Timberwolves Butler and Towns Named NBA Western Conference All-Stars

Minneapolis/St. Paul – Timberwolves forward Jimmy Butler and forward/center Karl-Anthony Towns were today named NBA Western Conference All-Stars by the National Basketball Association. Butler and Towns were named to the team as reserves via balloting by NBA head coaches. Towns and Butler become the 6th and 7th Wolves players to earn NBA All-Star honors, joining Tom Gugliotta, Kevin Garnett, Wally Szczerbiak, Sam Cassell and Kevin Love. Butler and Towns become the fourth pair of teammates to be named NBA All-Stars in the same year in Wolves history (Garnett/Gugliotta, 1997; Garnett/Szczerbiak, 2002; Garnett/Cassell, 2004).

For Butler, this will be his fourth NBA All-Star appearance, all as a reserve and first with the Wolves. Towns earns his first NBA All-Star appearance after appearing in the Rising Stars Challenge in each of the last two seasons. The 2018 NBA All-Star Game will be played at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles on Sunday, Feb. 18.

Butler and Towns have led the Wolves to a 31-18 record this season, including a 24-7 mark vs. the Western Conference, as Minnesota currently sits atop the Northwest Division and in the No. 3 position in the Western Conference. The Wolves are the first team in the NBA this season to match its win total from the 2016-17 campaign (31). Minnesota has won 12 more games than at this point last year, good for the largest win increase in the NBA. The Wolves are 14-5 over their last 19 games, a span that includes two separate five-game winning streaks and the Wolves’ second-ever 5-0 homestand. Minnesota currently owns a nine-game winning streak at Target Center, the team’s longest single-season home winning streak since the 2003-04 Wolves won 14 straight home games from Dec. 16, 2003 to Feb. 6, 2004.

In his first campaign with Minnesota, Butler has registered averages of 21.7 points, 5.4 rebounds and 5.0 assists in 36.9 minutes per game this season while shooting a career-best 47.6% from the floor, 35.4% from long distance and a career-high 87.5% from the free throw line. Butler’s 2.04 steals per game average is a career-high and places him 4th in the NBA. Over his last 18 games, Butler has led the Wolves to a 12-6 record, averaging 25.3 points on 51.1% shooting and 5.4 assists per game while going 138-for-154 (89.6%) from the free throw line during the stretch. The Tomball, Texas native has led the Wolves in scoring a team-high 21 times and has posted seven 30+ point games. Butler has also led the team in assists on 15 occasions, including dishing out a season-high 10 Nov. 28 vs. Washington. The 6-8 forward currently ranks 19th in scoring, T-26th in assists, T-20th in free throw accuracy and 4th in minutes.

Butler scored a season-high 39 points, including a franchise-record 12 in overtime, in Minnesota’s 128-125 win over Denver on Dec. 27. Butler netted 20 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter in a 112-106 victory over the L.A. Clippers on Dec. 3, becoming the 14th player in franchise history to score 20+ points in a single quarter. Butler registered 26 points, 10 rebounds and five steals Nov. 19 vs. Detroit, joining Kevin Garnett and Tom Gugliotta as the only Wolves players to accumulate those numbers in a single game.

Towns has appeared in every game this season, continuing his ironman streak to 213 contests, the second-longest active streak in the NBA. In 48 games this year, Towns has tallied averages of 20.0 points, 12.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.55 blocks per contest while shooting 53.7% from the floor, a team-best 41.2% from long range and 83.9% from the free throw line. His 41 doubles-doubles lead the NBA and he has put up double digit scoring and rebounding totals in 14 straight games. Over his last 37 games, Towns is shooting 44.4% (60-of-135) from long range. The Edison, New Jersey native was named Western Conference Player of the Week on Nov. 20, his third such honor. The 7-0 forward/center has paced the Wolves in scoring 20 times and rebounding on 42 occasions. Towns currently ranks 25th in scoring, 5th in rebounding, 17th in field goal percentage, 23rd in three-point accuracy, 8th in blocks and 16th in minutes.

Towns has scored 30+ points four times this season, including a season-best 33 vs. Oklahoma City on Oct. 27. He set his career high in rebounds earlier this season by grabbing 23 Jan. 5 at Boston, part of the fourth career 20-point/20-rebound performance of his career. Towns paced the Wolves in scoring, rebounding and assists when he put up 23 points, 15 rebounds and 9 assists Jan. 12 vs. New York, narrowly missing out on the second triple-double of his career. Towns netted 30 points, 14 rebounds, five assists and five blocks Dec. 14 vs. Sacramento, joining Kevin Garnett as the only Wolves players to collect 30+ points, 10+ rebounds, 5+ assists and 5+ blocks in a single game.

Lynx' Moore Wins MVP Honors at WNBA All-Star Game

MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL – Maya Moore today was named Most Valuable Player at Verizon WNBA All-Star 2017 in Seattle, WA. Moore is the first back-to-back winner of the award since Swin Cash, won took home MVP honors in the 2009 and 2011 All-Star Games and becomes only the third player in league history to win the award in back-to-back All-Star Games (Lisa Leslie- 2001, 2002 and Cash- 2009, 2011).

