Minnesota Timberwolves defeat the Sacramento Kings
The Sacramento Kings (3-4) suffered their third loss in a row after losing 98-89 to the Minnesota Timberwolves (2-7) on Wednesday 10 November at ARCO Arena in Sacramento.
Thanks to a career-high 42 points from Michael Beasley, the Wolves were able to snap their six-game losing streak. Beasley also added in nine rebounds on the night while Sebastian Telfair
shot 8-14 from the field to finish with 16 points. Kevin Love finished with eight points and nine rebounds while Darko Milicic had nine points and eight rebounds. For the Wolves, most of the damage was done by the starting five as the entire bench only managed
to score 11 points.
Omri Casspi shot 3-7 from three-point range to finish with a team-high 17 points for the Kings while Beno Udrih came close to a triple-double, finishing with 16 points, seven rebounds,
and nine assists. Samuel Dalembert had 14 points and nine rebounds while Darnell Jackson led all bench scorers, shooting 5-8 from the field for 11 points. Tyreke Evans, last year’s Rookie of the Year, had an off-night, fouling out early in the fourth quarter
with nine assists and five turnovers.
Thanks to 27 first-half points from Beasley, the Wolves went into half time with a 51-45 lead. Beasley’s 17 points in the first two quarters was only three off his career high of 30 points.
The Kings could never cool off the Wolves, who outscored Sacramento 24-17 in the final quarter to put the game away.
What they said
Beasley, who shot 17-31 for the game, clearly had it going last night.
"I was knocking down shots and being aggressive, but I didn't feel that hot where I couldn't miss," he told reporters after the game. "It was just one of those nights."
Beasley was traded from the Miami Heat to the Wolves this past summer and last night’s output is a positive sign that he is beginning to feel more comfortable in a new system.
"His gifts are obviously there; Michael has to figure out where his opportunities are in our system," Wolves coach Kurt Rambis said. "He got it going early, and you go through those situations
as a scorer when the basket looks so big. He's a tough matchup with his height, length, size and offensive capabilities. He's one of those unique players who can score in a myriad of ways."
The Kings had a lot of trouble containing Beasley last night and the coach knew it.
"Obviously Michael Beasley was someone we didn't have any success at all guarding tonight," Kings coach Paul Westphal said. "We tried pretty much everything we could try, and he had the
answer [for them all]."
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