Wolves' Karl-Anthony Towns will miss several weeks with calf strain
MINNEAPOLIS -- Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns will miss several weeks with a calf strain after leaving the court on one leg Monday night.
The Athletic first reported the timeframe for Towns' recovery. The Timberwolves confirmed Tuesday that Towns will be "sidelined indefinitely and reassessed in several weeks."
Towns had to be helped off the court in the third quarter at Washington. He wasn't putting any weight on his right leg. Towns exited in the third quarter of Monday night's 142-127 loss to the Wizards with what the Timberwolves called a right calf strain. An MRI Tuesday confirmed the injury.
"Hopefully that's where it comes down," coach Chris Finch said. "We'll have it evaluated tomorrow."
Towns has started all 21 games for Minnesota this season and entered Monday averaging 21.4 points. The loss on Monday dropped the Timberwolves to 10-11.
Towns was well behind the play during a Washington break and grabbed his right leg. After a 3-pointer by Kyle Kuzma, play stopped with Towns down on the floor near midcourt. He was immediately helped toward the locker room.
"Obviously super concerned about that, big blow for us. I did like the way we started the second for sure," Finch said. "We left a lot of work to be done."
Minnesota trailed by 27 points late in the first half and by 19 at halftime. The Timberwolves did score the first 10 points of the third quarter, but when Towns left they were down 93-76.
Towns finished the game with eight points in 22 minutes.
Without Towns, Rudy Gobert can still provide plenty of size.
"We're going to have to look at what our options are with who else is available at that point," Finch said. "We'll just have to figure that out."
Minnesota's next game is at home against Memphis on Wednesday night. Then the Timberwolves have two days off before hosting Oklahoma City and three days off before hosting Indiana.