Timberwolves coach Sam Mitchell took the long view with the short-term focus on Karl-Anthony Towns, the NBA’s Western Conference rookie of the month for November who is suddenly watching crunch time from the bench.

“Why are we going to burn him out 18 games into a 20-year-old’s career?” Mitchell said. “It doesn’t make sense.”

Towns spent the entire fourth quarter of Tuesday’s 96-93 loss to Orlando at Target Center on the bench.

“Put in Towns!” one fan yelled during the final frame.

“Thank you!” responded another fan a section away.

Towns led all rookies in rebounds (9.4 per game) and blocked shots (2.18) and was second in scoring (14.4 points) in November. He was diplomatic about his recent lack of playing time, which he called “support.”

“Just making sure that every time I can maybe see something that can help them or help us win,” he said.

Towns has been largely watching down the stretch since a 99-95 victory at Atlanta on Nov. 25. In 48 fourth-quarter minutes starting that night, Towns has played only 2 minutes, 42 seconds.

Towns is averaging 27 minutes a game, and Mitchell said there is no intention of playing him the way the Wolves’ Andrew Wiggins played as a rookie last season. Wiggins tallied 2,969 minutes, second-most in the league.

“There is no reason for us to put him out there for 40 minutes a game when we have Gorgui (Dieng), who is a young player who is playing well,” Mitchell said.

Dieng has played nearly every second of the past four fourth quarters.

“G’s pick-and-roll defense has been unbelievable,” Mitchell said. “And you guys know what the game is going to come down to at the end: pick and roll.”

Before being selected No. 1 overall in the June NBA draft, Towns played 21 minutes a game at Kentucky. He said the limited minutes on a deep Wildcats team prepared him for this experience “big time.”

“It’s one of those things that you have to understand: so much talent on this team,” he said. His early success, he said, “is a testament to the work I’ve put in in the summer to come out and starting hot.”

The Timberwolves drafted Towns instead of Duke power forward Jahlil Okafor, who went third overall to Philadelphia. Okafor is averaging 17.2 points and 8.1 rebounds, but the Sixers suspended him for two games Wednesday after videos of him involved in a Nov. 26 scuffle in Boston became public.

Towns registered double-doubles in his first two NBA games. He played 30-plus minutes in seven of the first 12 games, but he hasn’t played more than 27 in the six games since.

“For a 20-year-old, 18, 19 games into his rookie season, playing center, which between that and point guard are two of the hardest positions to learn how to play, it’s well deserved,” Mitchell said of the award.

Wiggins said Towns has had a faster start than he did a year ago. Wiggins won Western Conference rookie of the month four times and took home NBA rookie of the year last season.

“You see me last year?” Wiggins said. “I didn’t even start picking it up yet. My numbers started picking up in December, January. He started early. He started out the gate.”

Follow Andy Greder at twitter.com/andygreder.