Timberwolves don't miss a step in first game without Towns

As the final stretch of the regular season approaches, the Minnesota Timberwolves were hit with troubling news as All-Star forward Karl-Anthony Towns went down with a torn meniscus. In the first game since Towns suffered the recent injury, Timberwolves star guard Anthony Edwards put the team on his back with a memorable performance.

Edwards tweaked his ankle on the first play of the game before coming back to drop a dominant 44 points in a thrilling 113-111 win over the Indiana Pacers. Highlighted by a spectacular game-sealing block in the final seconds, Edwards took over down the stretch by scoring the Timberwolves final eight points en route to a 16-point fourth quarter.

It certainly won’t be easy for Minnesota to maintain a slight lead atop the Western Conference standings with Towns likely to miss the remainder of the regular season but Edwards seems poised to shoulder even more of the load. With that being said, the Timberwolves will lean on several role players to step up further moving forward.

According to the most recent report from ESPN's Senior NBA Insider Adrian Wojnarowski, Towns is slated to undergo surgery in the coming days to repair a torn left meniscus and will be re-evaluated in approximately a month. Wojnarowski went on to say that Towns is expected to return at some point early in the Western Conference playoffs.

Even though there’s no way to completely replace the production of Towns, the Timberwolves will need frontcourt mates Rudy Gobert and Jaden McDaniels to be consistent on both ends of the floor. Chris Finch’s staff opted to start veteran Kyle Anderson in Towns’ absence but he struggled with just three points on 1-of-5 shooting in the win at Indiana.

Minnesota will continue to look for bench duo Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Naz Reid to make a major impact along with recently-signed T.J. Warren until Towns returns to the court. The Timberwolves are set to face the Cleveland Cavaliers on ESPN’s Friday night showcase as Edwards and company try to keep the momentum with Towns sidelined!