In the game against the Pacers, Karl Anthony Towns played his best game so far this season, with 40 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks!
After the game, Downs also expressed his gratitude to the home crowd for their support, Downs said: We work hard every day, thank you for your patience, enjoy our performance, continue to enjoy our performance!
There's a reason why Downs would say something like that!
This season is Downs' ninth season since he entered the league.
But in those nine seasons, Downs has only played in three playoff games.
In the 17-18 season, under the leadership of Butler, the Timberwolves successfully reached the playoffs
In the 21-22 and 22-23 seasons, although the Timberwolves also made the playoffs, anyone with a discerning eye can see that the key to the team's ability to break into the playoffs is Edwards.
In other words, in the past 8 years of his NBA career, Towns has had to rely on other stars to barely make the playoffs.
If Downs were just an ordinary player, that would be a fine deal.
But he's not an ordinary player, he's the top pick in 2015.
You must know that the purpose of the NBA team's selection of the top pick is to hope that these high-pick players can help the team get out of the situation of fish belly.
But Towns has been in the NBA for so many years, although he has never lost in statistics, but he has never won in terms of record, and even the results of the playoffs have to rely on other stars to achieve!
This kind of team performance is simply unbearable to look at!
In addition, the contract offered by the Timberwolves to Towns has always been very generous!
After his rookie contract ended, the Timberwolves offered Towns a five-year one$5.8 billion contract extension.
In 2022, he signed another 4-year deal worth 2$2.4 billion contract renewal.
That said, in addition to his rookie season, Towns has at least 3$8.2 billion
The team really couldn't have been too good for him, and when he didn't lead the team to a good performance.
The Timberwolves have never put any pressure on him, choosing to continue to believe in him!
Perhaps it is the trust of the team and the support of the home fans.
It was Towns who said that after winning the Pacers.
In addition, in the season when Edwards was just drafted, Downs did compete with Huazi for the position of team leader, and even in the past season, the scandal of discord between the two was also spreading.
However, neither of them came out to respond positively to this question.
And judging from the respective performances of the two this season, the rumors of discord between the two should be pure rumors!
This season, Downs has still played quite good statistical performances.
So far this season, Downs has averaged 224 points 95 rebounds and 30 assists.
And after Gobert arrived, Towns finally didn't have to play the center position
With a penchant for outside shooting, he's now more of a spacious power forward on the court
This position is really a perfect match for the Downs, why do you say that?
It can be seen from the specific games of Downs this season that he no longer needs to stand on the inside.
Instead, he appears more in the mid-to-long-range shooting area, or outside the three-point line, after all, he also has a good three-point shooting ability.
In addition, judging from the advanced data, the current Downs actually have a good performance on both offensive and defensive ends.
- Offensive efficiency 1153, ranked 96th in the league, although not very prominent, but enough.
- Defensive efficiency 1062, ranked 25th in the league, this statistic is already much better than his previous data
- Net efficiency of 91. Ranked 31st in the league and 13th in the league in terms of game contribution
It can be seen that from these key data, it can be seen that Towns is for the current Timberwolves.
Whether it's on the offensive end or on the defensive end, it can provide a good boost!
Today's Timberwolves have Edwards on the guard line and Towns and Gobert on the inside.
There are also players such as Lee Kyle and Reed in the bench lineup, as Lee Kyle said, the Timberwolves' current roster depth is really strong, and the most important thing is that the team's defensive performance this season is really good.
In terms of defensive efficiency, the Timberwolves are already in first place in the league this season.
In addition, their offensive efficiency is not bad, ranking 17th in the league
Overall, the Timberwolves have reached the best balance of offense and defense this season.
Now that they're at the top of the West, what do you think the Timberwolves' ceiling will be this season?Welcome to discuss!