The last time Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl Anthony-Towns played at the Wells Fargo Center, he got into a heated scuffle with Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid. In the past, Embiid and Towns have had public feuds both on and off the court. So, on that late October night in 2019, everybody anticipated some animosity between the two.
Well, the home crowd got exactly what they wanted. As Embiid and Towns got tangled up on one end of the floor, the two heavyweights wrestled around before getting ejected and sent back to their locker rooms early.
The beef didn't stop there, though. Following the game, Embiid and Towns exchanged public messages via social media, which led to even more punishment from the NBA. With everything that transpired on that night over a year ago, many Sixers, Timberwolves, and NBA fans, in general, couldn't wait for the next meeting between the two bigs.
The Sixers and the Timberwolves didn't meet again last season as the NBA was suspended before the 76ers paid a visit to Minnesota. And although Embiid and the Sixers played in Minnesota earlier this season, Towns didn't play in that game.
This past Saturday marked the first time Towns and Embiid were set to go head to head for the first time since their scuffle. While Embiid and Towns kept it clean for the most part, Embiid did have a couple of hard fouls on Minnesota's big man, which Towns admitted he was hardly worried about after the game.
“That’s the game, man," Towns said. "I ain’t here to live out a narrative that people want about us and sh*t. I’m here to win the game. So, I was going to go downhill as effectively as possible and play the game. I take hard fouls every game, you know?”
Although Towns mentioned he doesn't want to feed into the narrative surrounding Embiid and himself; it was clear the Timberwolves star felt an extra boost from the highlight dunk he threw down on Embiid during the first half of the game.
Regardless of how he reacted while on the court, though, Towns once again brushed off the idea that he was playing with an extra chip on his shoulder because he was going against Embiid.
“It’s just play -- just two points," Towns continues. "It felt good to put two points on the board. Like I said, all that sh*t, that squallowing sh*t, I ain’t worried about that. I’m trying to get these wins. You talk about the squallowing, and I’m talking more about how we haven’t beaten them in how many times? We gotta change that.”
Embiid and the Sixers took down Towns and the Timberwolves with a 122-113 win on Saturday night. That marked the eighth-straight win for the Sixers over the T'Wolves. The last time Minnesota defeated the 76ers was during the 2016-2017 season.
Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_ & Instagram: @JGrassoNBA.
The Link LonkApril 05, 2021 at 04:35AM
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Karl Anthony-Towns Brushes Off Previous Beef With Sixers' Joel Embiid - Sports Illustrated
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