The Minnesota Timberwolves face off with the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday night. The team will get an important player back ahead of tipoff. Karl-Anthony Towns has recovered from COVID-19 and will rejoin the Timberwolves after a 13-game absence.
The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported on Wednesday that Towns will officially make his return. The NBA player previously announced in mid-January that he had tested positive for coronavirus and that he would have to go into isolation. He remained out of the lineup while the team continued to struggle against the Mavericks, Spurs, 76ers, and Warriors among other teams. Now Towns will try to provide a boost to the 6-8 team.
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News surfaced on Monday that Towns was nearing a return to the lineup. He was upgraded to doubtful ahead of a loss to the Mavericks, but he ultimately missed the game. Coach Ryan Saunders later explained that he viewed the pregame upgrade as progress. He also detailed how it’s difficult to determine how the players will respond to the added stress on their lungs after a prolonged absence.
“Nothing can simulate a game environment like a game,” Saunders said, per the Twin Cities Pioneer-Press. “Because there’s a lot of bumping, it’s physical and you can’t always simulate it with coaches, even as in shape as our coaches feel they are, they aren’t able to simulate what he’d see against a (Jonas) Valanciunas or a lot of bigger guys we’ve been facing.”
Saunders continued and said that he used the Mavericks as an example after several members of Mark Cuban’s team test positive for coronavirus. He talked about how these players still experienced lingering issues due to their bouts with the virus. One example is Maxi Kleber, who has struggled to get back into a rhythm after missing 11 games.
“I’ve got to be honest: Coming back from that, and when you’re sitting at home for more than 20 days, it really hurts the first couple of practices,” Kleber said. “The games, your legs are heavy. You feel slow. I still feel slow. I hope that me and all the guys that had to sit out that long get back in shape and get to moving again. Because if you rest that long, it can take some time.”
The Timberwolves host the Clippers on Wednesday, with tipoff set for 8 p.m. ET. The team will enter the game as underdogs due to a losing record on the season, but fans will celebrate Towns returning to the lineup. The game is available on NBA League Pass and Fox Sports.
