70-Piece? Big Men, Box Office

January 24, 2024

By: Carlos Alvarez

Good Morning,

It was a big night for big men in the NBA. One could argue \”the biggest.\” On the 18th anniversary of Kobe Bryant’s 81-point game, reigning MVP Joel Embiid notched a 70-piece. A few minutes later, Karl-Anthony Towns completed a 62-pointer. This was one epic night in the NBA record books you have to see to believe.

Plus: More NFL coaching changes, Coco Gauff’s magic major run, and the 2024 Baseball Hall of Fame announcements are tonight.

Letter Rip!

NBA

Big Men, Box Office 

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Photo: Tim Nwachukwu / Getty Images

Joel Embiid (70 Points) & Karl-Anthony Towns (62 Points) Pour In Historic Performances on Epic Scoring Night in the NBA

A big night for big men! Not one, but two superstar seven-footers had career-highs just minutes apart on Monday in the NBA. They weren\’t the only ones catching fire, either (see below). Joel Embiid (76ers) put up a 70-piece and Karl-Anthony Towns (Timberwolves) followed it with 62 of his own. All sorts of records came tumbling down, but Embiid’s night was extra special. The 76ers’ big man and reigning MVP is the first player in league history with a 70-15-5 stat line, and he\’s just the ninth player ever to eclipse the 70-point mark. Remarkable stuff. Philadelphia beat the Spurs (133-123) in a humbling “welcome to the league” moment for rookie Victory Wembanyama. Wemby still had 33, but he couldn’t battle with Embiid in the paint. Here’s a look at the big man stat lines and records that fell on Monday.

Fun Fact: Embiid (70 points) and Towns (62 points) became the first pair of players to score 60-plus on the same night in 46 years — David Thompson (73) and George Gervin (63) in 1978.

Joel Embiid’s 70-Point Night

70 Pts | 18 Rebs | 5 Asts | 1 Blk | 1 Stl | 1 TO

Field Goals: 24-41 | 3-pt: 1-2 | Free Throws: 21-23

Embiid Rewrites Philly Records: Joel Embiid only played 37 out of 48 minutes on Monday. His scoring average of 1.89 points per minute would’ve equated to 90 points over a full-48. His 70-point game was still a franchise record, besting Wilt Chamberlain’s 76ers\’ previous mark of 68 points (1967). He also posted the highest-scoring game in league history by a player with only one turnover (or less).

Karl-Anthony Towns’ 62-Point Night

62 Pts | 8 Rebs | 2 Asts | 7 TOs

Field Goals: 21-35 | 3-pt: 10-15

KAT Catches Fire From Deep: The other record-breaking night unfolded out west, but the result was quite different. Karl-Anthony Towns had 44 points at the half in Minnesota, and NBA fans started tracking history shortly after Embiid\’s milestone. KAT cooled off late, but he finished with a new career-high (62 points). Unlike Embiid, Towns made his money from outside, shooting 66% from 3-point range (10-for-15). Unfortunately for KAT, Minnesota fell to the Hornets (128-125) after getting doubled-up in the 4th quarter (36-18). Head coach Chris Finch called the performance \”immature\” after pointing out that players were hunting the big number for Towns, and they failed to respect the game. Ouch.

Other NBA Highlights

Durant Calls Game: Kevin Durant (43 points, 6 rebounds, 8 assists) hit a knock-down game-winner from the elbow to bounce the Bulls in Phoenix (115-113). It was KD’s second consecutive 40-point game and his fourth of the year. The Suns have won six straight.

Clips End on 22-0 Run: The Nets held an 11-point lead over the Clippers inside five minutes to go last night, but L.A. reeled off a startling 22-0 run to finish the game and pull off a double-digit win. An absolute collapse by the Nets certainly made for some angry bettors as the Clippers somehow covered the nine-point spread (125-114). Yikes!

Other Top Performances (Highlights)

J. Tatum (BOS): 39 points, 11 rebounds

L. Doncic (DAL): 33 points, 18 rebounds, 13 assists

V. Wembanyama (SAS): 33 points, 7 rebounds

G. Antetokounmpo (MIL): 31 points, 17 rebounds, 10 assists

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TENNIS

Coco\’s Magic Major Run Continues

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Photo: Andy Cheung / Getty Images

#4 Coco Gauff Powers Her Way Into Semi-Finals at Australian Open With 10th Consecutive Major Match Win

American superstar Coco Gauff is still swinging down under! The 19-year-old phenom is closing in on her second career major win (back-to-back) before the age of 20. Gauff needed a third set to get past Marta Kostyuk on Monday after a pair of tiebreakers in the first two sets. She’s only dropped two sets total over the entire tournament, and she’s now won 10 consecutive matches in majors dating back to the 2023 U.S. Open. That ties Serena Williams’ 25-year-old record for consecutive major match victories. Gauff won the U.S. Open six months ago in New York by beating No. 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka in the finals. Only two matches stand in the way of another title, and the No. 2 Sabalenka is the only other top-5 challenger left standing in her way.

Elsewhere, Carlos Alcaraz is continuing another spectacular major run. He\’s never won it in Melbourne, but this could be the year. A plethora of top seeds in the men’s draw were also in action overnight (see below). We’ll have more in tomorrow’s edition as we round out the semi-finals.

