Minnesota Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns suffered a dislocated left wrist and is expected to miss several games before being allowed to return.
No surgery will be required, the team said Sunday, and the organization finalizes its timeline based on a weekly assessment. There is optimism because it will be a relatively short-term absence for cities, sources told ESPN.
Cities had end-of-season surgery on their left wrist a year ago, but that injury is in a different place, sources said. He was evaluated by a hand specialist in Los Angeles, where the Timberwolves will play the Lakers on Sunday and the Clippers on Tuesday.
Towns fell out of the air and landed, landing in his left hand, on the afternoon of the Timberwolves ’victory over Utah Saturday night. He left the track to the locker room, only to return later and re-enter the game as a self-described “trick” in the final moments.
Towns has been instrumental in leading Minnesota to a 2-0 start, averaging 22.6 points, 11.5 rebounds and five assists. Second-year center Naz Reid will start Sunday instead of Towns.
“[Towns] it’s been really good for us, “coach Ryan Saunders said before the game.” So we need other guys to take on these roles and replace Karl-Anthony Towns with an individual, you do it with a team effort and the same thing we always say when it comes to protecting great players, doing everything as a team and that has been doing this group “.
ESPN’s Dave McMenamin contributed to this report.