
Karl Anthony Towns had a night to remember against Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs. The Big Man had 60 points and 17 rebounds in the game! The feat put him on a small list of greats Wilt Chamberlain and Shaquille O’Neal as the only Centers in league history to have 60+ points and 15+ rebounds in a game. He also broke the franchise record for most points scored in Timberwolves history.
The 60 points came off a very efficient performance from Towns. He was 19/31 from the field and shot 7/11 from beyond the 3-point arc. I guess that kind of 3 point efficiency can be expected from the winner of the 3-point contest. Towns led the Timberwolves to a 149-139 victory against the Spurs who played well but not well enough to overcome Towns’ 60 points.
The Spurs had 2 players with 30+ points in Dejounte Murray (30 points and 12 assists) and Keldon Johnson ( 34 points and 8 rebounds). But even though the 2 had a very good game and even had 3 other players with 15+ points, it wasn’t enough as Towns had help as well. The Timberwolves had 5 players other than Towns that scored in double digits and 3 players with 15+ points.
A few days ago a clip from the podcast The Old Man and The Three, hosted by JJ Redick was put out on YouTube. The clip was from an interview with Patrick Beverley of the Minnesota Timberwolves. Beverley said that he thought Karl Anthony Towns was Hall of Famer already. While that isn’t the most popular opinion, if Towns is consistent and puts up numbers like this he might end up in Springfield.
The Timberwolves are currently the 7 seed in the Western Conference. They are just 2 games behind the Denver Nuggets and could end up getting out of the Play-In spot. The Timberwolves are a dangerous team and could give any of the top teams a run for their money. They have some young talent in Towns, Anthony Edwards and D’Angelo Russell, and a team that plays with great energy.
Patrick Beverley has brought his toughness to the team as well and there seems to be a culture established in Minnesota. It is time that the league takes notice of this young team in the West.