An illness wasn’t enough to keep Karl-Anthony Towns out of Wednesday night’s game against his former team.
Towns popped up on the Knicks’ injury report with a questionable label on Wednesday morning due to an undisclosed illness, and head coach Mike Brown described the star big man as a game-time decision.
But Towns was cleared before tip-off against the Minnesota Timberwolves and occupied his usual spot in the Knicks’ starting lineup.
The Knicks acquired Towns, 29, in the October 2024 blockbuster trade that sent forward Julius Randle and guard Donte DiVincenzo to Minnesota.
Towns faced the Wolves in Minneapolis last December — and erupted for 32 points and 20 rebounds that night — but he missed the Knicks’ only game against them at the Garden last season with a sprained thumb.
“I’m a Knick, so I think about nothing else but this team,” Towns said during his on-court interview after Monday night’s win over the Washington Wizards.
“Happy to be here. Happy to be in front of these fans. Happy to be in the Garden, the Mecca. Can’t wait to go out there and compete again.”
Towns has also dealt with what he described as a Grade 2 quad strain, but the 11-year NBA veteran is yet to miss a game this season.
The quad strain no longer appears on the Knicks’ injury report.
Towns, who spent his first nine seasons with the Wolves, entered Wednesday averaging 20.4 points and 13.1 rebounds per game through seven appearances.
ANT ALSO ACTIVE
Anthony Edwards returned ahead of schedule — and just in time to face the Knicks.
The Timberwolves superstar was cleared for Wednesday’s game after sitting out of the previous four with a right hamstring strain.
Edwards, 24, suffered the injury on Oct. 26 and was originally expected to miss at least two weeks, but he beat that timeline by a few days.
Wednesday’s game marked the Wolves’ only trip to the Garden this season, but head coach Chris Finch downplayed that being a factor in Edwards’ earlier-than-anticipated return.
“Arena and stage aside, I think it’s more just [that] he’s itching to play,” Finch said. “One thing we love about Ant, he plays. He’s played in 95 percent of the games in his career, I would imagine, and he wants to play, no matter where that is.”
Edwards had been cleared on Monday to resume on-court activities. The high-scoring guard went through a comprehensive pregame workout on the Garden court more than two hours before Wednesday’s tip-off.
“They’re a good team regardless,” Brown said. “We’re preparing like he’s gonna play, but it’s a really good team. Tim Connelly’s done a nice job putting the team together.”
Edwards entered Wednesday averaging 25.7 points, four rebounds and two assists per game through three appearances this season.
