BBNBA: Towns notches double-double in series-clinching blowout of Celtics

Pour an air shot out for Jack Pilgrim, Big Blue Nation. His Boston Celtics fell victim to a series-clinching Game 6 blowout at the hands of Karl-Anthony Towns and the New York Knicks. To cap off a drama-packed, unpredictable Eastern Conference semifinals matchup, the Knicks routed the Celtics, 119-81. New York now advances the NBA version of the Final Four, the conference finals, for the first time since the year 2000. That was also the year Karl-Anthony Towns turned five years old.

KARL. ANTHONY. TOWNS. CRUZ. #NBAPlayoffs | #NBAxESPN pic.twitter.com/ec3m79fKtr

— NBA Latam (@NBALatam) May 17, 2025

Towns had a comfortable 21 points and 12 rebounds in the even more comfortable victory. He and Anthony Edwards are the only two players in the league to make both the All-Star team and the conference finals in the last two seasons.

Towns made the Western Conference finals as a member of the Timberwolves last year before the blockbuster, Kentucky-themed trade that sent him to New York and Julius Randle to Minnesota. It is safe to say that the exchange worked well for both teams, considering the Wolves are also in the conference finals. It would create quite the conspiracy-inducing NBA Finals if both teams were to win their next series.

But before the Knicks take on the Pacers in Game 1 on Wednesday, Towns is going to enjoy this one. After the game, the man who grew up just across the river from Madison Square Garden said, “All my brothers back in New Jersey, I know they are calling me going crazy.”

However, before the conference finals start, there is still some semifinal drama left to unfold, and it features a few former Wildcats. Game 7 of the Western Conference semis takes place on Sunday, with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Cason Wallace looking to secure the win for the Thunder over Jamal Murray and the Nuggets.

Regardless of who advances in that series, now that Boston has been eliminated, a former Kentucky player is guaranteed to win an NBA Championship this season. So, if you don’t want to pour out that air shot for Jack Pilgrim, that little factoid is worth taking it yourself in honor of Bahamas KAT.