The Minnesota Timberwolves are peaking at the right time. After winning their last four games in a row, the Wolves have vaulted themselves into the top six seeds in the Western Conference. They now hold tiebreakers over several of the teams competing with them for a playoff spot, and are in excellent position to end up playing in the postseason.
Heading into this past weekend, Minnesota had won two in a row and was faced with the daunting task of playing the defending champion Warriors on their home turf, then heading to Sacramento to face the high-powered offense of the Kings on the second night of a back-to-back. With heavy playoff implications in both contests, it could not have been a tougher two-game road trip.
After emerging with wins in both games, the Timberwolves are looking like one of the hottest and most dangerous teams in the league at the moment. Nearly everyone stepped up in a big way in two of the most important games of the season for Minnesota. Let’s take a look at how the impact players performed during this crucial stretch.
Karl-Anthony Towns
In his second game back after a 52-game absence, Karl-Anthony Towns made the two biggest shots of the game against the Golden State Warriors to help secure the victory. He knocked down two three-pointers in the final two minutes of the game at Chase Center, the second of which was an incredibly gutsy attempt on a fast break with the Wolves down by one with 11 seconds to go.
Both of KAT’s threes in the final minutes gave Minnesota the lead in a game that they won by just three points. His presence as a shot-maker in his first two games back has showed again just how valuable he is offensively, and how much he was missed for the majority of the season.
Towns rested in the second game of the road trip against the Kings for precautionary reasons. His 5-for-16 shooting mark against Golden State is the only thing preventing him from earning an A+ here.
Grade: A