On Friday night, Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns showed exactly why some people have predicted him to be the NBA's best player in the near future.Going 9-of-16 from the floor and a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line,Towns posted 25 points, pulled down a ridiculous 23 rebounds and also had two blocks on the defensive end in a dominant individual performance against the Boston Celtics.Meanwhile, Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, fresh off of being named the Eastern Conference's Rookie of the Month for December, had an off-game, going 2-of-7 from the field including 0-for-4 from three-point range. Overall, he scored a career-low four points and had three boards, an assist and a steal in 31 minutes.But, it was Tatum who had the last laugh.Not only did the Celtics win by the score of 91-84, but half of Tatum's points came in truly remarkable fashion.Towns was the victim of Tatum's wrath, too. Tatum rolled off of a Kyrie Irving off-ball screen at the top of the key, and Al Horford found him with a clear path to the hoop. Standing in his way was Towns, who jumped to contest the dunk, but simply had no answer for Tatum's athleticism:

KAT was caught on the wrong end of that poster slam instead of the other way around for once.

Oddly enough, Tatum's other two points were also pretty stylish. With just under two minutes to go in the fourth quarter, he made Towns' teammate Andrew Wiggins look silly:

Although Tatum's shots were not falling, he still helped Boston earn the victory with his elite defensive play on Jimmy Butler, Wiggins and (at times, Taj Gibson). Playing beyond his years, he didn't appear to be dejected when his shots kept rimming out and decided to take an active defensive stance against one of the most talented teams in the league. When he did score, the rookie had a couple of flashy buckets.

Tatum is averaging 14.1 points and 5.5 rebounds in 31.1 minutes per game this season for the Celtics. He's the NBA's top qualified three-point shooter, knocking down 46.8 percent of his looks from three-point range. Most of all, he has shown a remarkable amount of consistency for a 19 year old surrounded by talented and experienced veterans.

It seems like the Celtics lucked out by moving down to the third pick in last year's draft. Danny Ainge has openly said that Tatum was the pick they would have made with the first pick, and every time the rookie has taken the floor this season, he has validated the team's decision.