The Timberwolves flop against the Knicks while reuniting with Karl-Anthony Towns

Karl-Anthony Towns sat on the opposing bench Thursday when his new team’s starting lineup was announced. After the first four starters hit the floor, the goal center scoreboard played a 90-second tribute video of some of Towns’ career highlights.

Towns soaked it all in, looking up to a standing ovation from the crowd as his Knicks teammates smiled and hyped him as well. That’s how Towns’ return to Minnesota began after nine seasons, and it ended with a 133-107 Knicks dunk by the Wolves.

It’s hard to make one game an indication of where a team is, but the fact that Towns thrived Thursday night while his old team struggled in the wake of his departure added to the anxiety of how fans on social media felt about the trade that sent him to New York for Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo. Towns finished with 32 points and 20 rebounds.

The wolves looked disinterested; they lacked defensive assignments and did not move the ball in attack. The Knicks had more than 100 points by the end of the third quarter against a team that had done a good job of holding teams under 100 the last few weeks. The most surprising thing was how bad the offense looked again. Even though the Wolves have won, their offense has dropped down the efficiency rankings. It hasn’t looked much worse than it did on Thursday. Many fans were heading for the exits at the end of the third quarter.

Finch went to his bench early in the fourth quarter.

Randle led the Wolves with 24 points but had five turnovers. Anthony Edwards had 17 on 7-for-16 shooting, while Rudy Gobert had three points, four rebounds and one shot attempt and was minus-37.

Towns wasn’t the only player facing his former team. Randle came out in the first quarter and scored 15 points, but his isolation-heavy offense didn’t make it easy for early ball movement. The Wolves’ recharged defense didn’t show up early as the Knicks started 12-for-22 from the field. Towns had just one bucket in the first quarter, a three-pointer, and the crowd cheered. The cities also had four turnovers in the first quarter. But he got a lot better from there.

Naz Reid’s foul trouble (three early) meant the Wolves couldn’t play their usual second strong bench unit and it was a disaster. The combination of Rob Dillingham, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Jaden McDaniels, Gobert and DiVincenzo quickly lost ground. The Knicks opened the second quarter on a 16-2 run in the first 3 minutes, 18 seconds.