Towns points finger at himself

Second-year star shoulders blame for Wolves’ struggles.

After the latest loss in a season that has been full of them for the Timberwolves, Karl-Anthony Towns sat at his locker with his face buried in his hands.

For at least the third time this season, the 21-year-old NBA sophomore put the entire blame on himself and his perceived inability to lead a young and promising roster out of the abyss.

“The more losses we keep accumulating, the more it feels like it’s my fault,” Towns said. “I’ve got to look myself in the mirror and I’ve got to play better. I’ve got to play a level where we can’t lose and help my teammates out the best I can . ... I haven’t done it recently.”

That kind of accountability can be admirable on its face. It shows that Towns is invested in turning one of the league’s perennial losers into a playoff team for the first time in 13 years. But that pressure can also be crushing, and the team that many observers pegged for a breakout season after adding coach Tom Thibodeau last summer appears to be playing with a weight on its shoulders that has been too heavy to carry as the season nears the quarter pole.

With Towns, Andrew Wiggins, Zach LaVine, Ricky Rubio and Kris Dunn, the Timberwolves have one of the most athletic and exciting young rosters in the league. But the enthusiasm and ebullience that so often comes with youth is nowhere to be found on the faces of these Wolves during games. They play with a joylessness that belies their billing as the league’s Next Big Thing, as if 12 years of failure that this core has had little to do with is serving as cement around their shoes.

“All these losses fall on my shoulders,” Towns said. “None of the coaching staff. None of my teammates. This is my fault. I don’t think it’s anyone’s fault but myself. It’s something I’ve got to fix. I’ve got to change for the better for us. I guess it’s back to the drawing board.”

The extra step

Some 48.7 million Americans traveled on Thanksgiving, AAA estimates. It could’ve been a lot more, but luckily the NBA didn’t schedule any games that day.

Rookie still not back

After a two-game stint in the D-League, Warriors rookie Damian Jones was back with the team last week, but not activated. Jones has finally recovered from offseason pec surgery, but is still not yet ready to be inserted into NBA action. Coach Steve Kerr said he will get more time in the D-League before playing for the Warriors.

“He played two games for Santa Cruz,” Kerr said. “We want him to play quite a bit with Santa Cruz before we really give him a chance here. He needs to build his conditioning and his timing, but we want to bring him back periodically during that time so that he’s still a part of everything and still kind of going through some practices with us too.”

Talko time

Lakers coach Luke Walton, after the Warriors had 47 assists on 53 field goals in a 149-106 rout of his team: “One of the greatest stats I’ve ever heard or seen.”