Women’s Singles (Quarterfinals)

#4 C. Gauff def. M. Kostyuk (7-6, 6-7, 6-2)

#12 Q. Zheng def. O. Dodin (6-0, 6-3)

Men’s Singles (Quarterfinals)

#2 C. Alcaraz def. M. Kecmanovic (6-4, 6-4, 6-0)

#6 A. Zverev def. #19 C. Norrie (5-Set Tiebreaker)

In Action Overnight/This Morning

M: #1 N. Djokovic vs. #12 T. Fritz

M: #4 J. Sinner vs. #5 A. Rublev

W: #2 A. Sabalenka vs. #9 B. Krejcikova

Full Upcoming Australian Open Schedule

Read More

USA Today: Coco Gauff Wins 10th Consecutive Major Match, Tying Serena’s Record

Forbes: Novak Djokovic & Carlos Alcaraz Battling for World No. 1 Ranking at Australian Open

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NCAA

Poll Pulse: Chasing Perfection?

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Photo: Jacob Kupferman / Getty Images

Iowa (W) Fall to #5, Kansas (M) Drop to #7, UNC (M) Rise to #3, But the South Carolina Women are Beginning to Taste a Perfect Season

The NCAA basketball season is roughly 2/3 complete, and the polls are still shaking. Sixteen total top-10 teams are moving (eight men, eight women) in this week’s polls. The No. 1 seeds — UConn (M) and South Carolina (W) — are holding strong, as well as No. 2 Purdue in the men’s poll. Among this week’s big “up-set-backs” (upset-setbacks) were Iowa (No. 5) and Kansas (No. 7). Meanwhile, North Carolina\’s men\’s team has won seven straight ACC games by double digits to vault up to No. 3 in the polls.

But the big story is starting to unfold around South Carolina (17-0). Dawn Staley’s Gamecocks have had numerous 1- and 2-loss seasons over the past decade (four 1- or 2-loss campaigns to be exact), but they’ve never run the table. Could this be the year for perfection in South Carolina?

Men’s AP Poll (Top-10)

1. UConn (17-2) | —

2. Purdue (17-2) | —

3. North Carolina (16-3) | ↑1

4. Houston (16-2) | ↑1

5. Tennessee (14-4) | ↑1

6. Kentucky (14-3) | ↑2

7. Kansas (16-3) | ↓4

8. Auburn (16-2) | ↑5

9. Arizona (14-4) | ↑3

10. Illinois (14-4) | ↑4

Full Men’s AP Top-25

Women’s AP Poll (Top-10)

1. South Carolina (17-0) | —

2. UCLA (15-2) | ↑3

3. Colorado (16-2) | —

4. Kansas State (19-1) | ↑3

5. Iowa (18-2) | ↓3

6. Stanford (17-2) | ↑2

7. NC State (16-2) | ↓3

8. UConn (16-3) | ↑1

9. LSU (18-2) | ↑1

10. Texas (18-2) | ↑1

Full Women’s AP Top-25

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HIGHLIGHTS

NHL

Devils Rally Past Golden Knights (6-5, OT)

*Tyler Toffoli’s Hat Trick Fuels 2-Goal Comeback

NCAA Basketball

M: #3 UNC Blows Out Wake Forest (85-64)

*R.J. Davis (36 points) Leads UNC to 7th Straight Win

W: #16 Utah Upsets #2 UCLA in Overtime (94-81, OT)

*Utes End OT on 10-0 Run in Final Minute

W: #4 Kansas State Holds Off #13 Baylor (58-55)

*Wildcats Trailed by 9 at Half, Allowed 16 2nd-Half Points

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STORYLINES

Updated Super Bowl Odds

Super Bowl odds are once again on the move now that the divisional round is in the books and conference championship weekend is just days away. Can either 3-seed stop the 49ers and Ravens from facing off in the big game? (FOX Sports)

NBA Midseason Grades

The NBA trade deadline is around the corner, All-Star weekend is just down the road and, sooner or later, the Detroit Pistons might get their fifth win. Let’s hand out grades for the NBA’s first half of the season. (CBS Sports)

MLB Breakout Teams in 2024

Not every unexpected contender is going to win a title — or even make the World Series — so what exactly is a breakout team? We throw the term around a lot in sports, but we don\’t spend nearly as much time thinking about what it means. (ESPN+)

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NEWS

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SCHEDULE

Today\’s Must-Watch List

MLB

Hall of Fame Announcement (6:00 pm ET, MLBN)

NBA (City Rivalries)

Knicks at Nets (7:30 pm ET, TNT)

Lakers at Clippers (10:00 pm ET, TNT)

NHL

Lightning at Flyers (7:00 pm ET, ESPN+)

Blue Jackets at Oilers (9:00 pm ET, ESPN+)

NCAA Basketball

M: Texas at #11 Oklahoma (7:00 pm ET, ESPN)

M: #6 Kentucky at South Carolina (7:00 pm ET, SECN)

M: Michigan at #2 Purdue (9:00 pm ET, Peacock)

W: #8 UConn at Marquette (7:00 pm ET, ESPN+)