Magic Johnson: Karl-Anthony Towns in the mix for MVP

Magic Johnson: By scoring 60 points last night, superstar Karl Anthony-Towns put himself in the running for the NBA’s MVP! Source: Twitter @MagicJohnson What’s the buzz on Twitter? Gerald Bourguet @ GeraldBourguet Devin Booker called it “inspiring” …

Magic Johnson: By scoring 60 points last night, superstar Karl Anthony-Towns put himself in the running for the NBA’s MVP!

Source: Twitter @MagicJohnson

What’s the buzz on Twitter?

Gerald Bourguet @GeraldBourguet
Devin Booker called it “inspiring” watching Karl-Anthony Towns and Kyrie Irving drop 60 points this week.
“It’s been an incredible week of hoops.” – 11:01 PM
Cody Taylor @CodyTaylorNBA
Kevin Durant on Kyrie Irving:
To have 60 the night after Karl-Anthony Towns had 60, the league is in an amazing place right now. – 10:09 PM
Micah Adams @MicahAdams13
Active members of the 60-point club:
Kyrie Irving
Karl-Anthony Towns
LeBron James
Stephen Curry
Klay Thompson
Bradley Beal
Carmelo Anthony
Kemba Walker
Jayson Tatum
Devin Booker
Damian Lillard (3x)
James Harden (4x) – 10:08 PM
Dave Early @DavidEarly
KD said Kyrie Irving told the team in the locker room they’ve got more to do, and Durant loves that Kyrie has that never satisfied mindset even on a nights like tonite. Adds the league is in a great place with performances like Karl-Anthony Towns dropping 60 one night, Ky tonite. – 10:07 PM
Dwain Price @DwainPrice
What happened to defenses? We’ve had 60-pt games on consecutive nights by Karl-Anthony Towns and Kyrie Irving. And 50- and 40-pt nights are like a walk in the park. Are the players that good or defenses that bad? Take the ball out of the hot hand and make someone else beat you. – 9:36 PM
Michael Scotto @MikeAScotto
Kyrie Irving was in Uncle Drew mode tonight becoming only the 32nd NBA player to score 60 points in a game. It was a career-high, Nets franchise record, and tied the NBA season-high with Karl-Anthony Towns. Fans in Orlando chanted “Kyrie” at Amway Center. pic.twitter.com/GoFh6jLfj39:31 PM

Adam Zagoria @AdamZagoria
Now on @njdotcom
Kyrie Irving scores Nets’ franchise-record 60 points one day after fellow N.J. native Karl-Anthony Towns scored 60 for Minnesota nj.com/nets/2022/03/k…9:26 PM
Karl-Anthony Towns @KarlTowns
Jersey putting up numbers.
🤝 @Kyrie Irving9:20 PM
Tim Reynolds @ByTimReynolds
March 14: Karl-Anthony Towns scores 60.
March 15: Kyrie Irving scores 60.
The last time the NBA saw two 60-pieces so close to one another was an instance on the same day: April 9, 1978, David Thompson (73) and George Gervin (63). – 9:18 PM
Shams Charania @ShamsCharania
Back-to-back NBA nights:
Karl-Anthony Towns with 60 points on Monday.
Kyrie Irving with his own 60 tonight. – 9:11 PM
Brian Lewis @NYPost_Lewis
Kyrie Irving has the first 60-point game in #Nets history. It’s a new career-high and tied the #NBA season-high set by Karl-Anthony Towns last night for Minnesota at the #Spurs. – 9:10 PM
Kristian Winfield @Krisplashed
6⃣0⃣ for Kyrie Irving in Orlando tonight. He’s tied Karl-Anthony Towns for most points in a game this season. – 9:09 PM
Michael Gallagher @MikeSGallagher
Jersey native Karl-Anthony Towns dropped 60 last night.
Jersey native Kyrie Irving dropped 60 tonight.
Jersey, stand up! – 9:09 PM
StatMuse @statmuse
Most points in a half this season:
36 — Karl-Anthony Towns yesterday
39 — Kyrie Irving today
There’s still 2 minutes left in the first half. pic.twitter.com/fNXzecml3s8:06 PM

Jeff McDonald @JMcDonald_SAEN
Karl-Anthony Towns’ 60-point outburst Monday marked the sixth time this season an opponent has gone for at least 40 against the Spurs, tied for second-most in the NBA.
On the team that has seemingly become every All-Star’s favorite foil:
expressnews.com/sports/spurs/a… via @expressnews – 5:29 PM
Jon Krawczynski @JonKrawczynski
– Why was Marc Lore standing behind Karl-Anthony Towns in socks while holding his shoes?
– Why did Pat Bev tell everyone on the team bus to stay put?
– Why was Monday night so significant to the Towns family?
Behind the scenes on KAT’s 60-point epic.
theathletic.com/3184493/2022/0…1:15 PM
Justin Kubatko @jkubatko
Karl-Anthony Towns could post 50/40/80 shooting splits for the third time in his career (currently 53/41/82).
Using a minimum of one 3PM per team game, the only NBA players to record at least three such seasons are:
🎯 Steve Nash, 6
🎯 Jeff Hornacek, 3
🎯 Kevin Durant, 3 pic.twitter.com/17WZYhL30C12:31 PM

