The Minnesota Timberwolves had a three game winning streak snapped on Sunday afternoon as they lost to the Los Angeles Clippers but the bigger concern for fans of the 8-9 team has been about Karl-Anthony Towns' playing time. Towns has regularly been sitting on the bench lately in the fourth quarter and many people were curious about why especially considering how well he has played this season and it appears it has to do with his defense, according to Jerry Zgoda of the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
This is a similar situation to what was going on with the Los Angeles Lakers and D'Angelo Russell earlier this season but it is not exactly the same because the Timberwolves have actually been winning so this hasn't really been in the news. For the season Towns is averaging 27.8 minutes per game but that has been trending down lately as interim head coach has instead decided to play Gorgui Dieng in the fourth quarter.
"His defense in the pick-and-roll, he has a little bit more experience than Karl, he has seen a little more than Karl. Rondo is tricky with the ball. I have a great comfort level with Karl and Dieng together. I like those two. It doesn't matter to me who finishes the game," said Mitchell.
Based on the metrics Towns has been an excellent individual defender so far this season and already has 0.9 defensive win shares so it is hard to imagine his defense is really the cause here but Dieng has also been tremendous on defense and it is hard to argue with Mitchell based on the results he is getting. The Timberwolves are a talented team that feels they have a shot at a playoff spot this season so Mitchell is playing the guys he thinks gives him the best chance to win.
Towns is a huge part of Minnesota's success this season as the rookie has been their best player in terms of PER so far this season at 21.4. Through 17 games the 20 year old is exceeding expectations as he is averaging 14.4 points, 9.4 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game but Mitchell believes he still has plenty to work on. For what it's worth Mitchell says that Towns is handling not playing in the fourth quarter well as he is always encouraging Dieng and his teammates but fans still want to see their young star on the court when it matters most. Towns will likely work his way into playing crunch time minutes at some point but for now what Mitchell is doing is working and Dieng is also playing extremely well so a change is likely not on the horizon anytime soon.
