Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns scored 60 points against the Spurs, including a whopping 32 points in just the third quarter.
The performance was the highest total any player has reached so far this season. In the game, Towns also became the first center to score 60 points in a game since Shaquille O’Neal scored as many in 2000.
Perhaps most impressive: Towns stole the show on an evening when the two MVP frontrunners, Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokic, faced off on ESPN. While basketball fans came into the night expecting to pin two excellent big men against one another, it was Towns who came out as the most exciting player of the night.
Yesterday was two years to the date that my parents walked into the ER at JFK Medical Center in Edison, NJ and were admitted with COVID-19. The same hospital that my mother gave me life, and tragically, the same hospital where I saw her life begin to slip away
— Karl-Anthony Towns (@KarlTowns) March 15, 2022
While there is no doubt what Towns did was astonishing, it’s even more impressive when considering the circumstances.
After the game, Towns took to Twitter to explain to fans that the performance he had came two years to the day that his mother was admitted to the hospital with COVID-19.
Towns’ mother, Jacqueline, was one of seven relatives that the 26-year-old NBA star tragically lost to coronavirus. However, the former No. 1 overall pick shared that she was the “greatest guardian angel” that he ever could have asked for during his winning effort against the Spurs.
I say this to say…no matter what life throws at you, you can come out of it stronger. Tough times don’t last, tough people do. Miss you Momma. This game….my life…is for you ❤️🕊
— Karl-Anthony Towns (@KarlTowns) March 15, 2022
Towns also added what he took away from the experience (via Twitter):
“I say this to say…no matter what life throws at you, you can come out of it stronger. Tough times don’t last, tough people do. Miss you Momma. This game….my life…is for you ❤️🕊”
Currently enjoying his seventh professional season, Towns was recently named to the All-Star team for the third time in his NBA tenure.
During the NBA’s All-Star Weekend, he also won the NBA’s three-point contest. He came into the competition with the lowest odds to win of any participant.
Towns is currently leading the Timberwolves to just their second season with a winning record since 2004-05. He is also making a solid case for himself to earn All-NBA consideration at the season’s end.
