Timberwolves' Karl-Anthony Towns reportedly has torn meniscus, timeline unclear

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Karl-Anthony Towns has a torn meniscus in his left knee, but the amount of time he could miss down the homestretch of the regular season depends on the severity of the injury.

As of early Thursday, Towns and the Minnesota Timberwolves were trying to determine whether the All-Star big will need to immediately address the injury, according to ESPN. Towns is still gathering opinions, according to The Athletic.

Towns is a major reason why the Timberwolves are having their best season in years. He’s averaging 22.1 points per game while shooting 50.1% from the field and a career-high 42.3% from 3-point territory. He’s also averaging 8.4 rebounds and three assists per game. Towns and Rudy Gobert have formed one of the league’s best frontcourts, helping the Timberwolves establish the league’s best defense (108.6 ppg).

Entering Thursday, Minnesota was tied with the Oklahoma City Thunder for the top spot in the Western Conference. The Timberwolves, who have held the top seed in the West for much of the season, are only 2.5 games ahead of the fourth-seeded LA Clippers but hold a 7.5-game cushion over the seventh-seeded Sacramento Kings. The Timberwolves need to finish with a top-six seed to avoid having to play in the play-in tournament, which they needed to do in order to reach the postseason in the past two seasons.

With just over a month remaining in the regular season, the Timberwolves have the league’s 11th-most difficult remaining schedule. They face the reigning champion Denver Nuggets three times as both teams jockey for the Western Conference’s top seed.

Minnesota signed veteran forward T.J. Warren to a 10-day contract on Wednesday to provide some depth in the frontcourt.

Towns has had multiple injury issues over the past few seasons. He missed 51 games with a calf injury last year. In previous seasons, he missed time due to tailbone, knee and wrist ailments.

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