The Wolves are playing in one of the biggest games of their season on Monday as they face the Kings at Target Center. The Kings are in ninth place in the West with a record of 31-28 while the Wolves are in 11th sitting at 28-31. It’s tough to make up ground in the West, and the opportunity to pin a loss on an opponent fighting for the same playoff spot is not one to be missed.
“We know that there are a number of teams battling for limited positioning to play past mid-April. We understand that this is a big game,” said Interim Coach Ryan Saunders at shootaround.
Despite their loss to the Bucks in Milwaukee on Saturday, the Wolves have been playing well lately. Since a tough road trip before the All-Star break, they are 3-1 in their last four. A big part of that success has come from players up and down the roster stepping up. Saunders has showed a willingness to experiment with different lineup combinations and that has worked out quite well for Minnesota.
While Saunders would like to stabilize his rotations at the beginning and end of games, he expects to continue being reactive and fluid with his playing time decisions even when the Wolves get completely healthy.
“I think there’s always going to be some fluidity. You’d like to have a structured lineup, but what we’re finding is that we have guys who can contribute in different ways too,” he said. “If a guy isn’t there one night or contributing as much as you’d like him to, you can go to a different guy.”
Things are clearing up a bit on the injury front. Karl-Anthony Towns has cleared concussion protocol after a car accident forced him to miss the Wolves’ games in New York and Milwaukee. Gorgui Dieng is also back with the team after missing the last two games for personal reasons. However, Jeff Teague is dealing with some left knee soreness and is questionable, and Robert Covington, while progressing, is not yet practicing fully.
Towns’ car accident was a scary one and he’s grateful to be in such a good position. While the most important thing for Towns is obviously his safety, the accident ended a remarkable streak—Towns hadn’t missed a single NBA game until last Friday. ‘’
“It’s something I’m not used to. I’ve never been used to missing a game, not being able to be available for my teammates,” said Towns. “I understand how to be a great cheerleader and how important it is to be that. It’s been a blessed three days just to be here talking to you all and to be able to do what I’m doing.”
It was important to Towns that he get to New York and Milwaukee to support his teammates regardless of his injury status. Even if he couldn’t play, Towns wanted to be there for his team.
“I’m not a guy to stay back and watch them work. I want to be there in person, I want to high five them coming off the court, I want to scream for them, I want to do everything I can to be the best cheerleader I can for them,” he said. “Even if I can’t participate. It was just more being there in person, I wanted to be there with my troops, I wanted to be there with my coaches. I wanted to do everything I can other than put the ball in the basket.”
Towns is lucky the accident wasn’t worse, but it wasn’t entirely luck that ensured Towns and the trainer who was in the car with him are safe and sound.
“If I didn’t have that seat belt I’m going right through the windshield on 35W, so if I can make another announcement, please wear a seatbelt when you get in the car. It’s important. You get a ticket for it there’s a reason why—it saves lives,” he said.
The Wolves take on the Kings at 7 p.m. tonight, you can read our scouting report and get ticket information here.