Karl-Anthony Towns poured in a franchise-record 62 points, but he and his teammates got ripped by Minneosta Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch for “disrespecting the game” after blowing an 18-point lead against the Charlotte Hornets in Minneapolis.
Towns, the former St. Joe’s-Metuchen and Kentucky star, went off for 44 points in the first half, but managed just four points on 2-for-10 shooting in the fourth quarter, when the Timberwolves were outscored 36-18 on their way to a 128-125 loss on Monday night. Towns complained he was fouled on a drive to the basket in the final seconds with Minnesota trailing by one point, and then misfired short on a 3-pointer in the final possession.
Finch ripped his team after the game, calling it an “absolute disgusting performance of defense and immature basketball” and confirmed Towns was “hunting a big number.”
“I mean there’s lots of times when, just because you’ve scored two or three or four points in a row, or baskets in a row ... you know obviously we’re going to try to feed a hot hand, look for a hot hand, but at some point we got to get back to making the right play, we got to get back to doing the right things,” Finch told reporters.
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Towns finished 21-for-35 from the floor, including 10-for-15 from 3-point range, and now owns the top three scoring outputs in the Wolves’ 35-year history.
“Having a night like that on a loss doesn’t feel very good or historic,” said Towns, the former No. 1 NBA Draft pick out of Kentucky
Towns said there was no silver lining to his performance given the loss.
“We’re No. 1 in the West, one of the best teams in NBA; there ain’t no time for moral victories, silver linings, ‘great night, but just not a finish we wanted.’ We’ve got to find a way to win,” he said. “It’s about winning the game. It’s about staying No. 1 in the West. It’s about protecting our home court more, most importantly above all things.”
In the first half, Towns was 14-for-17 from the field and 8-of-9 from 3-point range as the Wolves took a 69-64 lead. The eight 3-pointers in a half were two shy of the NBA record. The NBA record for points in a first half is shared by David Thompson and George Gervin with 53.
Miles Bridges scored 28 points and Brandon Miller had 27 for the Hornets, who had lost seven of their past eight games and had the Eastern Conference’s third-worst mark entering Monday. Minnesota, meanwhile, has now lost two games in a row for just the second time this season.
“Like I said, there’s a lot of ways to be immature,” Finch said. “There’s always a lot of ways to be immature. There was a lot of immature performances here throughout the roster. We totally disrespected the game, ourselves, and we got exactly what we deserved.”
Towns’ scoring performance was eclipsed by Joel Embiid’s 70-point night for the Philadelphia 76ers in their win over the San Antonio Spurs. Towns and Embiid became the fourth pair of NBA players to each score at least 60 points on the same day and the first since David Thompson (73) and George Gervin (63) in 1978, per ESPN Stats & Information.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.