Don’t Look Now, But KAT and the Wolves Are Starting to Heat Up

The narrative for most of the Minnesota Timberwolves season so far has been a negative one. A narrative of disappointment in what was supposed to be a coming out season. Three weeks ago I penned a piece called “Why Do the Timberwolves Keep Losing Close Games?” That sentiment was mirrored the prevailing attitude around the team.

Since almost exactly the day I wrote that piece there has been a bit of a change in the narrative, however. (I will indeed take full credit.) The Wolves have won seven of their last ten games, with four of those wins coming over teams currently in the Western Conference playoffs. They have had three games decided by five or fewer points, and the Wolves won all three, including an awesome buzzer beater from Andrew Wiggins. Whether this is due to the Wolves starting to gel with their new coach and young players, or whether it is simply a regression to the mean is besides the point. They’re winning games. Over the past ten games, only the Golden State Warriors have a better record than the Wolves in the Western Conference, and, arguably, no one is playing better than Karl-Anthony Towns.

The 21-year-old big man is averaging 28.8 points over those past ten games, topping the 30-point barrier in five of those ten games. He has been the high scorer in the game in six of those ten games and is shooting an incredible 62 percent from the field over that stretch. Towns has made 12 of his 27 three-point attempts in the last ten games, including an impressive 4-for-6 effort against the Pacers. Remember, this is a 7-footer. Late in that Pacers game, Towns looked like a 7-foot Kyle Korver, curling off screens and sinking off-balance threes.

It hasn’t just been his scoring that has made Towns so valuable. Towns is also averaging 12.8 rebounds and 3.2 assists over the past ten games. In only one of the last ten games has Towns failed to pull down a double-double, and in that game Towns had nine rebounds. In back-to-back wins over the Clippers and Nuggets, Towns put up the combined (mind-blowing) statistics:

69 points, 24 rebounds, 12 assists, 1 steal, 4 blocks, 69.8 percent shooting

Sure, that was a two-game sample, but it’s not as though those type of numbers have been irregular for Towns over the past three weeks. He’s averaging 1.1 steals and 2.0 blocks over his last ten, and the defense that has dogged him at times this season is seemingly making progress, especially late in games.

Now the Wolves are still 3.5 games out of the playoffs, and more importantly, there are four teams between them and the all-important eighth seed. Even if the Wolves were to shoot up the standings in the second half and land the eight seed, a first round match up with the Warriors would be a blood bath. That being said, there is a lot to like of late from this fun, young Timberwolves team and their brilliant talisman, KAT. It may have taken a bit longer this season than most expected, but this is the type of play we were all hoping to see out of the Twin Cities in 2016–17.