Timberwolves coach Sam Mitchell took the long view with the short-term focus on Karl-Anthony Towns, the NBA's Western Conference rookie of the month for November who is suddenly watching crunch time from the bench.
"Why are we going to burn him out 18 games into a 20-year-old's career?" Mitchell said. "It doesn't make sense."
Towns spent the entire fourth quarter of Tuesday's 96-93 loss to Orlando at Target Center on the bench.
"Put in Towns!" one fan yelled during the final frame.
"Thank you!" responded another fan a section away.
Towns led all rookies in rebounds (9.