The Minnesota Timberwolves could receive a massive boost for their Wednesday clash against the Atlanta Hawks with Karl-Anthony Towns upgraded to questionable.

Towns, who earned his second All-NBA selection this past season, was averaging 20.8 points, 8.2 rebounds and a career-high 5.3 assists per game before suffering a calf strain on November 28.

Nearly four months have passed since he last suited up for the Timberwolves, and with co-star Anthony Edwards also currently out injured, Minnesota's playoff chances appeared to be hanging by a thread.

Sitting eighth in the Western Conference at 36-37, the Wolves are only one game behind the six-seeded Golden State Warriors (37-36), but are also only a half-game clear of the 11th-ranked Los Angeles Lakers in a tightly bunched play-in tournament race in the West.

But Minnesota are preparing for some reinforcements to arrive for their final nine games of the regular season, with Towns being upgraded to questionable for the first time since his injury. The team sent down backup center Luka Garza to the G League in a further indication that they are expecting their star back in action.

Edwards is also listed as questionable, likely indicating that they will return to the line-up if they successfully make it through their warm-ups without any incident.

If they cannot get up for Wednesday's game, they will have a few more days to prepare for Sunday's road trip to take on the Golden State Warriors.

The Wolves have gone 26-26 in the 52 games that Towns has missed this season.