Karl-Anthony Towns drops 50 at NBA All-Star Game
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Lorenzo Delgado, Contributor
- February 19, 2024
Karl-Anthony Towns is first Latino with 50 points in an NBA All-Star Game
Karl-Anthony Towns thought of his late mother Jaqueline Cruz and her native Dominican Republic on Sunday night after the 73rd NBA All-Star Game.
The former NBA Rookie of the Year finished as the game’s leading scorer with 50 points. Towns’ 50 piece was the most ever scored by a Latino at an NBA All-Star Game.
“I’m just blessed to have a whole country full of love, full of history, tradition,” Towns said of the Dominican Republic. “And my family’s history is cemented there.
“To be able to have all that energy, to be able to represent them not only through basketball, but through the love I show from my mother, a Dominican born woman, to be able to show that love in front of the whole entire world and for the game of basketball I’m just tremendously honored to be able to represent all of the Dominican Republic.”
If you wanted to watch a high-scoring basketball game, this game was for you. A crowd of 17,251 witnessed history as they roared inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
Karl-Anthony Towns leads West
Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton and Bucks guard Damian Lillard were consistently hitting 3-pointers behind the arc to lead the Eastern Conference to a dominant 211-186 victory over the Western Conference.
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The East broke the NBA All-Star Game record for most points. The West set the previous record with 196 points in 2016.
Towns, the Minnesota Timberwolves’ center, finished with 10 points in the first half.
He started to heat up in the second half. Towns scored 31 points in the fourth quarter while finishing with 50 points.
“It’s a huge honor,” he said. “It’s all because of my teammates. My teammates tonight kept finding me and passing me the ball. So I was just trying, like I said, to take advantage of this opportunity and take some shots.”
Proud Dominican
Towns is bicultural. His late mother was Afro Latina from the Dominican Republic. The former Kentucky star’s father is African American.
Towns has always embraced his Dominican roots. He has even represented his mother’s island in international competitions.
Towns became the first Latino and the fourth player overall to score 50 points in an All-Star Game. He followed Celtics forward Jayson Tatum (55 points, 2023), Lakers center Anthony Davis (52 points, 2017) and Warriors guard Stephen Curry (50 points, 2022).
The four-time All-Star also scored the most points ever by a Timberwolves player in an All-Star Game.
“I’m honored to be able to do things that they told us was not possible,” Karl-Anthony Towns said. “Especially even making the NBA, and to find different ways to break barriers and break records that people in our island don’t get a chance to do.”
Logo Lillard wins All-Star MVP
Damian Lillard, or Logo Lillard as NBA analysts call him, was not missing behind the 3-point arc.
Lillard had 39 points, three rebounds and six assists. He scored 54% from the floor. He made 11 of his 23 threes, including two half-court shots from the NBA All-Star logo.
He collected his 3-point championship award Saturday night. Then the eight-time All-Star added more hardware to his impressive resume, winning the 2024 Kobe Bryant All-Star Game MVP.
“You just got to keep shooting the ball,” Lillard said. “I just told myself I’m going to be aggressive, I’m going to keep firing. I saw a couple go in. And after that, it was just like I’m going after it.”
In defeat, though, Karl-Anthony Towns left his mark and honored his Dominican mother.
Lorenzo Delgado
Contributor
Lorenzo Delgado graduated with his bachelor’s degree from Texas A&M University and is currently attending the University of Houston to earn his master’s degree. Lorenzo was formerly a contributing baseball writer for Call to the Pen on the Fansided Network. He is the host of an Astros baseball podcast called Full Seam Ahead, which is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and wherever podcasts are found.
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