Timberwolves’ “Big Three” Overpowers Sacramento Kings
By Rafe Wong
The Sacramento Kings left the Twin Cities with a loss tonight as they were defeated by the Minnesota Timberwolves by a score of 119-96.
Game Summary
Tonight’s contest showed how much separation there is between the Sacramento Kings and Minnesota Timberwolves. While one team is trying to figure out their future, the other team is on a mission to be one of the top teams in the Western Conference.
In the first quarter, the Kings’ offense executed well by getting good looks, but unfortunately, they could not make their open shots. Adding this with mediocre defense put the purple and white behind by 10 points after the first quarter. The period also featured De’Aaron Fox leaving the game due to a knee injury, later being ruled out for the night.
The second quarter was better for the Kings. Although their defense continued to struggle, they did a much better job on offense as they scored 33 points for the period. As a result, Sacramento cut Minnesota’s lead to single digits as they trailed 64-55 at halftime.
The third quarter was when all hope was lost. Sacramento’s offense became stagnant and Minnesota continued to remain hot scoring the ball. Due to a poor 12 minutes by the Kings, they were outscored 31-16 in the period and trailed by 24 points going into the fourth.
The Kings attempted to comeback in the final quarter but threw the white flag midway through as Dave Joerger opted to play guys deeper into his roster. Due to this move, the Kings did outscore the Wolves 25-24 for the period but still fell short by 23 points.
Final Thoughts/Top Performers
Overall, this win for Minnesota was due to the excellent performances by their core players in Karl Anthony-Towns, Andrew Wiggins, and Jimmy Butler. Throughout the night, the trio was efficient scoring the ball while being stingy on the defensive end. As a result, the group recorded 73 points, 22 rebounds, 14 assists, 3 steals, and 7 blocks for the game.
The collective performance by Sacramento was poor, but bright spots were George Hill who recorded 16 points on 5-9 shooting and Zach Randolph who scored 15 points and snatched 9 rebounds.
Next time the Kings will hit the hardwood will be against the Toronto Raptors Sunday afternoon.