San Antonio, March 15 (BUS): Karl-Anthony Towns scored 60 points – the most goals in the NBA this season – and the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the San Antonio Spurs 149-139 on Monday night.
Towns hit 19 for 31 and had 17 rebounds to surpass his previous career best by 56 points against Atlanta on March 28, 2018 – which was the mark of excellence. Lakers star LeBron James and the Hawks, and his guards, Trae Young, have shared the league titles this season with 56 points, the Associated Press reported.
The 7-foot-tall Minnesota star capped his impressive performance by draining a 3-pointer with 1:39 remaining, shortly after making one of two free throws to reach 57 points.
He became the first player in the NBA to score 60 points and 17 rebounds in a game since Shaquille O’Neal scored 61 and 23 with the Los Angeles Lakers on March 6, 2000.
San Antonio have lost two consecutive goals since Greg Popovich scored his 1336th career victory to become the winning coach in NBA history. Spurs have dropped seven out of nine games and weigh in at 2-3 times during a seven-game stay, their longest playing this season.
Spurs striker Keldon Johnson scored 34 points, Dejaunt Murray added 30 points and 12 assists, and Lonely Walker 4 scored 22 points.
The teams combined collected 148 points in the first half, scoring 58 to 100 while playing at a frantic pace.
San Antonio opened the game 4-5 three-pointers but Minnesota fired 75% from the field during the first seven minutes of the first quarter.
Towns scored 14 points and five rebounds while playing the entire first quarter against Jacob Boeltel and Zach Collins.
The game became nimble in the third as Wolverhampton goalkeeper Patrick Beverly became involved with Murray and Collins on separate properties. The skirmish led the Wolves to a 16-7 lead giving them a 112-99 lead with 2:30 remaining in the quarter.
Towns had 56 points during the first three quarters. He sat with 6:34 remaining in the final stretch shortly after catching his fourth and fifth fouls within 45 seconds, but was back on the ground with three minutes remaining on his career height.
Hints
Timberwolves: Anthony Edwards got five points in 30 minutes after being listed as likely due to tendinopathy. …the Cities bug on Poeltl in Q3 has been upgraded to a blatant 1 following a video review. …Cities also inadvertently hit teammate Torian Prince on the bridge of the nose late in the first quarter after both attempted a 3-pointer rebound missed by Josh Primo.
Prince sat on the field for a minute holding his nose but stayed in the game after the time was up. … Beverly started the match and earned 20 points in 30 minutes after being questioned due to an ear injury.
Tottenham: Murray is the first player in franchise history to have 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 500 assists in a single season. … Johnson joins Kawhi Leonard as the only player in franchise history with 1,000 points, 400 rebounds, and 125 three-pointers in a single season. … Doug McDermott missed the game after injuring his right ankle Saturday in the first half of San Antonio’s 11-point loss to Indiana.
Popovich is unsure how long McDermott will be out of action, but said he will be out “for some time”. …Keita Bates Diop sat with a backache after eight minutes of playing against the Pacers. He has missed four of five matches. …Romeo Langford did not play due to a strain in his right hamstring.
next one
Timberwolves: Host the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday night.
Tottenham: Host the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night.