Karl-Anthony Towns (torn meniscus) to have surgery, out at least 1 month

This season, Karl-Anthony Towns was an All-Star and is one of the top scorers for the Wolves.

The Timberwolves announced on Thursday that All-Star big man Karl-Anthony Towns needs surgery to fix a torn meniscus in his left knee, as shown by an MRI. In four weeks, he will be reassessed, casting doubt on his participation in the first round of the NBA Playoffs and possibly beyond.

NEWS: Karl-Anthony Towns Injury Update

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Towns is averaging 22.1 points, 8.4 rebounds and three assists per game this season while shooting 50.6% overall and 42.3% on 3-pointers. He has helped the Wolves (44-19) to the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference and the second-best record in the league.

Impact of Towns’ injury: Minnesota is enjoying its best season since 2003-04, when that squad won 58 games and reached the Western Conference Finals. Towns has been instrumental in that and his health has been a large factor, too, after he only played in 29 games last season due to various injuries.

He’s played in 60 games this season and has been a scoring force for the Wolves, dropping a career-best 62 points on the Hornets in late January. Behind Towns, fellow All-Star Anthony Edwards and shot-blocking center Rudy Gobert, the Wolves have the best defensive rating in the NBA and have been strong of late, winning nine of their last 12 games.

The Wolves were without Towns in a thrilling 113-111 road win against the Indiana Pacers on Thursday. Even without Towns, Minnesota managed to hold the league’s highest-scoring team nearly 13 points below its average.

The absence of Towns led to reserve forward Kyle Anderson being promoted to the starting lineup. He ended the game with six points, three rebounds, and four assists against the Pacers in 27 minutes. It’s likely that Towns’ absence will also lead to an increased role for standout reserve big man Naz Reid. Despite this, he maintained his bench role against the Pacers, ending the game with 13 points, eight rebounds, and two assists.

Apart from Reid, the Wolves are somewhat lacking in the frontline and will probably rely more on Edwards — who is the team’s top scorer with an average of 26.1 points per game — as Towns recuperates.

Towns was out for 52 games due to a strained calf muscle last season. He managed to return for the team’s playoff push, but had a challenging time in the first-round series loss to the Denver Nuggets. His average was 18.2 points per game, with an overall shooting percentage of just 45.7% in that series (including a 25% on 3-pointers). Despite their efforts, Towns and the Wolves haven’t managed to progress beyond the first round of the playoffs during their tenure together.

Chris Finch, Minnesota’s coach, is confident that the Timberwolves can adapt to a period without Towns.

“It’s not a plug-in one person to fill Karl’s role kind of situation,” he said. “What I love about our team is that we have a multitude of options. We can go a lot of different ways based on matchups on any given night. We’ve started different guys through the season anyway.”

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.