Karl-Anthony Towns posterizes JaVale McGee with thunderous slam

Jan. 7 (UPI) -- Karl-Anthony Towns sent a message to JaVale McGee with a very powerful dunk during the Minnesota Timberwolves' win against the Los Angeles Lakers.

The brawny baptism came in the second quarter of the Timberwolves' 108-86 victory against the Lakers on Sunday at the Target Center in Minneapolis.

The Timberwolves led 51-39 with just over two minutes to play in the opening act when Towns got his poster on. Timberwolves guard Jeff Teague dribbled in from outside of the 3-point arc on the play. He went around McGee and drove the baseline before curling in and spotting Towns as he ripped through he paint.

Teague flipped the ball to the Timberwolves' big man and Towns went to the air immediately. McGee stood strong under the rim, but Towns rose up with an overwhelming finish. He stuffed the ball through the rim hard with his right hand, flushing in a bucket over McGee.

"We played with an edge," Towns told Fox Sports North. "We played with a really good edge tonight. We played great defense. Our defense was our offense. We got some transition buckets and made the game easy for ourselves."

Towns and Andrew Wiggins each scored a game-high 28 points in the win. Towns added 18 rebounds, four blocks, three assists and two steals for the Timberwolves. Teague had 15 points, 11 assists and six rebounds in the win.

Lance Stephenson led the Lakers with 14 points.

Towns is averaging 22.2 points and a career-best 12.4 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.9 blocks per game this season.

The Timberwolves battle the Oklahoma City Thunder at 8 p.m. on Tuesday at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City. The Lakers face the Dallas Mavericks at 8:30 p.m. on Monday at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.