The Minnesota Timberwolves are filled to the brim with young talent such as Karl-Anthony Towns, who is pegged as a potential competitor for fellow rookies Jahlil Okafor, D'Angelo Russell and Kristaps Porzingis. With Kevin Garnet as his mentor, the rookie also has Andrew Wiggins, Ricky Rubio and Zach LaVine as support. Despite being at the bottom of the Western Conference, the likes of Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, Kawhi Leonard, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook remain threatened of Wiggins and company. Moreover, analysts reveal that Towns might just be the answer to the Stephen Curry conundrum.
The chemistry of the super team of the Golden State Warriors, which features Curry, Thompson and Green, have been compared to the team up of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili as well as Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen. Although the Splash Brothers plus Green appear to be unbeatable these days, the key to their fall might just be lurking in the Minnesota Timberwolves locker room. To be more specific, the Golden State Warriors are said to be possibly beaten by the partnership of Wiggins and Towns.
"If you want to make a comparison for Wiggins and Towns, you could say they are the next Kobe and Shaquille O'Neal, only they don't hate each other," noted Justin Rowan of Hoops Habit. The expert, who rejected the comparisons between Wiggins and Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James, noted that the 21-year-old has grown tremendously in the charts. With the shocking 124-117 loss of the Golden State Warriors to the Minnesota Timberwolves, can Wiggins and Towns truly be the answer to the formidable Curry reign?
"My team is good. We can win on any given night," said Towns after their win over the Golden State Warriors. He added, "[This gives us] a lot of confidence. They're the best team with the best record, right now. So we came into the game thinking we've got to beat them," Wiggins added. "It was a good challenge for us, a young team. If we want to make the playoffs, this is a team we're going to have to beat in the playoffs, to win the playoffs."
Like Wiggins, Towns has also been gaining attention as of late. While the older player is compared with LeBron James, the style and aggressive stance of the rookie prompted others to see him as the next Kawhi Leonard. Moreover, experts feel that Towns could be the force to finally put an end to the Golden State Warriors' successful playing style.
"Towns not only holds his own against guards, he shuts them down," observed Key Dae of SB Nation. He added, "Absolutely bricks them. A guard getting switched onto Towns this season has about the same chance of success as a guard getting switched onto Kawhi Leonard. Meaning, that guard should pass to someone else."
Pointing out the matchup between the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Golden State Warriors, Dae shared that Steve Kerr rejected the idea of placing Green against the rookie. He noted, "[A]gainst the Wolves, that would leave Green at a 6" height disadvantage against Towns, making him easy prey in the low post. Kerr seemed unwilling to test that too, playing Bogut a season high in minutes against the Wolves."
Hence, the presence of Towns caused a "matchup problem" in every part of the Golden State Warriors game plan. With this in mind, Dae noted that the up and coming star might just be the "answer" to the Stephen Curry dilemma in the NBA today. That is, teams can win if they have a center as versatile as Towns.
