NBA Rumors: T-Wolves Have 'Optimism' After MRI on Karl-Anthony Towns' Injury

The Minnesota Timberwolves' only chance at a late-season surge is with a healthy Karl-Anthony Towns, and they reportedly received some welcome news along that front.

Towns left Saturday's 135-130 overtime win over the Washington Wizards with a right knee injury, but Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported Sunday "there is optimism about the MRI results."

Despite the optimism, the Timberwolves announced Towns would not play in Sunday's matchup versus the New York Knicks.

Minnesota is six games behind the San Antonio Spurs for the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference with 16 contests remaining, so it can ill-afford to lose Towns for any significant time period.

He scored 40 points and grabbed 16 rebounds before exiting Saturday's win, continuing his torrid stretch. The Kentucky product has scored at least 34 points in five of his last seven games, reaching the 40-point mark three times in that span. Towns is averaging 24.5 points, 12.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.7 blocks per game this season.

While Towns didn't miss a game in any of his first three seasons in the league, he missed two games in February after being involved in a car accident.

Minnesota turned to the combination of Taj Gibson, Dario Saric and Anthony Tolliver in the frontcourt when Towns was previously sidelined and would likely do so again until he is ready to return following this setback.