Friday night’s NBA slate features nine games with injuries and questionable players. We’ll analyze the following two: New Orleans Pelicans at Indiana Pacers: 7 p.m. ET 7 p.m. ET Minnesota Timberwolves at New York Knicks: 7:30 p.m. ET Note: The information below is as of 2:00 p.m. ET. For up-to-the-minute news and analysis, check out our live news feed and follow us on Twitter. Wolves C Karl-Anthony Towns Is Questionable Injury background: Coach Ryan Saunders revealed that Towns was involved in a car accident on Thursday on his way to the airport. Details of the specific injury are scarce, but Towns was not at shootaround and is officially questionable to suit up against the Knicks. Andrew Wiggins (illness) and Tyus Jones (ankle) have been removed from the injury report, while Robert Covington (knee) remains out at least two more games. Frontcourt depth could be a problem as backup center Gorgui Dieng has already been ruled out due to personal reasons. Tonight’s impact: Towns is arguably the league’s most durable player, as he has yet to miss a game in his career and holds the active record for consecutive games played (303). Finish reading this entire article absolutely FREE in our app GET OUR FREE APP If Friday marks his first missed game, Taj Gibson would likely start at center to match up against DeAndre Jordan. Dario Saric and Anthony Tolliver would also benefit from increased playing time in a depleted frontcourt, while Luol Deng can fill in for extra minutes at power forward. Towns leads the team with a 26.5% usage rate this season, and his potential absence opens up plenty of offensive opportunities for his teammates. Wiggins, Derrick Rose, and Jeff Teague stand to be the primary beneficiaries if Towns is ruled out, with each player posting a usage differential of at least +6.1% with Towns off the court after trading away Jimmy Butler. Wiggins has led the team with an average of 1.21 DraftKings points per minute in that situation, while Teague is the best pure value on DraftKings given his FantasyLabs Bargain Rating of 96%. The Wolves also have an excellent matchup vs. the Knicks, who rank just 28th in Defensive Rating this season. The consensus line has moved two full points in favor of the Knicks, suggesting that the Wolves could play it safe and rest Towns in the front end of a back-to-back. With Towns off the court this season, Minnesota’s offense drastically suffers, dropping from a 111.5 Offensive Rating to a 103.1 Offensive Rating. Pacers C Myles Turner (Hip) Is Questionable, SG Tyreke Evans (Ankle) Is Questionable Injury background: Turner is listed questionable on the injury report for Friday due to a bruised left hip. Evans suffered an ankle injury before the All-Star break and was limited to a partial practice on Thursday. He could wind up receiving an MRI to determine the severity of the injury. Tonight’s impact: Turner missed four straight games in early January with a shoulder injury and Domantas Sabonis replaced him in the starting lineup each time. Sabonis would likely draw the start again if Turner is unable to suit up, and he has led the team with 39 DraftKings points per game in five full games without Turner this season, per the NBA On/Off Tool. He presently carries the third-highest rating on DraftKings in the Phan Model, and a potential boost in playing time would propel him to the chalk option at PF/C at just $5,500. If Turner plays, he’ll also make for a strong play on DraftKings, where he holds a 98% Bargain Rating and is currently the top-rated center option. The matchup is favorable as the Pelicans rank 22nd in defensive efficiency against opposing centers this season. Fewer minutes for Anthony Davis certainly helps as well. Wesley Matthews has displaced Evans in the starting lineup but has failed to reach his salary-based expectation. If Evans is forced to miss time, Aaron Holiday will most likely re-enter the rotation, but his lack of minutes upside curbs his tournament appeal. The Pacers play at a faster pace with Turner off the court, but the defense worsens, dropping from a 101.4 Defensive Rating to a 103.3 Defensive Rating. Sabonis ranks as a slightly above-average defender in Defensive Real Plus/Minus, while Turner currently ranks third out of all centers in DRPM. The total is presently at 222.5, and value could be found on the over if Turner ends up being ruled out.<doc-sep>Former Kentucky Wildcats star Karl-Anthony Towns was involved in an auto accident, but it appears he avoided any major injuries. Towns was part of an accident on Thursday while on the way to the airport. He flew into New York last night and was excused from shootaround this morning to rest at the hotel. In a statement released by the Minnesota Timberwolves, interim head coach Ryan Saunders announced that Towns is questionable for tonight’s game vs. the New York Knicks. It’s unclear what kind of injuries Towns may have sustained, but it appears they were minor at best if he’s able to return to action soon. Towns was just part of the NBA All-Star Game as a reserve for Team LeBron, He finished with 11 points on 5/7 shooting, three rebounds, one assist and one steal in 11 minutes in what was his second All-Star appearance. Best wishes to Towns for a speedy recovery.<doc-sep>It's unclear if Towns suffered any injuries in the crash. Timberwolves All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns is questionable to play in Friday night's game against the New York Knicks after being involved in a car accident on Thursday. Head coach Ryan Saunders said Friday morning from New York that Towns' accident happened when he was on his way to the airport to leave for New York. "He flew into New York last night and was excused from shootaround this morning to rest at the hotel," the team said on Twitter. It's unclear if Towns was injured in the crash, but Andrew Wiggins and Tyus Jones told reporters that they've seen Towns and he is doing OK. Nor is it clear where the crash happened or if there were other vehicles involved. Towns, who has never missed a game in his four-year career, played in the NBA All-Star Game in Charlotte on Sunday and is averaging 23.1 points and 12 rebounds this season. Gorgui Dieng will not play Friday night because of personal reasons, so if Towns misses the game the Wolves will have to rely on Taj Gibson and Dario Saric in the frontcourt.<doc-sep>
NEW YORK — Karl-Anthony Towns is missing a game for the first time in his career, unable to play for Minnesota against the Knicks on Friday night following a car accident. The All-Star forward was placed in the concussion protocol earlier in the day, ending his streak of 303 consecutive games started. Coach Ryan Saunders said the streak was never discussed when he talked with Towns earlier Friday, and there was no hope of extending it once Towns entered the concussion protocol. A player can only return then once he has passed a battery of tests and been symptom free. "I’d just like to have him out there because he’s a pretty good player," Saunders said. "So the streak, I think that is something that everybody should definitely take note of with Karl’s durability and his toughness and how he approaches the game, but from a coach’s viewpoint you’d like to have like Karl on the floor whenever you can." Towns had played in his second consecutive All-Star game before he was involved in a car accident on his way to the airport. He was cleared to fly and arrived in New York and originally ruled questionable, but after further examination he was placed in the concussion protocol. Towns had started every game since being the No. 1 pick in the 2015 draft, the longest streak to begin a career since 1970-71. The New Jersey product would have been playing close to home Friday. It wasn’t immediately clear where the accident occurred. Minneapolis police said they didn’t handle any incident involving Towns and Saunders had no other details before the game. Saunders didn’t know if Towns would travel with the team for its game Saturday in Milwaukee, or return to Minnesota.