How is Minnesota Timberwolves big man Karl-Anthony Towns going to enjoy his Friday night downtown when he has two black eyes? One was from a 91-84 road loss to the Boston Celtics at TD Garden. The other, and perhaps the more painful one (for his ego at least) was from an in-your-face dunk from Celtics rookie forward Jayson Tatum.
Jayson Tatum posterizing Karl-Anthony Towns👀 pic.twitter.com/ukGx4HvppC
— Marc D'Amico (@Marc_DAmico) January 6, 2018
Somewhere, Christian Laettner is smiling at the thought that Duke is still not done beating Kentucky.
This happened right in the very first quarter of the game, which helped the Celtics set the tone the rest of the way, as Boston was not outscored by the Timberwolves in any of the four quarters.




That Tatum slam was also just one of the many times the Celtics took liberty in abusing the Timberwolves punching bag interior defense. The Celtics scored 50 points in the paint, while the Timberwolves only had 24.
Interestingly enough, Jayson Tatum scored just two more points in the game after his dunk, as he went 2-for-7 from the floor. He was also uncharacteristically cold from deep, going 0-for-4 from behind the arc. In any case, Tatum got his highlight and a win at the expense of Karl-Anthony Towns and the Timberwolves. Towns, meanwhile, was not demoralized by that play at all, as evidenced by his monster totals of 25 points and 23 rebounds to go with two blocks and a perfect 6-for-6 performance from the foul line.
Tatum will look to bounce back from a salty shooting night this Saturday against the Brooklyn Nets on the road. Towns, meanwhile, hopes to help Minnesota avoid a three-game skid also this Saturday at home versus the visiting New Orleans Pelicans.