In this afternoon’s game that pitted the Western Conference All-Stars versus the Eastern Conference All-Stars, Moore finished with a game-high 23 points on 9-of-17 shooting, including 5-of-10 from deep, three rebounds and three assists as the West defeated the East 130-121. This was Moore’s fifth All-Star appearance and she started in all five. In the 2015 All-Star Game, she tallied 30 points on 10-of-16 shooting, including hitting six three pointers, and added six rebounds and five assists.

In her seventh year out of the University of Connecticut, Moore is averaging 15.7 points, on 41.2% shooting from the field, 5.9 rebounds and 3.8 assists this season. She ranks 13th in assists and fifth in steals (1.65 spg). She was named the 2015 All-Star MVP after tallying 30 points on 10-of-16 shooting, including hitting six three pointers, and adding six rebounds and five assists.

Minnesota was also represented in today’s All-Star Game by guard Seimone Augustus, forward Rebekkah Brunson and center Sylvia Fowles. Brunson finished with 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting including 2-of-4 from deep and three rebounds while Fowles ended with 13 points and a team-high-tying seven rebounds and Augustus added four points.

The Lynx return to action on Tuesday, July 25 against the New York Liberty at Xcel Energy Center. Tip is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT and can be seen on ESPN2 and heard on BOB 106 FM Tickets are still available by calling 612-673-8400 or by visiting lynxbasketball.com/tickets.

Lynx Augustus Named WNBA All-Star Reserve

MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL – The WNBA tonight announced Seimone Augustus was voted by the coaches as a reserve for the 2017 Western Conference All-Star team. Augustus will be making her seventh career All-Star appearance (2006, 2007, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015), the most selections in franchise history. She joins Sylvia Fowles and Maya Moore, who were named All-Star starters last Tuesday. The Lynx trio will be coached in this year’s game by head coach Cheryl Reeve, who is joined on the bench by assistants Shelley Patterson and James Wade.

This year marks the fifth time in franchise history the Lynx have had three or more representatives at the All-Star Game (2011, 2013, 2014, 2015). Minnesota joins Detroit/Tulsa/Dallas and Los Angeles as the only teams in WNBA history to have three or more players as All-Stars five times (Houston-4, New York-4, Orlando/Connecticut-4, Sacramento-3) The Seattle Storm will host the Verizon WNBA All-Star 2017 at KeyArena on Saturday, July 22, and the game will be nationally televised by ABC at 2:30 p.m. CT.

At the season's midpoint, the 12th year pro out of Louisiana State University is shooting career-high percentages from the field (52.2%, ninth in the WNBA) and from three-point range (46.7%, second), and is also averaging a career-best 3.3 apg (18th). Augustus led the Lynx with a season-high 19 points July 14 at Phoenix and dealt out nine assists June 11 at Dallas, her top total since 2008.

Joining Augustus as backcourt reserves are Dallas’ Skylar Diggins-Smith and Chelsea Gray of the Los Angeles Sparks while Nneka Ogwumike of Los Angeles, Brittney Griner of the Mercury and Breanna Stewart of Seattle were voted in as frontcourt reserves. For the Eastern Conference, Layshia Clarendon of the Dream and Allie Quigley of Chicago will serve as backcourt reserves. Stefanie Dolson of the Sky, Candice Dupree of Indiana, Alyssa Thomas of the Sun and Elizabeth Williams of Atlanta were voted in as frontcourt reserves. In selecting the reserves, the 12 WNBA head coaches voted for six players within their own conference: two backcourt players, three frontcourt players, and a player from either position. Coaches were not permitted to vote for players on their own team. 

Alongside Fowles and Moore, starters for the Western Conference include Seattle’s Sue Bird, Los Angeles’ Candace Parker and Phoenix’s Diana Taurasi. The Eastern Conference starters are New York’s Tina Charles, Washington’s Elena Delle Donne, Atlanta’s Tiffany Hayes and Connecticut’s Jonquel Jones and Jasmine Thomas.

Eastern Conference Reserves:
Layshia Clarendon, Backcourt (Atlanta)
Stefanie Dolson, Frontcourt (Chicago)
Candice Dupree, Frontcourt (Indiana)
Allie Quigley, Backcourt (Chicago)
Alyssa Thomas, Frontcourt (Connecticut)
Elizabeth Williams, Frontcourt (Atlanta)

Western Conference Reserves:
Seimone Augustus, Backcourt (Minnesota)
Skylar Diggins-Smith, Backcourt (Dallas)
Chelsea Gray, Backcourt (Los Angeles)
Brittney Griner, Frontcourt (Phoenix)
Nneka Ogwumike, Frontcourt (Los Angeles
Breanna Stewart, Frontcourt (Seattle)

Wednesday’s game vs. Dallas is the annual “Day Game” presented by Delta Dental, with over 13,000 day campers and fans from across the state invading Xcel Energy Center. Kids will be participating in on-court contests throughout the game, which tips off at 12 noon. Tickets are still available by calling 612-673-8400 or by visiting lynxbasketball.com/tickets.