NBA Game Preview - Sacramento at Minnesota

Mon Feb 25, 2019 8:00 PM EST

Karl-Anthony Towns played in the first 303 regular-season games of his career and had no idea his impressive streak would end this season.

A collision with a semitrailer on a Minneapolis freeway changed the situation for the two-time All-Star.

Towns suffered a concussion during Thursday's car accident and missed two games but he has cleared the concussion protocol and will play in Monday night's home game against the Sacramento Kings, the team announced.

He told reporters at Monday's shootaround that he was "lucky to be alive."

"The accident could have went -- I'd say I had a 5 percent chance of making it out alive," Towns told reporters. "I hit the 5 percent mark. I'd say 4 percent was to be seriously injured, and 1 percent was to be minorly injured -- and I came out in the 1 percent."

Towns was a passenger in a car driven by Timberwolves assistant strength and conditioning coach Kurt Joseph; the two were en route to the airport to catch the team's flight for Friday's road game against the New York Knicks.

As traffic slowed in the area, a semi hit the vehicle from behind, according to the Minnesota Star Tribune. Towns declined medical attention for a minor injury and later took a commercial flight to join the team in New York.

Team trainers diagnosed him with a concussion, and Friday's victory over the Knicks marked the first missed contest of his career. He also sat out Saturday's loss against the Milwaukee Bucks.

Towns has 37 double-doubles while averaging 23.1 points and 12.0 rebounds, and the Timberwolves certainly missed him during the 140-128 loss to the Bucks.

Minnesota held a two-point edge over the NBA's best team after three quarters before being outscored 33-19 in the final period.

The setback halted a three-game winning streak for the Timberwolves, who look to bounce back against a Sacramento squad that has won six of its past nine games.

The Kings played a splendid game on Saturday night in Oklahoma City when they dispatched Paul George, Russell Westbrook and the rest of the Thunder by a 119-116 score.

Shooting guard Buddy Hield poured in 34 points in a win he relished -- he played college basketball at Oklahoma -- and the performance came in the first contest since he was berated by coach Dave Joerger for taking a 32-foot 3-point shot (which he made) late in Thursday's 125-123 loss to the Golden State Warriors.

After the on-court tongue-lashing, Golden State forward Kevin Durant, who heard the exchange, reportedly said the following to Hield: "What's wrong with your coach? You made a great shot."

Hield downplayed the incident when asked about it after Saturday's contest. So did Joerger when he addressed the situation prior to the game.

"Those kinds of things do happen and they are resolved when it's over," Joerger said. "What happens on the court happens on the court and things are said. I love him. We have a great group of guys, good chemistry, and we get along very well."

Hield leads the squad with a 20.7-point average, and the Kings are suddenly getting big-time performances from 2018 second overall pick Marvin Bagley III. He has recorded back-to-back double-doubles after having 19 points and 10 rebounds against the Thunder and is averaging 22.5 points over the last four games.

The Kings are 2-1 against the Timberwolves this season but were routed 132-105 on Dec. 17 in their first visit to Minnesota.

--Field Level Media