Kevin Love on song as Minnesota Timberwolves defeat Sacramento Kings - NBA Recap
The Minnesota Timberwolves have emerged as a pretty decent side early this season and have been impressing many with their youthful and energetic displays. Squaring off against another young side in the Sacramento Kings, the Timberwolves showed their superiority
with a solid performance.
Playing at the Target Center, the Timberwolves showed great character to grab the win after going behind earlier. Minnesota relied on a superb display from talismanic forward Kevin Love to will their way back into the game and in the end secured a comfortable
win at 99 – 86.
Love led all scorers on the night with a terrific 33 point display while he also grabbed 11 boards to complete the double-double. One man who barely missed out on a double-double of his own was guard Luke Ridnour, who scored 25 points and dished out 9 assists
in an all action display. Rookie sensation Ricky Rubio was again impressive in his role of playmaker, handing out 8 assists.
The trouble with the Kings was that not one player truly got going in the game. True, Tyreke Evans had 10 assists, but he only scored 9 points. No one else stepped up either, with DeMarcus Cousins scoring only 10 points and guard Marcus Thornton a joint
team top scorer with just 12.
Sacramento surprised the home team at the start of the game with a fiery opening spell that took them up 10 – 2. The Timberwolves though clawed down the deficit as the quarter progressed and ended it with a 7 – 0 display, ending up on top at 28 – 22.
The second quarter wasn’t too remarkable early on but with the score at 38 – 30 to Minnesota, Sacramento made an 8 – 0 burst to draw level. By the end of the half, they were ahead at 46 – 42.
The second half of the game though completely belonged to the Timberwolves. Minnesota came out of the interval with real fire in their belly and completely overawed the Kings. Sacramento were outscored 25 – 16 in the third quarter by the home side, which
went into the final period leading at 67 – 62.
The final period was more of the same, Minnesota piling on the points and Sacramento looking powerless to keep pace. The Timberwolves scored a total of 32 points in the last quarter, taking the game at a comfortable 99 – 86 score line.
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