Brandon Miller spoils Karl-Anthony Towns' 62 points in Hornets win vs. Timberwolves
On the same night Joel Embiid scored 70 points for the Philadelphia 76ers — and, in the process, became the ninth player in NBA history to reach that mark — Karl-Anthony Towns poured in a franchise-record 62 points for the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Towns’ performance wasn’t just overshadowed by Embiid’s, but also happened to come in a loss, with the Timberwolves falling to the Charlotte Hornets.
He has Brandon Miller to thank for that.
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The Hornets rookie and former Alabama star turned in arguably the best performance of his young NBA career in his team’s 128-125 victory, scoring 27 points on 11-of-13 shooting. The 27 points were two shy of matching his career high.
Miller helped his team mount a comeback in a game in which it trailed by as many as 18 points. His last basket was perhaps his most important, with a 17-foot step-back jumper extending Charlotte’s lead to two possessions with just 2:06 remaining.
Brandon Miller tonight:
27 points
11/13 FG
2/2 FT
Miller is starting to emerge as a three-level scorer, just like he did in the middle of his freshman season at Alabama.
Crazy thing is Miller wasn't a midrange guy in college since Bama didn't take those shots. But now it's a… pic.twitter.com/Zgwb3TtnKN— Kevin O'Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA) January 23, 2024
The victory continued what has been a recent tear for Miller, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft.
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Brandon Miller stats
Over his past three games, the 6-foot-7 Miller is averaging 24.7 points per game while shooting 61.4% from the field and 42.9% from 3-point range (despite going 2 of 10 from beyond the arc in one of those games).
After his stellar outing on Monday, Miller is averaging 14.9 points per game, which ranks him third among rookies, behind only Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs and Chet Holmgren of the Oklahoma City Thunder.
In his lone season at Alabama, Miller was the SEC Player of the Year and a consensus second-team All-American while leading the Crimson Tide to its first-ever No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. He went on to become the highest Alabama NBA draft pick since Antonio McDyess went No. 2 overall in 1995.
As excellent as he was in his one season in Tuscaloosa, Miller has showcased facets of his game in the NBA that weren’t always evident in college. Specifically, he has grown into an effective mid-range jump shooter, making 46.7% of his shots from between 15 and 24 feet from the basket.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Alabama's Brandon Miller spoils Karl-Anthony Towns' 62-point outburst
