Chaotic end of third quarter in Atlanta. Karl-Anthony Towns thought he punished the Hawks with a nice backwards shot at the buzzer in that period. Except that the referees went to take a look at the action, while all the protagonists had returned to their bench.
Double problem on this sequence of play. The interior of the Wolves dragged his leg and touched his defender, Onyeka Okongwu. This gesture earned him a level 1 flagrant foul. Then, on the same action, “KAT” looked insistently at his vis-à-vis who had fallen to the ground. It will be a technical foul, in addition to the cancellation of his initial basket.
A big turnaround that allowed the Hawks to start the last period not with an 8-point lead, but 13 following the game of free throws scored by the locals. ” I’ve never seen this in an NBA game “, still hallucinating Karl-Anthony Towns after the meeting, before adding, cautiously: “ Telling the truth in this league gets you a fine, so no comment.“
His coach, Chris Finch, also struggled to understand the situation: “ I thought they went to check if the shot was valid, and then they were able to determine that it was a blatant one. I didn’t even know it was possible. With technique as a bonus.“
Wolves in talks with the league
If the decisions of the arbitrators, who have sent off earlier in the same quarter Anthony Edwards, are debatable, D’Angelo Russell considers that his teammate and friend must be careful in his reactions.
” He likes to get angry sometimes, you know what I mean? I realize he likes it, but there’s a thin line with when it affects the game. I realized he likes it because every other game you can face it “, notes the Wolves leader, whose teammate has received eight technical fouls this season, which already brings him closer to his career “high” (nine in 2019).
Because of his proximity to the interior, could D’Angelo Russell have a positive iNFLuence on him compared to the referees? ” I can’t do it for him. He’s a smart guy. He knows what he does, what he says. It could affect the team. […] There is a time to be enthusiastic and loud with the referees and the opponent, but you also have to find the time when it does not affect the team.“
For his part, their coach believes that the frustration from the inside is “ extremely palpable and justified at times. I see him entering the field being strong and he takes shots. He must try to finish despite the contacts. I can understand him getting frustrated with that sort of thing. We spoke to him. We also dialogued with the league at different levels to try to improve its relationship. This is a work in progress with us.“
This season, his inside is getting around six free throws per game (19th in the league), a very slight drop in average from his previous seasons.
| Karl Anthony Towns | Percentage | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | party | Int | bp | CT | Points |
| 2015-16 | MIN | 82 | 32 | 54.3 | 34.1 | 81.1 | 2.8 | 7.7 | 10.4 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 0.7 | 2.2 | 1.7 | 18.3 |
| 2016-17 | MIN | 82 | 37 | 54.2 | 36.7 | 83.2 | 3.6 | 8.7 | 12.3 | 2.7 | 2.9 | 0.7 | 2.6 | 1.3 | 25.1 |
| 2017-18 | MIN | 82 | 36 | 54.5 | 42.1 | 85.8 | 2.9 | 9.4 | 12.3 | 2.4 | 3.5 | 0.8 | 1.9 | 1.4 | 21.3 |
| 2018-19 | MIN | 77 | 33 | 51.8 | 40.0 | 83.6 | 3.4 | 9.0 | 12.4 | 3.4 | 3.8 | 0.9 | 3.1 | 1.6 | 24.4 |
| 2019-20 | MIN | 35 | 34 | 50.8 | 41.2 | 79.6 | 2.7 | 8.1 | 10.8 | 4.4 | 3.3 | 0.9 | 3.1 | 1.2 | 26.5 |
| 2020-21 | MIN | 50 | 34 | 48.6 | 38.7 | 85.9 | 2.7 | 7.9 | 10.6 | 4.5 | 3.7 | 0.8 | 3.2 | 1.1 | 24.8 |
| 2021-22 | MIN | 37 | 35 | 52.0 | 41.3 | 81.1 | 2.9 | 6.3 | 9.2 | 3.6 | 3.7 | 1.1 | 3.4 | 1.2 | 24.5 |
| Total | 445 | 34 | 52.7 | 39.6 | 83.3 | 3.1 | 8.4 | 11.4 | 3.0 | 3.4 | 0.8 | 2.7 | 1.4 | 23.1 | |
