Knicks’ Karl-Anthony Towns receives standing ovation in Minnesota, then blows out Timberwolves

Karl-Anthony Towns is a member of the New York Knicks now, but he still has plenty of fans in Minnesota. But maybe not so much after Thursday.

The big man returned to Target Center Thursday for the first time since the trade that ended a nine-year tenure with the Timberwolves last offseason. After receiving a hero’s welcome, he led a Knicks blowout over his former team, with 32 points and 20 rebounds in a 133-107 victory.

Such occasions can sometimes be awkward, but the love was still clearly there for a man who remains the franchise’s No. 2-scorer through time. The Timberwolves welcomed the towns back with a well done 86 second videowhile the crowd erupted into cheers when he was introduced. The 7-footer couldn’t hold back a smile.

As loud as the cheers for Towns were, so was the crowd had plenty of mockery for the next man introduced: Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau, who coached Minnesota for three years with, shall we say, mixed results.

Some in the crowd continued to cheer for Towns during the game and applauded his first basket.

The baskets kept coming. Towns scored his 32 points on a hyper-efficient 10-of-12 shooting (5-of-5 from deep), along with six assists and two steals to go with his 20 rebounds. The final total was as many as the Timberwolves’ starting lineup combined.

The trade that brought Towns to New York was divisive. The Timberwolves were coming off a 56-26 season that saw them reach their first Western Conference Finals since 2004, and Towns was a big part of that, but the team’s front office opted to split its seven-foot duo of him and Rudy Gobert in exchange for better wing depth in the form of Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo, Keita Bates-Diop and a draft pick.

Towns himself didn’t seem thrilled about the move, only tweeting an ellipsis the night off. He had previously signed an extension to stay in Minnesota, which didn’t even start this season.

It’s been a strong start to the season so far for Towns, who entered Thursday averaging 24.8 points and an NBA-leading 13.9 rebounds per game.