Minnesota Timberwolves survive late scare against Sacramento Kings to win 86 – 84 – NBA Recap
Minnesota Timberwolves were the better team in a matchup against the Sacramento Kings and overcame a late surge by their opponents to win 86 – 84 on Tuesday. The game at the Target Center was dominated by the Timberwolves despite missing star player Kevin
Love and the home side held on despite a late barrage to end the Kings’ 3-game winning streak.
In Love’s absence, centre Nikola Pekovic stepped up and produced the best performance of the night, securing a double-double with game high 23 points and 10 boards. Michael Beasley was very effective coming off the bench as he scored 17 and grabbed 14 rebounds.
The two rookies of Minnesota were also on song. Spanish sensation Ricky Rubio had a good game pulling the strings and ended up with 14 assists, the game high, while Derrick Williams scored 14 and hauled down 8 rebounds.
The Kings were coming off of a good performance against the New Orleans Hornets but failed to carry the momentum into this game. DeMarcus Cousins, who was the star of the previous game, managed 10 points and 11 rebounds. It was left for Marcus Thornton to
carry the offence and he delivered 22 points for the cause.
Without Love in Minnesota’s ranks, there were fears that the home side might not be as effective as usual, but the Timberwolves showed they had plenty of other weapons in the arsenal. They started the game with a scorching 10 – 2 run. They also made an 8
– 2 sprint and an 8 – 0 one that put them firmly in control at the end of the first quarter; score 31 – 16.
The Kings often looked jaded in the first half and weren’t able to turn many heads with their play in the second quarter. Although Minnesota struggled in the segment, the Kings weren’t able to take advantage and went into halftime still trailing by double-digits,
48 – 36.
The away side did seem to be growing in confidence and came out of the break with a spring in their step. The Kings continued to eat away at Minnesota’s lead and by the beginning of the final period had brought the Timberwolves advantage into single digits,
69 – 60.
Sacramento were looking more and more dangerous as Minnesota faltered and near the midway mark in the final segment, they made an 8 – 0 dash that levelled the scores at 77 – 77. The Timberwolves responded with 4 quick points to give themselves some breathing
space, only for the Kings to narrow the gap down to 2, and then get level again, 82 – 82.
Rubio then setup Williams for a decisive three-pointer that knocked the wind out of Sacramento and the Timberwolves got away with a 2 point win, 86 – 84.
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