The Center(s) of Attention

Happy Tuesday! The NBA was on something else last night. It was a wild Monday on the hardwood, and we’re here to tell you all about it.

Let’s get this ball moving down the court.

Joel Embiid Drops 70 Points

Joel Embiid had a monster night for the Philadelphia 76ers, and it’s almost like Gregg Popovich knew it would happen.

Popovich, the head coach for the San Antonio Spurs, said, “I don’t think it matters what we do,” when asked how the Spurs would try to contain the 76ers Center. Even with the Spurs having the 7-foot-4 prodigy Victor Wembanyama, Embiid still couldn’t be slowed.

Embiid took double the amount of shots that he normally takes, but he actually had a higher scoring % last night. Embiid scored 70 points, hit 1 three-pointer, was 21 of 23 from the free throw line, had 18 rebounds and 5 assists, and he did this all in just 37 minutes! 

What’s crazy to me is the Sixers still had two other double-digit scorers and another five guys who scored points on the court, too. The Sixers would win 133-123.

Wemby was the high scorer for the Spurs with 33.

Embiid’s epic night came on the anniversary of Kobe Bryant’s 81-point game.

Karl-Anthony Towns Goes Off

It wasn’t enough for one center to have an epic night, Karl-Anthony Towns had to get his too. KAT scored 62 points in a 128-125 loss to the Charlotte Hornets last night. He broke the Minnesota Timberwolves franchise record for most points in a game. He set the record last year when he scored 60 in a game. KAT did this a little differently than Embiid, as KAT was 10 of 15 from the 3-point line and 10 of 14 from the FT line.

Unfortunately for the T-Wolves, they gave up a 15-point lead in the 4th quarter and allowed the Hornets to outscore them 36-18 in the final quarter. Brandon Miller and Miles Bridges led the way for the Hornets, scoring 27 and 28, respectively. Minnesota’s coach, Chris Finch, was not pleased with the T-Wolve's loss.

Suns Complete Comeback + Durant Scores Big

It wasn’t just centers scoring big; it was all 7-footers. Kevin Durant came up big for the Phoenix Suns last night as they trailed the Chicago Bulls by 23 points during the game. KD would, and the Suns would make a comeback by outscoring the Bulls 66-47 in the 2nd half.

Demar DeRozan and KD traded shots in the 2nd half and would take it down to the final moment, where KD would knock down the final go-ahead shot with a double pump jumper. KD finished 43 for the Suns.

DeRozan finished with 21 for the Bulls, but the sneaky high scorer was Colby White, who has been playing very well for Chicago.

Celtics Left No Survivors

Okay, the Celtics left at least one survivor.

Besides Jaylen Brown almost sending Luka Doncic to outer space, Luka had a dominant night where he finished with a 30-point triple-double. Luka’s stat line was 33 points, 18 rebounds and 13 assists. But this also happened.

Boston got a 119-110 win over the Dallas Mavericks last night, and it came at the hands of two Celtic Superstars. Jayson Tatum had 39 points last night, and Jaylen Brown scored 34. Neither player had a turnover. The Celtics hold the top spot in the East and have the most wins in the NBA.

An Unrelenting Monday Night

We had all this superstar play, and it looked like we’d have a massive upset, too. The league's worst team, the Detroit Pistons, looked like they were going to pull off a massive win against the Milwaukee Bucks and Giannis.

The Bucks would enter the 4th quarter of this game with a lead, but the Pistons would hang around for quite a while, and the lead would change hands a few times.

It took the Bucks to have a 15-4 run down the stretch to pull away and get the 122-113 win. Giannis finished the night with a quiet triple-double where he had 31 points, 17 rebounds, and 10 assists. Khris Middleton also helped out the Bucks with 26 points and moved up to the #3 spot on the Bucks’ all-time scoring list.

The Pistons had contributions from almost everyone on the team, and they got 23 from Marcus Sasser and 19 from Isaiah Stewarts, both of whom came off the bench.

That’s a lot of stats and scores for one day. We’ll end it here, but before we let you go, here’s what’s on TV tonight.

NBA on TNT

🏀 New York Knicks @ Brooklyn Nets, 7:30 pm ET

🏀 LA Lakers @ LA Clippers, 10 pm ET

College Basketball

🏀 #16 Dayton @ La Salle, 6:30 pm ET on ESPN+

🏀 Texas @ #11 Oklahoma, 7 pm ET on ESPN

🏀 Xavier @ #17 Creighton, 8:30 pm ET on FS1

🏀 Michigan @ #2 Purdue, 9 pm ET on Peacock (you all probably still have a subscription, thanks to the NFL!)

🏀 #4 Houston @ #21 BYU, 9 pm ET on ESPN+

NHL

🏒 Various games streaming on ESPN+; check out the full schedule here.

Have a great day, and we’ll catch up with you tomorrow.

-The Daily Breakroom