Karl-Anthony Towns sat on the opposing bench before Thursday’s game soaking in the adoration of a crowd that watched him stick with the franchise through thick and a lot of thin over his nine seasons.

He smiled as a video package played in his honor and those in the arena rose to their feet to give him an ovation.

Then the game started, and Towns made the crowd rise again — to head early to the exits — as his new team, the Knicks, thumped the Wolves 133-107 in his return. Towns was the main reason why. After a slow start, he and the Knicks dominated from the second quarter onward, and he sent pangs of regret coursing through a fan base already on edge that President Tim Connelly might have erred in sending him to New York in September for Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo.

The Wolves offense wasn’t great last season (17th in efficiency), but the team got to the Western Conference finals with Towns. The offense was frustrating to watch and isolation-heavy Thursday. Couple that with a defense that took a step back after a strong couple of weeks, and the crowd began booing multiple times. The performance left Anthony Edwards (17 points, 7-for-16 shooting) scratching his head over where the offense was. Seeing Towns put up 32 points and 20 rebounds only makes this search for an offensive identity more frustrating because the Wolves traded away someone who could’ve helped.

“We don’t have no [offensive] identity,” Edwards said. “We know I’mma shoot a bunch of shots. We know [Randle] gonna shoot a bunch of shots. That’s all we know. We don’t really know anything else. It’s not on the coaches at all. It’s on us. We out there playing, but we got to make it easier for each other. Coaches put us in great position, too, man. We just don’t do it.”

Edwards also said, when asked what he needs to see from the offense going forward: “They not gonna like what I say, so I’m just gonna keep my answers to myself.”

Edwards’ absolution of the coaching staff in the team’s offensive struggles won’t placate those who think coach Chris Finch isn’t doing all he can to facilitate the offense, even while he has added more structure in terms of play calls. Randle led the Wolves with 24 points, five turnovers. Rudy Gobert had three points, four rebounds and was a minus-37.

“A lot of plays throughout that part of the game, but we’re gonna have to get back to doing what we always do; we know what works,” Finch said. “When we move the ball early, get other guys involved, shots will open up.”