Karl-Anthony Towns out for Saturday's game with a knee injury

Towns suffered the injury late in Thursday night's win over the Lakers.

Minnesota Timberwolves forward Karl-Anthony Towns will miss Saturday's game against the Sacramento Kings after suffering a knee injury late in Thursday's win over the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Athletic's Jon Krawczynski reported that Towns is working through some knee soreness after leaving Thursday's game in the fourth quarter and the decision to hold him out is precautionary since the Timberwolves don't play again until Tuesday night..

I’m told that KAT’s absence tomorrow is precautionary and he is not expected to miss extended time. Just working through some soreness. Wolves don’t play again until Tuesday https://t.co/L2lEw5b1y7

— Jon Krawczynski (@JonKrawczynski) December 22, 2023

Towns is having a strong season for the Timberwolves, averaging 22.2 points, 9.5 rebounds and three assists in 27 games this year. The 28-year-old was also three games removed from his first 40-point game of the season when he left Thursday's win over the Lakers.

The Timberwolves will have issues in the short term as Rudy Gobert and Naz Reid will have to defend Kings forward Domantas Sabonis (19.0 ppg, 12.2 rpg, 7.4 apg) on Saturday night, but it's good news that Towns is unlikely to miss extended time due to the injury.