Towns finally wears something that fits.
The Minnesota Timberwolves defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder 106-103 in an NBA regular-season game and in-season tournament game of the 2023-2024 season at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States on March 29. The win was Minnesota’s second straight and kept them in first place in the Western Conference.
Minnesota is currently ranked second overall in the 토토 NBA and atop the Western Conference. It’s a remarkable turnaround from last season, when they barely made the playoffs as the No. 8 seed through the play-in tournament. It’s early in the season, but Minnesota’s rebound has been one of the NBA’s best upsets.
At the center of it all is the big man duo of Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert, who were the center of criticism last season. Minnesota made a major change ahead of the 2022-2023 season, acquiring the Utah Jazz’s All-Star big man in a trade. Minnesota acquired Gobert because they saw hope in the 2021-2022 playoffs. Minnesota ran into the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round of the playoffs and bullied them relentlessly before falling in four games to two.
Minnesota had a solid core in Towns and Anthony Edwards. They figured that if they could add one more superstar to the mix, they could reach higher in the playoffs, so they took a gamble on Gobert. People looked at the combination of Gobert and Towns with a mixture of excitement and apprehension. Towns has played exclusively as a center throughout his NBA career. Gobert also rarely had a big man as a scoring partner.
This concern proved to be true. The combination of Gobert and Towns was not a good one at all. They were better on their own, both on defense and offense. Kobe’s signing was highly anticipated, but it seemed like a bust.
It’s Towns, not Gobert, who is being labeled as the problem for Minnesota, because Towns’ performance last season was less than Gobert’s. Towns also signed a four-year, $224 million supermax contract with Minnesota in the summer of 2022. Towns’ performance last season was not worthy of a supermax contract.
This led to trade rumors of Towns, Minnesota’s franchise star and ace. The rumor was that Minnesota would build a team around Edwards and Gobert and trade Towns. Minnesota refuted the rumors and showed their faith in Towns.
And this season, Towns made a comeback. In his second year, Towns and Gobert are finally starting to find their synergy. Gobert’s ability to do the dirty work on defense and Towns’ efficiency on offense began to play to their strengths. Towns was able to take the defensive load off of Gobert, and Gobert was able to take the offensive load off of Towns, making it an ideal pairing.
Towns joined the 180 club in 2023-2024, averaging 21.8 points, nine rebounds, and three assists on 50 percent shooting from the field, 40 percent from three-point range, and 90 percent from the free throw line. Considering Towns’ position is big man, his 180 club numbers are truly remarkable.
Add to that the development of Towns’ defense, which has been a weakness throughout his NBA career. Having played center throughout his career, Towns has a huge size advantage at the power forward position. He uses his size advantage to play defense and contribute to Minnesota’s defense. Minnesota currently ranks third in fewest points allowed and first in defensive rating. This is due in large part to the Gophers, but also to Towns.
With Towns’ resurgence, the big lineup that Minnesota envisioned is hitting its stride. Minnesota is a team that has been in the dark ages since the Kevin Garnett era. Minnesota fans have a lot to look forward to this season.