Kevin Durant was utterly shocked after finding out about Joel Embiid's career night ... hilariously reacting in real time as he praised the Philadelphia 76ers superstar's 70-point outing.
K.D. -- who dropped 43 in the Phoenix Suns' 115-113 win over the Chicago Bulls -- met with reporters after his own great performance ... and he gave an unfiltered response when asked about the 29-year-old center's stat line against the San Antonio Spurs.
"70?! He had 70?! S***," K.D. said in disbelief ... while also giving Minnesota Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns props for his 62 points against the Charlotte Hornets.
The question was centered around the current state of the NBA ... and after Durant wrapped his head around Embiid's offensive clinic, he gave a thoughtful take.
"The skill level in this league is insane and actually the coaching, the schemes on offense is insane," K.D. said. "You seen so many different sets being run for bigs to get threes."
"Coaches are being way more creative to put their best players in great positions to get those numbers and you got shooters all around the floor, you got penetrators. I mean, this is the peak of basketball, in my opinion."
"It's insane what we got going on."
Embiid finished his night with 70 points (a Sixers franchise record), 18 rebounds and five assists ... and his teammates went nuts for him in the locker room to celebrate the accomplishment.
POV: you're in the locker room after @JoelEmbiid drops 70 pic.twitter.com/EMVZtnHh9a
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) January 23, 2024
Joel became just the ninth player in league history to ever drop at least 70 in a game ... and it just so happened to go down on the anniversary of Kobe Bryant's iconic 81-point game against the Toronto Raptors.