Karl-Anthony Towns' No-Show Crushed by Fans as Timberwolves Lose to Jokić, Nuggets

A furious third-quarter comeback was all for naught as the Minnesota Timberwolves fell 122-113 to the Denver Nuggets in Game 2 of their first-round NBA playoff series.

It looked like the contest was effectively over by halftime with Minnesota trailing by 15 points. Then the Wolves outscored the Nuggets 40-23 in the third quarter to jump ahead. Denver wrested control back in the fourth to claim a 2-0 series lead.

It was another night to forget for Karl-Anthony Towns, who has 21 points on 8-of-27 shooting through the two games. It's not the kind of output you expect to see from a franchise player, and his inability to put the Timberwolves on his back so far is glaring.

Anthony Edwards, on the other hand, stepped up to score a game-high 41 points and knocked down six three-pointers. It was a performance that reinforced how he has arguably surpassed Towns as his team's best player.

You don't want to make too many judgments on the basis of two games or even one season. Still, the Timberwolves paid a massive price in order to acquire Rudy Gobert from the Utah Jazz and win right now.

The early returns aren't promising. At the least, Minnesota doesn't appear to be any closer to a championship than it was last year.

As much as Edwards has steadily improved across his first three seasons, Towns will likely be the biggest barometer for how far the Wolves can go with this current roster. Both now and into the future, they need a lot more from their three-time All-Star.