SAN ANTONIO – The last time Karl-Anthony Towns set the franchise record for points, it came on March 28, 2018 at home against the Hawks.
Towns didn't have nearly as much fun as he had in San Antonio on Monday night when he broke his own record of 56 points in a game by going for 60 in a 149-139 victory over the Spurs.
That was the season when Jimmy Butler helped the team make the playoffs, but it wasn't exactly Towns' most fun experience playing basketball. That night could have been a microcosm of that.
"It brings back memories again of 56," Towns said Monday. "Just two totally different vibes when I got it. I've told these guys, I appreciate it so much, because I ain't never been celebrated. I don't know how that feels. So to have people do that when I got 60 was a crazy feeling. Fifty-six was just like 'OK.' It was another day."
Contrast that with Monday night, when multiple teammates stopped by Towns' postgame interview on the court to douse him in water. Then all posed for a post-game picture with Towns holding "60" on a piece of paper.
"They make these moments special," Towns said.
Towns has spoken multiple times this season about how close this team is. One of the closest, if not the closest, he's had during his professional career. To have a season like this, largely devoid of drama on and off the court, Towns has been able to flourish in perhaps his best season in the NBA.
"I really can't explain it," Towns said. "I just feel like I was set up for success this year after everything I've been through, just having this group of guys around. I've never had that kind of camaraderie and unity and chemistry since college. To have everyone one through 15 buy into everything we're doing, it makes years like this possible."
And nights like Monday possible. Towns credited his teammates for encouraging him — and giving him the ball a lot — on his path to 60.
"I'm a center. I don't bring the ball up. I got to ask for the ball," Towns said. "The ball gets thrown to me. That's my teammates saying we see your mindset, what you can do and just trust that I'll score those points and those baskets when given the chance."
But his teammates have done more for him than just given him the ball. Coach Chris Finch said a "really fun and healthy dynamic" of this team has been seeing Towns interact with his teammates and the energy that gives him.
"He's a guy like all of us, we need the confidence of our teammates to be our best version of ourselves," Finch said. "They know he's the guy and he can take us to these types of performances when we need them most."
That concept might sound obvious — teammates help motivate a star player to do great things. But Towns' career has shown that isn't always a given. Nor is it a given around the NBA.
"I got a taste of that in Golden State," point guard D'Angelo Russell said. "I wondered why they won, and I saw the way they just found a way to squeeze games out. It's the chemistry, it's the camaraderie, it's all the things that go into play before we even touch the court. It's not preparation, it's not mentality. It's liking each other."
That has helped their best player do things he has never done.
"For them to all be on the same page that, 'We want to get Karl this moment and give him a chance,' it just speaks volumes about the chemistry of this team," Towns said.
