The young Minnesota Timberwolves squad turned a page last season as they won 56 regular season games, finished as the third seed in the Western Conference, and made it to the Western Conference Finals.
It was by far the most success enjoyed by Karl-Anthony Towns since he joined the team as the No.1 overall pick of the 2015 NBA Draft. Minnesota's entry to the 2024 Western Conference Finals was also made possible because of KAT's performance in Game 7 of their second-round series against defending champs, the Denver Nuggets .
During his recent appearance on Podcast P, Towns talked about how that game was one of the biggest in his NBA career.
"Every time I look back at my career, and I think of the biggest games I've been part of, that was one of the biggest games of my career. You, in the second round against the defending champions who have a back-to-back MVP on their team who plays my position, who I'm guarding on-on-one most of the game, and most of the series," said Towns.
Timely shooting and defense from KAT in Game 7
That Denver series was all about Ant-Man, but in Game 7, Towns proved to be the difference-maker for Minnesota. While the Nuggets were rampaging in the first half, it was KAT who kept the Wolves afloat with 13 points on 5-6 shooting after two quarters.
When the Nuggets made their run in the third, Towns scored eight points while holding down Jokic to 2-6 shooting in the period. Not surprisingly, he got into foul trouble later on and had to sit out, but his timely shooting and defense had gotten his team back in the game for Ant-Man to finish. KAT finished with 23 points, 12 rebounds, two steals, and a block as Minnesota stunned Denver 98-90 to advance to the Western Conference Finals.
"You got to go out there and find a way to win the game and to do that you got to win the matchups," added KAT. "So Joker is a hell of a player, man. It's so fun to get to play against him and then I feel like I learn a little something new every time we get to play against each other so shout out to him, he made me better."
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KAT's poor performance on Mother's Day
KAT's exploits in Game 7 made up for his poor effort in Game 4, which enabled the defending champions to tie the series at two a piece. Towns felt sorry for that performance, especially since the game was played on Mother's Day, which has always been special for the T-Wolves forward because of his late mom .
"Things weren't falling today. I take responsibility for that. I know I put the work in, so I feel good about the work I put in. It's shown in the Playoff run, obviously," Towns said after the game. "It's unfortunate that on Mother's Day, I have a shooting performance like that. But it's the way the game goes. It's not a fun game sometimes."
Despite falling to the Dallas Mavericks in the 2024 Western Conference Finals, last season's playoff run was a step in the right direction for the young Timberwolves, especially Towns. In their previous three postseason appearances since KAT arrived, they had not made it out of the first round. Now they know they can.
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