Timberwolves fans have seen rookie Karl-Anthony Towns spend his first NBA season redefining what a big man can be. He can score inside and out, hit a three-pointer and pass. He went to Toronto for All-Star Weekend and became the first big man to win the skills competition.
Here's what else he can do: Turn a defensive rebound into and end-to-end one-man fast break. He did it again Wednesday night, scoring in the Wolves' 113-104 victory over Sacramento.
But another drive to the hoop didn't end so well. Just before his end-to-end act, Towns caught a pass and was dribbling down the lane, getting ready to score, when Kings guard Rajon Rondo set up in front of him and became a human bowling pin. Towns ran Rondo over, with both falling to the ground. Towns was called for the charge.
Which begs the question: Does interim coach Sam Mitchell want such a valuable commodity taking chances with his body?
The answer is a qualified yes.
"I look at it like this," Mitchell said. "As long as he's not in foul trouble, if the worst thing that happens is that a little guard steps in front of him and he runs him over, it's not a bad thing."
Then Mitchell said, with a smile: "Especially if it's their starting point guard. If he's going to step in front of a 6-11, 240-pound guy going full speed, and take a charge, OK. Because next time guys will get out of the way."
Towns? You know he's going to keep doing it.
"It's something I've been doing since high school," he said. "Didn't do much of it in college. But it's something I have in my game, the ability to dribble the ball, go coast-to-coast, make things happen."
Towns said the key is knowing when to do it. Namely when the opposition is making it hard to outlet the ball to a guard.
"And most of the time their bigs are running back and their eyes aren't on the ball. I try to put pressure on the defense. If I can see something, a crack, something to help the team, I'm going to do it."
Towns, who picked up his 42nd double-double against Sacramento, has Mitchell's blessing.
"Seventy-five percent of the time he's made the right play," Mitchell said. "It's something we don't encourage him to do. But he's been showing us he can do a lot of different things. Sometimes you have to turn your head as a coach and say, 'Go on, big fella.' "
Cold and hot
Zach LaVine said he felt fine, but the Wolves guard clearly wasn't into the game in the first half of Wednesday's victory. He took two shots, missed them both and didn't score a point.
He made up for it. In the second half he made seven of 10 shots, four of six three-pointers and scored 23 points.
"I felt fine," he said. "It's just you have to get into the rhythm of the game. And sometimes that's hard," said LaVine, who led a Wolves attack that shot 69.7 percent in the second half.
"I looked to be more aggressive in the second half."
So what was LaVine concerned about most after the game? His dad. Paul LaVine, a former pro football player, is apparently quite exacting. And Zach LaVine knew his dad wouldn't be happy with his son's 5-for-10 showing at the free-throw line.
"I can already hear my dad about to call me about the free throws," he said.
