Karl-Anthony Towns Says He Takes Timberwolves History of Losing Personally

The Minnesota Timberwolves' NBA playoff hopes hinge on Wednesday's game against the Denver Nuggets, and Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns isn't downplaying the impact of potentially ending a 13-year postseason drought.

Towns said he sees ending Minnesota's record of futility as a way to repay the faith the franchise has shown in him, per Jace Frederick of the Pioneer Press:

"This franchise is a part of me. This franchise has given me the start to my career. It's given me the life that I've always wanted to live. I'm forever grateful to this franchise, so yeah, I take those things very personally, and tomorrow is a game that's bigger than just how I feel. It's bigger than all of us. We have to go out there and win, not just for ourselves, not for this coaching staff, not for this organization, but for everyone in the state of Minnesota. They deserve this moment."

The Timberwolves were on pace to comfortably qualify for the postseason until Jimmy Butler had meniscus surgery in January. Butler missed 17 games and Minnesota went 8-9 over that stretch to slip down the Western Conference standings.

The situation is straightforward for the Timberwolves, who sit in eighth place by virtue of the head-to-head tiebreaker with the Nuggets. Minnesota clinches a playoff berth with a victory Wednesday, but it will miss the postseason if Denver wins.

Fans in Minnesota haven't had a lot to cheer about since the team traded Kevin Garnett in 2007. This is the first time the Timberwolves will finish over .500 since 2004-05. Once again finishing outside of the top eight would represent a major disappointment, even when factoring in Butler's injury.