Karl-Anthony Towns avoids serious injury

The best news for the Timberwolves came off the court Sunday, as further testing on a right knee injury to Karl-Anthony Towns showed no serious injury, interim coach Ryan Saunders said.

"Things came back normal," Saunders said. "He got an MRI. It's just a re-aggravation of some knee soreness."

Towns did not play in Sunday's 103-92 victory over the Knicks, with the Wolves holding the All-Star center out as a precaution officially because of right knee inflammation. But the Wolves dodged the worst; a more serious injury such as a torn ACL could have put Towns' availability for next season in question. Instead he might only miss a few days.

"It is a relief and especially any time a player is playing like Karl is, he's a big part of what we do," Saunders said. "Obviously we want to keep him on the court."

Towns suffered the injury in Saturday's 135-130 overtime victory over the Wizards with 8.3 seconds remaining in regulation. He took himself out of the game after injuring himself on an inbounds play and was unable to play in OT. Saunders said there will be communication between Towns and the Wolves medical staff on when Towns returns to the lineup.

"That's the one thing you want. Make sure to listen to the player and how he's feeling," Towns said. "But we have very smart medical people here and we have people who make informed decisions on things and we have good communicators so we're all going to communicate that and make sure everybody is on the same page."

In Saturday's game, Saunders gave extended minutes to Cameron Reynolds, who is on his second 10-day contract. Reynolds played 20 minutes, scoring five points, and was in the game for most of the fourth quarter, something that surprised even Reynolds.

"I was telling Keita [Bates-Diop] one time a sub came in and I thought [Derrick] Rose was going to get me and he came and got someone else. I was shocked on the court," said Reynolds, who then played 18 minutes against New York, scoring three points. "But I just got to be ready. Stay prepared and do the right things and everything is going to work out."

Reynolds, who was on the Kings' G-League team earlier this season after playing in college at Tulane, said being with the Wolves and getting the chance to play meaningful minutes was a "dream come true."

"It shows they didn't bring me here just to be here," Reynolds said. "They want to see something. Hopefully I showed the right things and I appreciate the opportunity they gave me."

If the Wolves want to keep him, they have to sign him to a season-long contract at the end of this current deal. Until then, he's going to try and make the most of it.

"I wasn't really putting any pressure on myself. At the end of the day it's just basketball …" he said. "Just being in the system for the first 10 days and going on the second 10 days I really feel comfortable."

Andrew Wiggins missed his second consecutive games because of a left quad contusion. Bates-Diop made his second consecutive start in Wiggins' place. Luol Deng (sore left Achilles') and Robert Covington (right knee bone bruise) also were out.