Karl-Anthony Towns is back. After a lengthy absence, the Minnesota Timberwolves star big man has finally made his much-awaited return to action Wednesday night against Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks at home.

Towns started the game and took quite a bit of time before he made his first bucket off a pick-and-pop. Karl-Anthony Towns was barely challenged by Atlanta's defense during that play, with only the much smaller Young coming over to contest the Timberwolves center's 3-point attempt that wasn't exactly a swish but still was good enough for a bucket.

Karl-Anthony Towns missed a ton of time this season due to a calf injury he suffered way back in November during a game against the Washington Wizards. In 21 games played this season heading to Wednesday's outing, Towns has averaged 20.8 points on 50.5 percent shooting from the field and 32.5 percent from behind the arc, 8.2 rebounds, and 5.3 assists per game.

Here are some of the reactions to Towns' first basket after a 51-game absence:

Towns' return also comes just shortly after the Timberwolves saw another of their key player, Anthony Edwards, go down with an ankle injury. The hope for Minnesota is that Edwards will be back as soon as possible and rejoin the team on the floor that has just gotten a major boost with the return of Karl-Anthony Towns.

The Timberwolves are in the thick of the race to the top-six spot in the Western Conference. They entered the Atlanta game ninth in the West with a 36-37 record, just a game behind the Golden State Warriors for the No. 6 seed in the conference.