Monster Performances Around The NBA
The NBA saw some elite offense around the league last night.
Phoenix v. Chicago
Down by 17 at half and 23 at the most, the Suns found a way to comeback and get the job done behind their scoring leader Kevin Durant. Durant dropped 43 points and hit a pullup jump shot with less than a second left to take a 2 point lead which would end up being the game winner.
KD hoisted up 32 shots going 50% from the field and ⅚ from the line. He would also tack on 6 rebounds and 8 assists to go along with his big night.
Minnesota v. Charlotte
Heading northeast to Minnesota, Karl-Anthony Towns set the Timberwolves record for points scored in a game (breaking his own record) with 62 points. Despite the 60 piece performance the T-Wolves fell to the Hornets 128-125, choking a 15 point lead after three quarters. KAT was held to 4 points in the 4th quarter which is not a lot, but considering how much he put up through the first three quarters it is hard to put the blame on him. However, Minnesota’s head coach Chris Finch believed his squad lacked discipline and forced balls to Anthony to inflate his numbers.
KAT nailed 10/15 three balls to get to almost half of his point total. He was 21/35 from the field and 10/14 from the line. He did struggle with turnovers though, coughing up the ball 7 times which contributed to the Hornets 18 points off turnovers.
76ers v. Spurs
Now to the biggest night of them all…Joel Embiid. Just when you think KAT would have the highest scoring night Embiid said “hold my beer.” The now MVP favorite dropped 70 points as the 76ers handled the Spurs 133-123. Embiid now holds the franchise record for points scored in a game, passing Wilt Chamberlain (68 points). Embiid’s prior highest scoring game was 59 points, which he tied after two quarters.
Embiid also tacked on 18 rebounds and 5 assists to his historic night. He went 24/41 from the field and 21/23 from the charity stripe. After his performance his points per game average jumped 1.1 points to 36.1, 2.5 more points then the next player, Luka Doncic.
Other Notable Performances
There were many other big games last night that got overshadowed by these three performances.
Giannis Antetokounmpo: 31 points 17 rebounds 10 assists
Donovan Mitchell: 25 points 13 assists 4 steals
Jayson Tatum: 39 points 11 rebounds 3 steals
Luka Doncic: 33 points 18 rebounds 13 assists
Coby White: 26 points 10 rebounds 9 assists
Dejounte Murray: 35 points 10 rebounds 6 assists
Domantas Sabonis: 14 points 21 rebounds 6 assists
Isaiah Stewart: 19 points 8 rebounds 5 blocks
