the second game Towns has missed this season, after he was out for a road win at Sacramento on Dec. 23
Watch him: Victor Wembanyama is prone to do something special any time he is on the floor. At Toronto on Feb. 12, Wembanyama had a triple-double with 27 points, 14 rebounds and 10 blocks. It was the first time a player had a triple-double with blocks since Clint Capela did it against the Wolves on Jan. 22, 2021. The 7-4 Wembanyama has had five blocks in each of his last three games.
Injuries: Wolves C Rudy Gobert, who missed Saturday’s game because of a sprained left ankle, is questionable. Coach Chris Finch said Gobert “looked good” at Monday’s practice. Towns is out for personal reasons. The Spurs reported no major injuries.
Forecast: This is a game the Wolves should win, but they messed around and lost to the Spurs the last time the teams squared off. The Wolves had two days off and a practice to address their struggling offense coming out of the break. But now they will be without Towns, who provided their most consistent offense in Saturday’s win over the Nets. It’s no coincidence that the offense as a whole has struggled as Anthony Edwards tries to rediscover his game. The guard has looked languid through the first three quarters of each Wolves game out of the break before coming alive in the fourth quarter. At some point, he will get back to where he was before the break, and Tuesday, against the NBA’s 24th-rated defense, is a good matchup to do that. He will also have to carry the load with Towns out.
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The players communicated through a group text chain to pull themselves out of a four-game losing streak. But the thread is used for other ways to bond and build camaraderie.
