The National Blowout Association has transformed into the National Bucket-getting Association after a couple of outstanding individual performances on Monday night. Minnesota Timberwolves big man Karl-Anthony Towns set a franchise record with 62 points against the Charlotte Hornets, but he played second-fiddle to another sweet-shooting 7-footer as Joel Embiid went bonkers, besting Wilt Chamberlain with 70 points in a win over the San Antonio Spurs.
Now that you mention it, an NBA player probably just scored a basket while you were reading this sentence.
Embiid’s performance capped a 4-0 week which saw the 76ers jump nine spots into the No. 1 slot in this week’s NBA Power Rankings. They sit just ahead of the Boston Celtics and the Denver Nuggets, whom Embiid only had 41 against earlier in the week. Slacker.
Also rising were the Los Angeles Clippers, who entered the top five after two strong wins, and the Phoenix Suns, who rode three victories to a top-10 spot. The biggest fallers of the week were the Utah Jazz, who came back to reality after a scorching stretch of basketball. The Miami Heat also interestingly fell nine spots after three straight losses with Jimmy Butler back in the fold.