Karl-Anthony Towns nearly upstaged Joel Embiid on Monday night.

Yet somehow, despite a career outing, Towns couldn’t lead the Minnesota Timberwolves to a win.

Towns put up a career-high and franchise-record 62 points in what was a historic performance at the Target Center. Yet the Timberwolves stumbled late, and Towns seemed to hit a wall, which allowed the Charlotte Hornets to rally out of a 15-point hole and steal the 128-125 win and spoil his night.

Towns dropped 44 of his points in the first half and made eight straight 3-pointers to start the night. His final 3 of the first half came from just inside the Timberwolves’ halfcourt logo, too. He was feeling it.

Towns missed just three total shots in the first half, and only his last 3-point attempt of the second quarter was off the mark. His 44 points were the most scored in the first half anywhere in the league since the 1996-97 season.

Despite a ridiculous opening 24 minutes from Towns, the Timberwolves took just a five point lead into halftime. The Hornets, behind 17 first-half points from Miles Bridges, wouldn’t go away.