Wolves’ Mike Conley on Karl-Anthony Towns: I Was Expecting Him to Play Worse

It had been a long time since center/forward Karl-Anthony Towns suited up for the Timberwolves. The day was Nov. 8, 2022, to be exact.

That all changed Wednesday, when Towns returned from a calf strain — and the ensuing setback — to score 22 points and bury the game-winning free throws in a 125-124 home victory over the Hawks.

Towns’ foul shots came with 3.6 seconds left. The first hit the rim. The second swished.

“This is what movies are made of,” Towns said, via Chris Hine of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. “You come back … sellout crowd, Target Center and you get the ball with seven seconds left. You’ve got to make it. I mean, it doesn’t get better than that.”

This also marked the first time Towns has played with point guard Mike Conley, who seems to have steadied the ship a bit since he arrived from the Jazz in a February trade.

“I was expecting him to play a little worse,” Conley joked, via Hine.

At any rate, with the likes of Towns, Conley and guard Anthony Edwards (when healthy), the Wolves could become a playoff team you don’t want to face.

Right away, you could see that Towns is already just about back to his old self.

“The whole day I was just feeling so blessed to be able to know that I was going to put this jersey on and I was going to contribute to my team,” Towns said. “… Like I said, it’s what movies is made of, it’s what dreams is made of. I’m glad my movie had a good ending.”

KAT hit two clutch free throws to seal the Timberwolves W.

He's back ?️ pic.twitter.com/3ogn4QIhEC

— NBA (@NBA) March 23, 2023