Wolves coach Tom Thibodeau has preached improvement throughout the course of the season. Wins will come as the teams improves.
One player who has definitely improved throughout the course of the season for the Wolves is All-Star hopeful Karl-Anthony Towns.
In the month of January, Towns is averaging 22.3 points, 13.9 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game, all up from his season averages of 22 points, 12 rebounds and 2.9 assists.
Towns has failed to haul in at least 10 rebounds in just one of nine games this month. In the game that he didn’t, he finished with nine rebounds against the Mavericks on Jan. 15.
Minnesota had its first three-game winning streak from Jan. 9 – 13 and it was no coincidence that Towns had a fantastic stretch averaging 28.7 points, 15.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game. His shooting percentage is also up to 50.3 percent, up more than a percentage than his season average of 49 percent. His free-throw percentage is 90.5 in the month of January compared to his 81.8 percent mark on the season.
“When you take a guy like Towns, he’s a guy that is 6-11, 7-feet and he shoots threes, puts it on the floor, can play with his back to the basket, gets fouled and he rebounds,” Oklahoma City Thunder coach Billy Donovan said. “His skillset puts him in a position to put up huge numbers.”
If Towns continues these numbers, there’s a good chance we’ll see him at All-Star Sunday in New Orleans come mid-February.
