Karl-Anthony Towns had just 8 points in his playoff debut, and everyone knows that’s a problem

The Minnesota Timberwolves had a shot to shock the top-seeded Houston Rockets in Game 1 of their playoff showdown, but fell three points shy of their first postseason win since 2004.

In a related story, Karl-Anthony Towns scored just eight points in his playoff debut.

Towns was swallowed whole by potential Defensive Player of the Year Clint Capela, taking just nine shots after a season where he’d averaged more than 14 per game. He shot 33 percent from the field after making 54.5 percent of his shots this winter. Late in the third quarter, he’d had more of his shots blocked than shots made.

It was an un-ignorable problem for both the player and Timberwolves head coach Tom Thibodeau.

“I’ve got to be better on both sides of the basketball,” Towns said after the game. “At the end of the day, I trust my teammates full-heartedly that when they get the ball that they can go out there and score every single time. We have such talented players that sometimes the game plan is that. I’ve got to be better all-around if I’m going to help my teammates out as much as possible.”

“He’s got to be more active,” echoed Thibodeau.

Towns played a game-high 40 minutes but put up fewer shots in his first playoff appearance than he did in 71 different regular-season games in 2017-18. Instead, it took a team effort to put the Timberwolves in position to tie the game with a last-second Andrew Wiggins’ heave. The former Cavalier draftee was one of five Minnesota players to score in double digits, alongside Jeff Teague, Jimmy Butler, Jamal Crawford, and Derrick Rose.

While it may be paramount for the Wolves to get Towns working, it will be easier said than done against Capela. The Rockets’ 6’10 center has blossomed into one of the league’s most impactful defenders in his fourth season as a pro, setting career highs in rebounding (10.8 per game), blocked shots (1.9), and steals (0.8). His long-armed vigilance in the paint earned him top-six rankings in both defensive rating and defensive win shares this winter.

But Towns has been successful in previous matchups against Capela this season. While Minnesota went 0-4 against Houston, Towns shot 52 percent from the field or better and scored at least 20 points in three of those contests. That includes a 12-16 shooting, 35-point, 12-rebound performance back in February.

Towns is capable of finding his rhythm against a stout Rockets frontline, the question is whether he’ll turn he can keep his stellar regular-season performance chugging along in the postseason.

At least one fellow Timberwolves starter has an idea on how to get the prized big man working again.