Joel Embiid scored 70 in Philadelphia. Karl-Anthony Towns had 62 in Minnesota. The elite big men paired up to do something the NBA hadn’t seen on the same day in more than 45 years. EMBIID DROPS 70; TOWNS HITS 62
EXTRAORDINARY SCORING NIGHT FOR BIG MEN
So, mark it down: Jan. 22, 2024, was a day unlike almost any other in NBA history.
On the 18th anniversary of Kobe Bryant’s 81-point game for the Los Angeles Lakers – the second-best scoring game in NBA history – Embiid and Towns put on a pair of dazzling, historic scoring shows of their own with a pair of career-high, franchise-record efforts.
“From the time I started playing, Kobe was my guy,” Embiid said. “He’s the reason why I started playing basketball. It’s funny, on the same night, he got 81 and that was my favorite player.”
Embiid’s 70 points set the 76ers’ record in Philadelphia’s 133-123 win over San Antonio. Towns scored 62 points – two more than his previous career best and Wolves record – but it wasn’t enough in Minnesota’s 128125 loss to Charlotte.
Add it all up, and Monday was the fourth day in NBA history where two players scored at least 60 points. The others were April 9, 1978, (David Thompson had 73 for Denver, George Gervin had 63 for San Antonio as they dueled on the season’s final day for the scoring title), Jan. 17, 1962, (Jerry West scored 63 for the Lakers, Wilt Chamberlain scored 62 for the Philadelphia Warriors) and Dec. 8, 1961 (Chamberlain had 78 for the Warriors and Elgin Baylor had 63 for the Lakers in a triple-overtime game against one another).
“These boys tonight going CRAZY!!” NBA career scoring leader LeBron James posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
Added Phoenix star Kevin Durant, who had “only” 43 in the Suns’ 115113 win Monday over Chicago: “I mean, the skill level in this league is insane and actually the coaching and the schemes on offense is insane. You’re seeing so many different sets being run for bigs to get 3s. Coaches are being way more creative to put their best players in great positions to get those numbers.”