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

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

The Timberwolves announced on Thursday that All-Star big man Karl-Anthony Towns will need surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee, as confirmed by an MRI. His condition will be reassessed in four weeks, casting uncertainty on his participation in the initial round of the NBA Playoffs and possibly further.

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 against the Pacers with six points, three rebounds, and four assists in 27 minutes. Towns’ unavailability also suggests that Naz Reid, a standout reserve big man, will probably have a more significant role. Despite this, he maintained his bench role against the Pacers, concluding the game with 13 points, eight rebounds, and two assists.

Apart from Reid, the Wolves’ frontline is a bit thin, which will probably result in more scoring pressure being placed on Edwards – the team’s top scorer with 26.1 ppg – while Towns recovers.

In the previous season, Towns was absent for 52 games due to a calf muscle strain. He made a comeback in time for the team’s playoff run, but had a tough time in the first-round series where they were defeated by the Denver Nuggets. Towns had an average of 18.2 points per game and only achieved an overall shot percentage of 45.7% in that series, with just 25% on 3-pointers. So far, Towns and the Wolves haven’t managed to progress past the first round of the playoffs during their partnership.

Chris Finch, the coach of Minnesota, 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.