Timberwolves forward Karl-Anthony Towns has been diagnosed with torn meniscus in his left knee and is out indefinitely, The Athletic’s Shams Charania tweets. Towns has reached out to numerous medical professions regarding the injury over the last 24 hours, Charania adds (Twitter link).
Towns had been listed as out on Wednesday by the team’s PR department (Twitter link) for the team’s road game against Indiana tonight due to left knee soreness. The injury has proved to be much more serious.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski paints a somewhat different picture regarding the injury. He indicates that it’s unclear how much, if any, time Towns will be required to miss as the Timberwolves star forward and the team continue to gather information regarding the extent of the damage (Twitter link).
It’s a stunning blow for a team competing for the top spot in the Western Conference. The Timberwolves are currently tied with the Thunder at 43-19 with 20 regular-season games remaining.
Towns, whose career has been marred by long-term injuries in recent seasons, is averaging 22.1 points, 8.4 rebounds and 3.0 assists this season in 60 games.
A Grade 3 calf strain limited him to 29 regular-season games last season. However, Towns bounced back strongly this season, sitting out only two games to this point.
His production had dipped the past four games, as he failed to reach the 20-point mark in any of those contests. He played only 21 minutes against Portland on Monday, the second game of a back-to-back, and posted only 14 points and four rebounds.
With the trade deadline having passed a month ago, the Timberwolves have limited options to replace him. Backup big Naz Reid could slot into the starting lineup or coach Chris Finch could go with versatile forward Kyle Anderson. The team also signed T.J. Warren to a 10-day contract on Wednesday.