The Timberwolves' problem is that KAT has no dawg in him

The Minnesota Timberwolves' problem isn't that their star is only 22 years old and inexperienced. Okay, maybe that is a problem. But the bigger issue is his lack of a running mate.

Anthony Edwards might be compared to Michael Jordan, but Karl Anthony-Towns is no Scottie Pippen. In fact, he might not even be Luc Longley.

In a must-win situation Sunday night, Edwards went for 26 points while Towns missed his first seven shots.

Overall, Towns shot 5-for-18 in the game, scoring 14 points and missing all eight of his three-pointers. He was a minus-12 in Game 3, the second-worst plus/minus for any player in the game.

Towns has shot just 27.8 percent in the Western Conference Finals so far and has been so unreliable, that he was benched at the end of Game 2 for the lesser acclaimed Naz Reid. 

Every star needs a wingman to win with. Jordan had Pippen. Kobe Bryant had Shaquille O'Neal and Pau Gasol. LeBron James won with Dwayne Wade, Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis. Steph Curry had Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant.

Anthony Edwards might be the next face of the NBA. But if he's going to win anything of substance, he's going to need a better Robin to his Batman. 

No Timberwolves players besides Edwards and Towns has averaged more than 12.5 points per game this postseason. And while Towns is second on the team in scoring, he has exceeded 20 points in only four of 14 playoff games. 

Edwards at least has an excuse for his struggles, he's young. A lot of basketball players are still playing in college at age 22, let alone the Western Conference Finals. 

But Towns is the veteran. He's a four-time All-Star and two-time All-NBA player. He's earning $49.5M this season for a reason. And that reason is supposed to be to help the Timberwolves win the biggest games of their season. Instead, Towns went 0-for-8 from beyond the arc as Minnesota is now on the brink of elimination.