Minneapolis/St. Paul – Timberwolves forward Jimmy Butler and forward/center
Karl-Anthony Towns were today named NBA Western Conference All-Stars by the
National Basketball Association. Butler and Towns were named to the team as
reserves via balloting by NBA head coaches. Towns and Butler become the 6th and
7th Wolves players to earn NBA All-Star honors, joining Tom Gugliotta, Kevin
Garnett, Wally Szczerbiak, Sam Cassell and Kevin Love. Butler and Towns become
the fourth pair of teammates to be named NBA All-Stars in the same year in
Wolves history (Garnett/Gugliotta, 1997; Garnett/Szczerbiak, 2002;
Garnett/Cassell, 2004).
For Butler, this will be his fourth NBA All-Star appearance, all as a reserve
and first with the Wolves. Towns earns his first NBA All-Star appearance after
appearing in the Rising Stars Challenge in each of the last two seasons. The
2018 NBA All-Star Game will be played at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles on
Sunday, Feb. 18.
Butler and Towns have led the Wolves to a 31-18 record this season, including a
24-7 mark vs. the Western Conference, as Minnesota currently sits atop the
Northwest Division and in the No. 3 position in the Western Conference. The
Wolves are the first team in the NBA this season to match its win total from the
2016-17 campaign (31). Minnesota has won 12 more games than at this point last
year, good for the largest win increase in the NBA. The Wolves are 14-5 over
their last 19 games, a span that includes two separate five-game winning streaks
and the Wolves’ second-ever 5-0 homestand. Minnesota currently owns a nine-game
winning streak at Target Center, the team’s longest single-season home winning
streak since the 2003-04 Wolves won 14 straight home games from Dec. 16, 2003 to
Feb. 6, 2004.
In his first campaign with Minnesota, Butler has registered averages of 21.7
points, 5.4 rebounds and 5.0 assists in 36.9 minutes per game this season while
shooting a career-best 47.6% from the floor, 35.4% from long distance and a
career-high 87.5% from the free throw line. Butler’s 2.04 steals per game
average is a career-high and places him 4th in the NBA. Over his last 18 games,
Butler has led the Wolves to a 12-6 record, averaging 25.3 points on 51.1%
shooting and 5.4 assists per game while going 138-for-154 (89.6%) from the free
throw line during the stretch. The Tomball, Texas native has led the Wolves in
scoring a team-high 21 times and has posted seven 30+ point games. Butler has
also led the team in assists on 15 occasions, including dishing out a
season-high 10 Nov. 28 vs. Washington. The 6-8 forward currently ranks 19th in
scoring, T-26th in assists, T-20th in free throw accuracy and 4th in minutes.
Butler scored a season-high 39 points, including a franchise-record 12 in
overtime, in Minnesota’s 128-125 win over Denver on Dec. 27. Butler netted 20 of
his 33 points in the fourth quarter in a 112-106 victory over the L.A. Clippers
on Dec. 3, becoming the 14th player in franchise history to score 20+ points in
a single quarter. Butler registered 26 points, 10 rebounds and five steals Nov.
19 vs. Detroit, joining Kevin Garnett and Tom Gugliotta as the only Wolves
players to accumulate those numbers in a single game.
Towns has appeared in every game this season, continuing his ironman streak to
213 contests, the second-longest active streak in the NBA. In 48 games this
year, Towns has tallied averages of 20.0 points, 12.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists and
1.55 blocks per contest while shooting 53.7% from the floor, a team-best 41.2%
from long range and 83.9% from the free throw line. His 41 doubles-doubles lead
the NBA and he has put up double digit scoring and rebounding totals in 14
straight games. Over his last 37 games, Towns is shooting 44.4% (60-of-135) from
long range. The Edison, New Jersey native was named Western Conference Player of
the Week on Nov. 20, his third such honor. The 7-0 forward/center has paced the
Wolves in scoring 20 times and rebounding on 42 occasions. Towns currently ranks
25th in scoring, 5th in rebounding, 17th in field goal percentage, 23rd in
three-point accuracy, 8th in blocks and 16th in minutes.
Towns has scored 30+ points four times this season, including a season-best 33
vs. Oklahoma City on Oct. 27. He set his career high in rebounds earlier this
season by grabbing 23 Jan. 5 at Boston, part of the fourth career
20-point/20-rebound performance of his career. Towns paced the Wolves in
scoring, rebounding and assists when he put up 23 points, 15 rebounds and 9
assists Jan. 12 vs. New York, narrowly missing out on the second triple-double
of his career. Towns netted 30 points, 14 rebounds, five assists and five blocks
Dec. 14 vs. Sacramento, joining Kevin Garnett as the only Wolves players to
collect 30+ points, 10+ rebounds, 5+ assists and 5+ blocks in a single game.
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