Good morning! NBA Stars have gone ballistic and started scoring at ridiculous rates, while the MVP Debate and race for an NBA Championship continue. Let’s recap:
Battle of Big Men
On Monday, the two best big men in the entire NBA, Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokic, went head-to-head to show the world who the real MVP was. The game was played in Philadelphia, and Embiid delivered, with 34 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 blocks on 55% shooting from the field. Jokic had 22 points, 13 rebounds, 8 assists, and 2 blocks on 50% shooting, but led his team to a 4 point victory over a team that not only has Embiid, but James Harden.
So… who was the best big man in the NBA on Monday?
The answer… is neither of them! On the same night, Karl-Anthony Towns went ballistic against the San Antonio Spurs, dropping 60 points and 17 rebounds in a 149-139 win for the Timberwolves. This performance broke more than a few records: Towns set the record for most points by any player on the Timberwolves and the most points scored by a player this season. In addition, he helped lead his team to break their franchise’s record of most points scored in a game.
Kyrie Ties Towns
So you know what I just said about Towns having the best scoring performance of the entire season? That’s not completely true anymore, as against the Orlando Magic, Kyrie Irving dropped 60 points, while leading his team to score 150 points in total. The next highest scorer on the Nets was Kevin Durant, with only 19. Irving’s 41 points in the first half are an NBA record, breaking the record Deron Williams set in 2012, when he scored 40 points in the first half.
Age is Just a Number
On his 34th birthday, Stephen Curry put up 47 points, 6 assists, and 6 rebounds for the Golden State Warriors in a 126-112 victory. Klay Thompson got in on the fun and scored 20 points; but that wasn’t the best part of this game. Nor was it beating a Wizards team that lost star shooting guard Bradley Beal and is learning how to play with newly acquired Kristaps Porzingis. The best part of this game was that Draymond Green, who’s been on the sidelines due to injury, was finally able to make a recovery, contributing 6 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists off the bench.
The Warriors just didn’t look the same without Green, but now that he’s back, will they be title contenders once again? What do you think? Let me know in the comments.
Don’t forget to follow the NBA Blog, and as always, have an awesome day!
NBA Blog 