Karl-Anthony Towns Drops Wolves Record 62, Thrills LeBron James, NBA Fans vs. Hornets

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If you thought Joel Embiid was going to be the only NBA big man to make history Monday night, think again.

As the Philadelphia 76ers star was busy scoring a franchise-record 70 points in a win over the San Antonio Spurs, Karl-Anthony Towns was setting records of his own for the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Towns poured in 44 points in just the first half of his team’s game against the Charlotte Hornets, which was a record for the play-by-play era that dates back to the 1996-97 campaign.

He ended up with 62 points on 21-of-35 shooting from the field and 10-of-15 shooting from deep, but even that wasn’t enough to get the win. Charlotte outscored the Timberwolves by 18 points in the fourth quarter to come away with a stunning 128-125 victory.

Towns failed to score on his team’s final two possessions after his teammates struggled to generate any offense when he was on the bench for some of the fourth quarter. He also wasn’t pleased with the officiating:

Social media still had plenty to say about his performance:

While the three-time All-Star plays in the frontcourt, he was a matchup nightmare from the opening tip for Charlotte. He drained eight three-pointers before intermission, which forced defenders to come out and open more of the lane.

It seemed as if Monday’s performance would be another development in what has been an incredible start to the season for the Timberwolves until they blew the lead.

They entered play with a 30-12 record, which was good enough for the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. Anthony Edwards looks like a foundational cornerstone to build around for years to come, and Towns is an All-Star caliber big who elevates the ceiling heading into the season’s second half.

But Monday’s loss might be one that lingers.