Embiid scores 70, breaks Wilt’s club record
Towns goes for 62 in Timberwolves’ win
PHILADELPHIA — Joel Embiid scored a franchise-record 70 points, the most in the NBA this season, to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to a 133-123 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Monday night.
Embiid also set a career high with 18 rebounds. He was 24 of 41 from the field, including 1 of 2 from 3-point range, and made 21 of 23 free throws. He broke Hall of Famer Wilt Chamberlain’s 76ers record of 68 points, set on Dec. 16, 1967, with a layup with 1:41 to play.
Chamberlain was playing for the Philadelphia Warriors when he set the NBA record with 100 points.
A six-time All-Star and the league’s reigning MVP, Embiid has scored at least 30 points in 21 consecutive games. The 76ers have won six in a row.
Rookie Victor Wembanyama had 33 points and seven rebounds in 29 minutes in the first matchup between the 7-footers. The rebuilding Spurs fell to 5-19 on the road.
Embiid said playing against Wembanyama added motivation to his mission every night.
“I wouldn’t sit here and lie to you, but that’s my mindset every single game,” Embiid said afterward on the local TV broadcast. “My mindset is to attack, dominate offensively and defensively, so tonight was no different.”
Embiid had tied his career high of 59 points through three quarters and re-entered the contest with 6:38 left and Philadelphia ahead 118-104. With the record in sight, the 76ers were feeding him the ball at every opportunity.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had the previous high game in the NBA this season with 64 points.
All eyes were on Embiid and Wembanyama from even before the first tip when fans lined the court to watch the Spurs’ French phenom in warmups. The home fans already know what Embiid can do, and Philadelphia’s star might have wanted to make sure they didn’t forget.
“It will be interesting for all of us to see for the first time,” Nurse said before the game.
Electrifying might have been a better adjective.
“It would have been more fun in a win, of course, but it’s inspiring, especially offensively,” Wembanyama said.
Embiid hit a 13-footer over Wembanyama 1:11 into the contest. The Spurs rookie responded impressively, with a pair of 3-pointers within 27 seconds of each other, and then finished an alley-oop dunk before heading to the bench with 6:27 left in the first due to two fouls.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich joked before the game that the Spurs’ plan against Embiid was to “hammer his (butt). I told Wemby to back him down over the rim and just throw him through the rim.”
HORNETS 128, T-WOLVES 125:
In Minneapolis, Karl-Anthony Towns scored a franchise-record 62 points, including 44 in the first half, but Charlottes erased an 18-point deficit and stunned Minnesota.
Towns managed just four points on 2-for-10 shooting in the fourth quarter, when the Timberwolves were outscored 36-18. He thought he was fouled on a drive to the basket in the closing seconds and Minnesota trailing by one, then was short on a 3-point attempt on the final possession.
Miles Bridges scored 28 points and Brandon Miller had 27 for the Hornets. Leaky Black ripped the ball away from Towns on his way to the basket to preserve the Hornets’ 10th victory of the season.
Charlotte went ahead for good at 122-121 on P.J. Washington’s floater with 3:21 remaining. LaMelo Ball added 18 points for the Hornets, who had lost seven of their past eight games and had the Eastern Conference’s third-worst mark entering Monday.
Towns finished 21 for 35 from the floor, including 10 for 15 from 3-point range, and now owns the top three scoring outputs in the Wolves’ 35-year history.
CELTICS 119, MAVERICKS 110:
In Dallas, Jayson Tatum had 38 points and 11 rebounds, Jaylen Brown scored 35 and Boston beat the Mavericks.
The NBA-leading Celtics were never in much trouble because their All-Star pair was more efficient on the second night of a back-to-back than the Dallas duo of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving after four days off.
Tatum and Brown combined to go 24 of 43 from the field while Doncic and Irving were 21 of 50, with Doncic not hitting his first 3-pointer until the fourth quarter and finishing 2 of 8 from beyond the arc.
GRIZZLIES 108, RAPTORS 100:
In Toronto, Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 16 of his 27 points in the first quarter, Luke Kennard added a season-high 19 points, and Memphis won its fourth straight north of the border, beating the slumping Raptors.
Vince Williams Jr. had 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Santi Aldama scored 10 points before leaving because of a sore right knee as the short-handed Grizzlies won for the second time in their past six games.
Jackson finished with a careerhigh six steals, all in the first quarter, as the veteran big man wasted no time breaking his previous mark of five.
BUCKS 122, PISTONS 113: In Detroit, Giannis Antetokounmpo had a triple-double and Khris Middleton added 26 points as Milwaukee pulled away late and beat the Pistons.
Antetokounmpo finished with 31 points, 17 rebounds and 10 assists as the Bucks won for the fifth time in six games. Brook Lopez finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds.
Middleton now has 12,012 points for the Bucks, moving past Glenn Robinson Sr. for third place in franchise history.
CAVALIERS 126, MAGIC 99: In Orlando, Fla., former Utah State star Sam Merrill helped Cleveland close out its eighth straight with 26 points as the Cavs defeated the Magic.
Merrill hit his first five 3-point attempts and scored 20 of his 26 points in the first half.
Donovan Mitchell added 25 points and 13 assists for the Cavs, who shot 20 for 38 (53%) from 3-point range.
SUNS 115, BULLS 113: In Phoenix, Kevin Durant hit a contested 17-foot jumper with 1.6 seconds left to help the Suns erase a 23-point deficit and stun Chicago. The Suns have won six straight. Durant finished with 43 points, eight assists and six rebounds, one night after scoring 40 in a win over the Indiana Pacers. Bradley Beal scored 18 and Devin Booker added 16.