Timberwolves Basketball

Karl-Anthony Town returned to Timberwolves’ training camp after being hospitalized due to an unspecified illness.Andy Clayton-King

MINNEAPOLIS — All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns has returned to the court for practice with the Minnesota Timberwolves, after a delayed start to training camp due to an unspecified illness that was serious enough to warrant hospitalization.

Towns took part in non-contact drills with the team on Monday. He will not play in Minnesota’s first exhibition game on Tuesday at Miami, Coach Chris Finch said.

“He’s in really good shape. He does a really good job. He never really falls out of shape when it comes to his cardio,” Finch said. “I think with him, it’s just getting his feel back, some strength back, maybe a little bit of weight back on him. But I would expect he’ll be ready to go within a week. Certainly with a good week of normal training, he should be feeling pretty good.”

Towns declined to divulge many details of his ailment, but he said was just cleared by doctors for walking on Saturday.

“I wasn’t too worried about basketball for a while. But I miss the game. I love the game. I miss these guys. Sick and tired of recovering at the house and not being able to leave and do anything,” said Towns, who’s entering his eighth NBA season.

As for being ready in time for the season opener on Oct. 19, Towns said, “Right now, it looks good.”

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KNICKS: Derrick Rose doesn’t need recovery guidelines. Not anymore.

After so many years and so many injuries, the point guard listens to his body and has a reluctant Knicks staff buying into his philosophy of “Trust me, bro.”

“And they’re like, ‘Woah, what the hell you mean just trust you? We can’t just throw you out there,’ ” Rose said. “But when I go out, they see and say, ‘He knows what he’s doing.’ I’ve been injured so much.”

Rose is scheduled to appear in his first game in over nine months on Tuesday, the same day he turns 34 years old. His play off the bench is among the most notable storylines of the preseason opener against the Pistons, even if Rose’s minutes are limited.

The point guard hopes to spin it forward to a healthy season. He hasn’t played more than 66 games since his MVP campaign in 2010-11.

“I feel like I’m gonna play in a lot of games – I mean, I know I’m gonna play in a lot of games this year,” Rose said. “And yeah, I’m just thirsting to go out there and play. I feel lighter. I’m moving a lot better. I’m not worried about my shot. My shot looks great. I’m just ready to go out there and just help by any means.”

Rose missed the final 56 games of last season following ankle surgery, which became a bigger issue after an infection in the incision area filled his leg with pus.

CAVALIERS: Starting forward Evan Mobley will miss time with a sprained right ankle suffered during practice, an injury that could sideline him for the start of the regular season in two weeks.

Mobley injured his ankle during a workout on Saturday. The team said an MRI confirmed the injury and that the 7-footer will be out “approximately 1-2 weeks.”


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