Embiid scores 70, Towns 62 on night like few others
Joel Embiid scored 70 in Philadelphia. Karl-Anthony Towns had 62 in Minnesota. They paired up to do something the NBA hadn’t seen on the same day in more than 45 years.
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.
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 128-125 loss to Charlotte.
Add it all up, and Monday was the fourth day in NBA history where two players scored at least 60 points.
Embiid had 34 at halftime, and when he scored five quick points early in the third quarter, 76ers coach Nick Nurse began taking notice.
“I was like, ‘Geez, that’s a lot with a whole half to go . ... This’ll probably be a big number tonight,’ ” Nurse said.
A real, real, real big number. Embiid’s 70-point night tied the 12th-biggest scoring effort in NBA history, and broke Chamberlain’s 76ers team record of 68 points.
Embiid became the ninth different player with a 70-point game: Chamberlain did it six times, and everyone else on the list — Baylor, Thompson, David Robinson, Bryant, Devin Booker, Donovan Mitchell, Damian Lillard and now Embiid — has done it once. —