Karl-Anthony Towns #32 of the Minnesota Timberwolves celebrates after scoring during the fourth quarter against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse on February 28, 2022 in Cleveland, Ohio. The Timberwolves defeated the Cavaliers 127-122. Jason Miller/Getty Images/AFP
Karl-Anthony Towns scored a franchise-record 60 points and grabbed 17 rebounds as the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves pulled away in the second half for a 149-139 win over the stumbling San Antonio Spurs on Monday.
The career-high total for Towns is also the most points produced by a player in the NBA this season.
"I had 32 in the 3rd?! DAMN!"
😅 KAT didn't know he had 32 points in the 3rd quarter.
He finished the game with 60! pic.twitter.com/B2HCXc7NY3
— NBA (@NBA) March 15, 2022
His previous career-best (also the franchise mark) was 56, set against the Atlanta Hawks on March 28, 2018. He reached that point on Monday by the end of the third quarter, a period in which he had 32 of Minnesota’s 46 points and scored his team’s final nine points.
Towns set the record on a foul shot with 2:19 to play, his 15th made free throw in 16 attempts of the game. He added a 3-pointer with 1:38 left for a 12-point advantage. Towns wound up shooting 19 of 31 from the floor, including 7 of 11 from 3-point range.
🚨 SIXTY POINTS FOR KAT 🚨
60 PTS is the NBA season-high by any player & a @Timberwolves franchise record. pic.twitter.com/ipJn56KSK5
— NBA (@NBA) March 15, 2022
Towns’ huge third quarter helped the Timberwolves break away from a two-point lead at halftime for a 121-106 lead entering the fourth quarter. San Antonio cut its deficit to as little as nine points in the fourth quarter but could never make a serious run at Minnesota down the stretch.
Patrick Beverley added 20 points and eight assists for the Timberwolves, who have won two straight and eight of their past nine games. D’Angelo Russell added 19 points, Jaylen Nowell had 15, Taurean Prince tallied 13 and Jaden McDaniels scored 11 points for Minnesota.
Keldon Johnson scored a career-best 34 points for San Antonio. Dejounte Murray contributed 30 points and 12 assists, Jakob Poeltl scored 21 points, Lonnie Walker IV put up 22 and Devin Vassell had 17 as the Spurs dropped their second straight game and fell for the seventh time in nine contests.
Minnesota led 40-32 after the first quarter, and the advantage grew to 10 points early in the second period. The Spurs began chipping away at that margin and eventually tied the game at 59 on Johnson’s driving layup with 4:09 to play in the half. But Minnesota never let the Spurs reach the lead and took a 75-73 advantage into the break.
Towns led all scorers with 24 points at halftime, while Johnson had 20.