Lakers Injury Report: All-Star Minnesota Big Man Questionable Vs LA

Ahead of the Lakers' marquee matchup with the Minnesota Timberwolves at Target Center tonight, Wolves star big man Karl-Anthony Towns has been deemed questionable due to a knee ailment, per the NBA's official injury report.

Towns has been on a couple of prior injury reports recently for the same ailment but has managed to stay out on the floor.

A potential absence from the former no. 1 overall pick would be a huge blow for a team that lacks secondary creation behind young superstar Anthony Edwards, as while the team performs as a collective, they lack pieces behind Towns and Edwards who can be trusted with the ball in their hands to score at a high level.

This is evident in Towns and Edwards being the only players to even average above 12.9 points per game, as outside of them, Rudy Gobert, who relies almost entirely on lobs and put-backs to score, is their leading scorer.

In the case that Towns sits, there are two candidates to draw the start.

The first is Naz Reid, and unfortunately for the Lakers, he's his own problem to worry about.

The LSU product averages 16.5 points and 7.0 rebounds per game as a starter, and given that he hasn't started any games this season, but has improved as a player, those numbers may potentially increase by a lot.

The second is the player who drew the start in the only game Towns has missed all season – their 110-98 victory over the Kings last week, Kyle Anderson.

Anderson is a terrific two-way player with great size and positional versatility as a wing and has been used as a Swiss army knife on both sides of the ball.

Given that LeBron James usually draws the start at power forward for the Lakers, the absence of Towns should probably lead to Anderson starting, as he's a better defensive piece as it pertains to guarding James.

Either way, however, I'd be surprised if Towns sat, seeing as he's been playing amidst questionable designations (for this exact injury) for a bit now.