Wolves' Karl-Anthony Towns explodes for NBA season-high 60 points, dedicates performance to late mother

 

On a night when Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid squared off in Philadelphia, Karl-Anthony Towns issued a reminder that there are more than two freakishly talented centers in the NBA right now. In the Timberwolves' 149-139 win over the Spurs on Monday, Towns went absolutely bonkers to the tune of 60 points on ridiculous efficiency. 

He shot 19-of-31 overall (61 percent). 

He made seven of his 11 of his attempts on 3-pointers. 

He got to the free-throw line 16 times, sinking 15.

Towns' big night had some deeper emotion attached to it, as he shared on his Twitter in a series of tweets that Monday's performance also happened to be two years to the date of when both of his parents were checked into the hospital with COVID-19. 

"Yesterday was two years to the date that my parents walked into the ER at JFK Medical Center in Edison, NJ and were admitted with COVID-19," Towns posted. "The same hospital that my mother gave me life, and tragically, the same hospital where I saw her life begin to slip away. Two years later, I walked into AT&T Center with the greatest guardian angel that I could ever ask for and dropped 60 against the winningest coach of all time.

"I say this to say...no matter what life throws at you, you can come out of i stronger. Tough times don't last, tough people do. Miss you Momma. This game...my life...is for you."

Towns' 60 points, a Timberwolves franchise record, is the league's highest single-game output this season, surpassing LeBron James and Trae Young, both of whom had a 56-point night. Towns had 56 through three quarters. He came back late in the fourth to put a bow on his evening with a top-of-the-key 3. 

Towns was having a really good game with 24 points at halftime. He took it to nuclear levels with 32 in the third quarter, which is the fifth-most points ever scored in a single quarter, per StatMuse. 

Towns' night adds to the league's recent run of scoring eruptions. In the last two weeks alone there have been four 50-point games: LeBron (50, 56), Jayson Tatum (54) and Kevin Durant (53). Add to that 47 and 46 for Trae Young, 45 for Jordan Clarkson, 44 for Josh Hart and De'Aaron Fox (who also had a 41), 43 for Giannis Antetokounmpo and Joel Embiid, 41 for Darius Garland and 40 for Nikola Jokic. 

And now Towns' 60, which marks the 15th game this season in which a player has scored at least 50 points. Most importantly, the Wolves are now 10 games over .500 and just two games back of the Denver Nuggets for a top-six seed. The Wolves still have one game remaining against Denver on April 1, and if they win that they would also secure the season tiebreaker with a 3-1 head-to-head advantage. 

In a season where the Timberwolves have surpassed expectations, Towns has been the driving force behind Minnesota being a playoff contender in the West. Monday night's performance was the latest example of his impressive play, and for Towns to do it on a day that he holds such a tragic personal connection to makes his performance even more powerful.