Sacramento Kings top Minnesota Timberwolves 116-108 in a high scoring fixture – NBA Recap
On Monday night, the Sacramento Kings defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves 116-108 here at the Power Balance Pavilion in Sacramento.
Tyreke Evans led the way for the Kings with 24 points, 7 assists and 10 rebounds while Kevin Love had another good night for the Wolves, scoring 23 points and grabbing 7 rebounds. The Timberwolves have now lost 4 of their last
five games.
It was a much evenly contested game in the first half, the majority of points coming from the paint area. At the end of it though, Sacramento were leading by 63-58.
The third quarter turned out to be a thriller.
Sacramento stretched their lead early to 67-58. However, Minnesota went on 14-6 run to take the lead 73-72 with 6:55 remaining.
From there on, there were a number of lead exchanges and the quarter ended with Sacramento leading 87-86. Minnesota was very much in the game at this point. However, they had a dismal start to the 4th quarter, missing
their first six field goal attempts, two free throw attempts and turning the ball over twice before they got their first points on the board.
By this time, Sacramento had already taken a 98-88 lead with nearly seven and a half minutes remaining in the game. Minnesota rallied hard in the ensuing passage and came as close as five points. But, they could never overcome
the lead Sacramento had built and lost 116-108.
DeMarcus Cousins scored 20 points, had 3 assists and grabbed 9 rebounds. Isaiah Thomas also had a good night with 17 points and 5 assists. The Kings bench gave full support to the team, with Terrence Williams scoring 12 points
and grabbing 12 rebounds in 32 minutes of playing time. Jimmer Fredette chipped in with 19 points off the bench.
The Timberwolves star Kevin Love had 23 points for the night but was in foul trouble in the 4th quarter and had to sit out the early minutes of the quarter.
The Timberwolves shot 48.1% from the floor, including an impressive 52.4% from the three point range. The Kings were only 30.4% from the three point line. However, they outnumbered the Wolves in rebounds, grabbing 46 rebounds against
35 for the Wolves.
Minnesota is still in playoff contention with a win-loss record of 25-30, 4 wins short of 8th place Houston in the western conference. But they only have 3 wins in their last 10 matches, and need to bring their A game
if they want to have a realistic chance of reaching the playoffs.
Tags: