Timberwolves' Wiggins drawing few foul calls in playoffs

He consistently knifed into the paint, yet had taken just six free throws.

Entering Game 3 against the Houston Rockets on Saturday night, April 21, at Target Center, Wiggins felt as though that number should have been a bit higher.

"I think I'm getting fouled," Wiggins said. "There's nothing I can do but just keep driving and hoping that I get the calls."

Wiggins said the lack of calls can be frustrating, but Wolves coach Tom Thibodeau said "it's the normal physicality of the playoffs."

"We want him to continue to drive, but to make the right play," Thibodeau said. "Trust the pass. We don't need home run plays. When we move the ball, we'll get good shots."

Thibodeau said Wiggins played "really well" in the first two games.

"He's playing with a lot of toughness, he's attacking," Thibodeau said. "Just got to keep going."

Criticism unheard

Karl-Anthony Towns has been heavily criticized for his performances early in the first-round series.

Towns was held to less than 10 points in each of the first two games, shooting a combined 5 for 18 from the field.

That led to ESPN's Stephen A. Smith calling Towns "soft" and TNT's Charles Barkley saying Towns is "so limited offensively." This is one of the first times Towns has been taken to task by the national media, but on Friday he claimed he hadn't even caught wind of the criticism.

"I don't need to look at it. I never watch TV. The few times I do, it's a very rare occasion that I'm watching TV," Towns said. "I don't see anything because I physically don't know of it. I'm not big into social media. ... I live my life very Amish-like. Other than video games, I don't think I have a reason for electronics. ... It's a life that I've always loved."

Butler's health

Saturday marked Jimmy Butler's sixth game since his return after suffering a torn meniscus in his right knee. Butler's wrist was taped up in each of the first two games of the Houston series.

On Saturday morning, Butler was asked what percentage he was at health-wise.

"It doesn't matter," Butler said. "I was telling guys out there today, nobody really cares if you're nicked up, if you put out that jersey and you go out there and play, you've got to produce, do what they got you there to do. Forty, 50, 95, 100 (percent), I'm out there playing and nobody cares if I'm nicked up or not."

Patton injury

The Wolves announced late Wednesday night that rookie center Justin Patton underwent surgery on the same left foot he broke last summer. That surgery kept Patton, who spent nearly all of the season in Iowa with the franchise's G-League affiliate, out until December.

The surgery, the team said, was to "encourage further healing of a prior metatarsal fracture." Thibodeau said the second surgery is not uncommon with this type of injury. The coach said Patton had "periodical checkups" and "something showed up."

"He wasn't having any discomfort or anything," Thibodeau said. "The medical people decided that to continue to go on with the healing, the best thing would be to fix what they saw."

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