On February 7, Beijing time, the NBA regular season continued, the Timberwolves defeated the Pistons 118-105, the first three quarters of this battle the two sides also played very anxiously, the third quarter ended the Timberwolves 83-79 lead, the fourth quarter, the Timberwolves played a wave of 35-26 in a single quarter, thus successfully defeating the opponent.
After winning this victory, the Timberwolves have won four straight, 12 in the last 17 games, and are fifth in the league in the same period, and currently have a record of 28-25, ranking seventh in the West, 1.0 wins from the nuggets (29 wins and 24 losses) in the West, and only 4.0 wins from the jazz (32 wins and 21 losses) in the west.
Back in this game, Downs's performance was still outstanding.
Towns fired in full swing in the first quarter, shooting 5-of-7 in a single quarter, scoring 10 points and 5 rebounds, and played for 38 minutes, shooting 11 of 18, 3 of 3 from three, and had 24 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 block, with a plus-minus value of +8 on the field, the second highest starting point.
During his four-game winning streak, Towns played quite well in every game:
— Against the Jazz, he had 31 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists on 10-of-17 shooting
— Against the Nuggets, he was 8-of-12, with 24 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists
Against the Pistons, he had 6-of-15 and had 21 points, 14 rebounds and 4 assists
Against the Pistons, he had 24 points, 12 rebounds and 2 assists
Among them, the 31 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists against the Jazz was the second time in his career that Towns had a triple-double, and he scored 18 points in the third quarter of this game, with a plus-minus of +20.
So far this season, Towns has played in 46 games for the Timberwolves, averaging 24.3 points, 9.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.0 steals, 1.2 blocks, 51.8 percent from the field, 40.6 percent from three-point range, and 81.4 percent from the free throw line.
Compared to previous seasons, Towns' scoring is the lowest in the past four years, rebounding is the lowest in his career, and the main reason for this change is the growth of Edwards and the arrival of Russell, due to the presence of the two, Downs's use of the ball this season has decreased to 26.8%, but his efficiency is still outstanding, the true shooting rate reached 63.0%.
Offense has always been Towns' forte, averaging 11.6 points per game under the basket this season, the 11th-highest number in the league; and outside the three-point line, Towns has always been accurate, averaging 2.2 three-pointers per game from more than 40 percent shooting, and the only big man who has shot more than him is Love (2.6).
And counting this season, Towns has been shooting more than 38% in five consecutive seasons, including more than 40% in four seasons - combined production and shooting rate, it is not an exaggeration to say that Towns is the most capable three-pointer in the active duty, and there is no one.
Looking at the whole league, there are only a few centers who are better than Towns, probably only Jokic, Embiid, and Gobert - compared to the first two, naturally compared, as for Gobert, although the independent attack is worse, but with the influence of the defensive end, the comprehensive ability is also better than Towns, so there is actually nothing wrong with Towns being the fourth center in active service.
It is worth mentioning that not long ago the All-Star bench list was announced, and Downes's name was prominently listed, which is Downs's return to the All-Star after three years, compared to three years ago, the situation is much different.
Three years ago, when Towns learned he had been named an All-Star, he excitedly threw away his phone and then hid his face and cried with joy, that year, he was only 23 years old, more like a big boy.
And this year, he returned to the All-Star but he was not excited, in the interview he said: "I don't know (why not excited), I'm just worried about whether our team can win, everything else is natural, I don't really care whether the All-Star will choose me, I value the impact of the playoffs more, I just want to pay attention to the moment, pay attention to what I can control." 」 ”
"It's cool to be an All-Star, but I'm well aware that there are more important things to do, I have bigger goals and ambitions, I have bigger honors to pursue, not disrespecting All-Stars or belittling it, I'm very honored and lucky to have this opportunity to be an All-Star, but right now, I have a bigger challenge to deal with."
When asked why there had been such a big change, Towns' answer was also calm: "Quite simply, life, it is life that changes me" - the last time Towns was selected for the All-Star, Downs's mother was still around to hug him and cry with joy, and it was obvious that his mother's death had changed him a lot.
The so-called growth, probably this is it, now Towns is 26 years old, the last time he entered the playoffs was in 2018, if you remember, that year Butler was the protagonist of the Timberwolves, and now the Wolves, maybe Edwards is more super-giant, but in Huazi grew up, Towns is the boss without compromise, I hope that this year, Towns can lead the team to rush to the playoffs.