Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns putting his offense in drive

INDIANAPOLIS – Next week, Karl-Anthony Towns will be participating in the NBA's three-point contest during the All-Star break in Atlanta.

Towns earned the invitation because he is one perhaps the best shooting big man in the league and of the best shooters in the league, regardless of position, at 41% from three-point range.

So it's a little ironic that as Towns is about to chuck as many three-pointers as he can in a short amount of time, the number of threes he has taken during games has gone down of late. That's because Towns has been focusing more on driving to the basket than trying to hit threes.

"I can't fall out of love with it," Towns said of three-pointers. "But not falling in love with it during the game where it's something I'm just leaning on. I've worked so hard on my body and so hard on just the maturation of my body. I feel like finishing at the rim is even easier for me now than it's been my whole career and I've done it pretty well."

Towns is averaging 5.2 three-point attempts per game this season but hasn't taken more than five since Jan. 28.

In that span, Towns has averaged 10 drives to the basket per game, according to tracking data available on NBA.com. That's tied with the Knicks' Julius Randle for most drives by someone the league considers a center.

The 10 drives per game is an uptick for Towns compared to his season average — 7.4 per game. That's more than some of his counterparts throughout the league like Philadelphia's Joel Embiid (5.1) and Denver's Nikola Jokic (3.6). Towns is averaging a 57.3% field-goal percentage when he shoots after driving.

The drives are one way for the Wolves and Towns to combat some of the double teams he faces when he catches the ball in the post. Teams are less likely to double him on the perimeter and he has a chance to beat his initial man before additional traffic tries to stop him as he's going to the hoop.

"Just utilizing it to the best of my advantage, understanding we got Ant [Anthony Edwards] and D-Lo [D'Angelo Russell]. That drive opens up a lot of easy, open jumpers for us."

But sometimes his teammates don't want him to pass out of the drives.

"I just try to get out of his way …" Edwards said. "When he starts driving, I just tried to get out of the way. I don't even try to get in his view. He's so unselfish that if you get in his view and he think you open, he gonna pass it. So I try to get out the way."

While the Wolves defense has struggled of late, the team's offensive efficiency ranks third in the NBA over the past 15 games. Towns' commitment to getting to the hoop has had a big part in that. He might not always get assists when he passes out of the drives, but they cause the defense to shift around, and with good ball movement the Wolves can get open looks playing off Towns.

"It's an efficient scoring opportunity," Towns said, "and with these guys the way they're spotting up and they're in the right positions … gives them a chance to hit open threes. It also puts pressure on [the defense]. They're going to have to change."