The Minnesota Timberwolves are peaking at the perfect time.
After securing a 106-99 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Monday night, the Timberwolves are taking a 2-0 lead back to Minnesota.
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What’s even more impressive is that the Wolves did so without former NBA Defensive Player of the Year, Ruby Gobert. Gobert missed Game 2 in order to be there for the birth of his son.
Which meant that Minnesota’s burden in the front court (especially when it came to guarding Nikola Jokic) fell to Towns.
And Towns delivered. He added 20 points on an efficient 8-13 from the field, along with grabbing 4 rebounds and adding 3 assists.
Towns spoke with TNT’s Allie LaForce minutes after Monday night’s win, and explained how he understood the assignment with Gobert absent.
“When you don’t got the Defensive Player of the Year, you gotta step your game up,” Towns said. “We understood the challenge. We just wanted to come here and find a way to win the game.”