Karl-Anthony Towns @KarlTowns
Yesterday was two years to the date that my parents walked into the ER at JFK Medical Center in Edison, NJ and were admitted with COVID-19. The same hospital that my mother gave me life, and tragically, the same hospital where I saw her life begin to slip away – 11:25 AM
Dan Favale @danfavale
here are all 19 of karl-anthony towns’ made field goals from his 60-point kaboom, just because pic.twitter.com/7RDcIWH1rx11:03 AM

Justin Kubatko @jkubatko
Last night, Karl-Anthony Towns became the first player to record a 60-point game this season.
It’s the seventh straight season in which at least one 60-point game has been recorded, the longest such streak in NBA history by three seasons. pic.twitter.com/boJzOsewei10:21 AM

Matt Williams @StatsWilliams
Karl-Anthony Towns in his 60-point performance:
21 points off 3s
22 points in the paint
He is the first player to score more than 20 points off 3s and more than 20 points in the paint in a game since…
Kobe Bryant’s 81-point game in 2006 – 10:08 AM
Justin Kubatko @jkubatko
Three players scored at least 45 points last night:
✅ Karl-Anthony Towns (60)
✅ Stephen Curry (47)
✅ Trae Young (46)
It’s the first time in NBA history there have been three 45-point scorers in three different games on the same day. pic.twitter.com/r2KXS5ktvz9:31 AM

Jorge Sierra @hoopshype
MVP of the Night: Karl-Anthony Towns
#NBAsFinest pic.twitter.com/mQ5XaXo0tK9:04 AM

Justin Kubatko @jkubatko
Karl-Anthony Towns last night:
✅ 60 PTS
✅ 17 REB
✅ 7-11 3P
Towns is the first player in @Minnesota Timberwolves history to record a 60-point game.
He’s the second player in NBA history to recored at least 60 points, 15 rebounds, and five 3P made in a game, joining James Harden. pic.twitter.com/DxXXdMMOUM9:01 AM

Bobby Marks @BobbyMarks42
Karl-Anthony Towns is super max extension eligible if he is named All-NBA this season- 4 years/$205M.
However, his best chance of being named All-NBA could be at forward, a position he has played 0% possessions this season (per @Basketball-Reference). – 8:45 AM
Micah Adams @MicahAdams13
All-time NBA scoring rank by players with 10,000 career assists:
3. LeBron James
41. Chris Paul
50. John Stockton
83. Magic Johnson
87. Jason Kidd
90. Steve Nash
239. Mark Jackson – 9:56 PM
Micah Adams @MicahAdams13
Career scoring average by players with 10,000 assists:
John Stockton: 13.1
Jason Kidd: 12.6
Chris Paul: 18.2
Steve Nash: 14.3
Mark Jackson: 9.6
Magic Johnson: 19.5
LeBron James: 27.1
LeBron has a chance to retire 3rd all-time in assists and 1st in scoring. – 9:51 PM
Michael Scotto @MikeAScotto
LeBron James is the 7th player in NBA history with 10,000+ career assists. He joins John Stockton, Jason Kidd, Chris Paul, Steve Nash, Mark Jackson and Magic Johnson. LeBron is the only player in NBA history with 10,000+ points, 10,000+ rebounds and 10,000+ assists in his career. pic.twitter.com/c5OxMtj8ro9:45 PM
Steve Aschburner @AschNBA
“My veins don’t pump no Kool-Aid,” Kevin Garnett told me deep into his rookie season. He morphed from pure Magic Johnson joy on the court to his own signature brand of ferocity, earning the Hall of Fame and Sunday a jersey retirement. A video archive: nba.com/stories/archiv…5:29 PM
Justin Kubatko @jkubatko
📅 On this day in 1986, the @Los Angeles Lakers Magic Johnson had 27 points and 13 assists in a 105-92 win over the Sonics.
Johnson recorded his 5,000th career assist, becoming both the fastest (472 games) and youngest (26 years, 211 days) player in NBA history to reach that mark. pic.twitter.com/uEzI4Ljvpg2:01 PM

Justin Kubatko @jkubatko
📅 On this day in 2018, the @Oklahoma City Thunder‘s Russell Westbrook had 32 points, 12 rebounds, and 12 assists in a 119-107 win over the Hawks.
Westbrook became the fourth player in NBA history to reach 100 career triple-doubles, joining Oscar Robertson, Magic Johnson, and Jason Kidd. pic.twitter.com/ra65eqlXvJ1:01 PM

More on this storyline

If the 100-some media members who vote share the same view as the executives, coaches and scouts I contacted, though, this year promises to be no different. More than a half-dozen players have been mentioned as being worthy of the award — Joel Embiid, Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, LeBron James, Chris Paul, Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, DeMar DeRozan and Jayson Tatum — but there was a clear-cut first choice among the majority of my panel: Philadelphia 76ers’ center Embiid. -via FoxSports.com / March 16, 2022
Kyle Neubeck: Embiid with nothing but praise for Nikola Jokic after the game, repeating his comments from last week calling him a “monster.” When asked if outscoring him tonight showed if he’s the best big in the league or not, Embiid pointed out that they lost and that it’s not for him to say -via Twitter @KyleNeubeck / March 15, 2022
Being with the Charlotte Hornets over the last week and a half has provided Isaiah Thomas with the opportunity to watch LaMelo Ball up close. Let’s just say he’s impressed with the trajectory. -via Charlotte Observer / March 13, 2022