Karl Anthony-Towns' Monster Night Leads Timberwolves Past Lakers Without LeBron

The Los Angeles Lakers lost their third game in a row, falling 108-86 to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday at Target Center in Minneapolis.

The Lakers are now 1-5 since LeBron James suffered a groin strain in their win over the Golden State Warriors on Christmas Day.

In addition to James, Los Angeles was without the services of Kyle Kuzma. The team announced he'd be a game-time decision because of a lower back contusion.

Jeff Teague and Andrew Wiggins capitalized on a short-handed Lakers squad, scoring 15 and 28 points apiece. Karl-Anthony Towns also had a big game (28 points, 18 rebounds).

LeBron's Extended Absence Beginning to Significantly Damage Lakers' Playoff Seeding

After beating the Warriors, the Lakers were 20-14 and fourth in the Western Conference, 2.5 games ahead of the ninth-place San Antonio Spurs. Now, Los Angeles is eighth in the West, with one game separating the team from the Utah Jazz in ninth.

This isn't news to any NBA fans, but LeBron's teams are demonstrably worse when he isn't on the court.

For the Lakers, in particular, their younger players are suddenly tasked with having to do a lot more without the security James' presence provides.

In theory, the trio of Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram and Kuzma would have more responsibility to take pressure off James and grow accustomed to playing for a postseason contender. In reality, James' usage rate this year (31.3 percent) is almost equal to that of his final year with the Cleveland Cavaliers (31.6 percent), per Basketball Reference.

As a result, the Lakers are losing valuable ground in the West playoff race, so much so they could fall out altogether by the end of the year.

Last season, three games separated the third-seeded Portland Trail Blazers from the ninth-place Denver Nuggets. The gap is likely to be just as slim again in 2018-19. The New Orleans Pelicans occupy the second-to-last spot in the conference, yet they're only three games behind the Lakers.

James is set to miss at least another week with his groin injury. By the time he returns, Los Angeles might be on the outside looking in to the top eight.

Karl-Anthony Towns Building All-Star Case with Seventh Straight Double-Double

When the NBA released the first fan voting returns for the 2019 All-Star Game, Towns didn't even crack the top 10. He had fewer votes than Steven Adams, Kuzma and DeMarcus Cousins, the last of whom hasn't even played this year.

Having Jimmy Butler publicly call out Towns didn't help, and the fourth-year big man struggled out of the gate, with the ongoing Butler drama clearly impacting his performance. In Minnesota's first 13 games, Towns averaged 19.9 points, 10.8 rebounds and 2.1 blocks, which are good but not necessarily All-Star-caliber good.

Towns is hitting a different level of late. He now has double-doubles in each of his last seven games, a stretch in which he's putting up 28.3 points and 17.0 rebounds a night.

As Butler engineered his exit from Minnesota and burned whatever bridges he had left, Towns' leadership ability was justifiably questioned. It wasn't reassuring for the Timberwolves when other NBA players were essentially siding with Butler during the situation.

Butler's departure has allowed Towns to shine again and erase any lingering skepticism about his viability as the Timberwolves' franchise player.

The All-Star competition will be tight in the West frontcourt. James, Kevin Durant, Luka Doncic, Paul George and Anthony Davis are all locks either through their performances or their fan popularity. The door should be open for Towns to make his second All-Star team, and he's doing more than enough on the court to warrant consideration.

What's Next?

The Timberwolves hit the road Tuesday to play the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Lakers have little time to rest as they head straight to Texas for a Monday matchup with the Dallas Mavericks.