Karl-Anthony Towns scores 62 points, breaks Timberwolves franchise single-game scoring record
On the same night that Joel Embiid scored 70 points, Karl-Anthony Towns nearly one-upped him with 62 points in a scoring night that many NBA fans won’t soon forget.
The former Kentucky star knocked down 10 three-pointers and put up 35 total shots as the Minnesota Timberwolves battled the Charlotte Hornets to a 128-125 loss on Monday. He broke his previous career-high of 60, which was also the Timberwolves’ organization record set back in 2022. Towns also logged 58 points in a game for the ‘Wolves back in 2018 as well.
He officially broke the record with a two-point basket midway through the fourth quarter, but was unable to lead his team to victory — or score during the final five minutes of the game. Despite this, he finished the third quarter with 58 points before the Hornets held him in check during the final stretch.
Aside from Towns, Nickeil Alexander-Walker was the team’s second-leading scorer with 18 and big man Rudy Gobert logged 13. No other Minnesota player scored more than 10 points, including the team’s leading scorer, Anthony Edwards who scored nine points in 37 minutes on the floor.
Towns’ 62-point performance is the first time he has logged over 30 points in a game since the turn of the calendar year. After scoring at least 22 points in every game in 2024, he logged under 20 in three of Minnesota’s last four games.
Many Timberwolves fans hope this will kick-start a new scoring barrage for the nine-year NBA veteran. His highest scoring total during the 2023 season was 30 points after playing a shortened 29-game season thanks to a calf injury that forced him to miss over 50 games of the season.
Fast forward to 2024, and Towns has played in 42 games this season and can now say he played the best basketball game, statistically, of his NBA career.
Even despite Towns’ scoring barrage — it still fell eight points short of his college teammate Devin Booker‘s 70 points for the Phoenix Suns back in 2017. While it looked to be in jeopardy, it’s still the most points in a single NBA game by a former Kentucky player in history.
Ironically, KAT’s 62-point performance wrapped up less than an hour after Joel Embiid led the Philadelphia 76ers to a 133-123 win over the San Antonio Spurs. The win inched the 76ers closer to overtaking the Milwaukee Bucks for second place in the Eastern Conference standings. Meanwhile, the Timberwolves remain in sole possession of first place in the Western Conference barring a win from the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday.
Additionally, this was only the fourth instance in NBA history that two players have scored 60+ points on the same night, and the first since 1978, according to NBA History.