Karl-Anthony Towns has been on an absolute tear as of late. He’s put up INSANE numbers since the All-Star break, and he’s making a strong argument for himself being a top-two center in the league. His dominance has been nothing short of spectacular, but KAT’s reason behind his hot streak may be more personal than team success.
According to the big man himself, Karl-Anthony Towns shouldn’t even be alive right now. On February 21, KAT was involved in a motor accident when he was rear-ended by a semi truck in Minneapolis. Towns said he had a “5% chance” of surviving the collision. Even if that’s a mild exaggeration, it doesn’t take away from horrifying truth: it could’ve been a lot worse.
By the sounds of it, KAT is extremely fortunate to have been able to compete so soon after his accident. Town’s has clearly kicked his game up a notch since the accident, possibly because he now knows life can change in an instant.
Enough talk about car crashes, let’s look at KAT’s recent performance.
In the nine games that he’s played since the All-Star break and the accident, Towns has averaged an astounding 34 PPG on 52.6% shooting. He leads the league in PPG since the break. KAT is also fourth in RPG with 13.4, as well as ninth in 3PTs made a game.
Although his shooting from deep is almost unrivaled among NBA centers (trailing only Kevin Love post-All-Star), where KAT has truly dominated is in the paint. In the same nine games, he leads the league in post-ups with 13.1 a game and is second in points off post-ups with 7.9 a night. He’s also third in points off drives among centers. Simply put, Karl-Anthony Towns has been absolutely unstoppable.
Even with his monstrous performances, Towns’ Timberwolves are 3-6 in games he’s played since the All-Star break. This could be attributed to the lack of help he has or simply the lack of motivation from teammates.
Either way, none of the blame should be thrown on Towns himself. His ability to produce at such an efficient rate is only beneficial to the 10th in the West T-Wolves. The truth is, the Timberwolves aren’t making the playoffs regardless if KAT balls out or not. What NBA fans have been witnessing from him this past month has been spectacular.
The more astounding part is that he’s only 23 years old, and his game will only improve from where it is now. We’re observing KAT finally break out of his shell and become the generational talent everyone knew he could become. Karl-Anthony Towns has established himself as one of the most dominant players in the league, and only good things will come if he continues playing like this.
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