Sacramento Kings guard Malik Monk (0) roars after scoring and drew a foul as the Minnesota Timberwolves guard Mike Conley (10) looks on in first half action at the Target Center in Minneapolis on Wed Nov 27, 2024 (AP News photo)
By Barbara Mason
The Sacramento Kings (9-10) will surely enjoy their Thanksgiving turkey dinner tomorrow after beating the Minnesota Timberwolves (8-10) 115-104 Wednesday night. The Kings trailed after one quarter and turned it on in the second quarter and bringing it home in the fourth quarter outscoring Minnesota by a shocking 34-18 closing the game on fire.
The Kings hit sa couple of three’s at the end of the game to seal the deal. Domantas Sabonis and bench wizard Malik Monk had 27 points each to finish off the Timberwolves. The team was without DeMar DeRozan in this game.
Game recap: The opening quarter was tight and after the first 12 minutes of play the Timberwolves had a slight edge leading the Kings 33-31. Sacramento turned this game around in the second quarter outscoring Minnesota 38-24 and leading at the half 69-57. Defensively the Kings were running Minnesota ragged .
When it looked as if the Kings had it all going, they fell apart in the third quarter getting outscored 29-12. After having led at the half they now found themselves trailing 81-86 and had some work to do. The fourth quarter was a wild one.
The Kings did outscore the Timberwolves 34-18 in the quarter but with 3:21 left in the game, the score was tied at 102. Sacramento put the screws to Minnesota from that point forward through the rest of the game with De’Aaron Fox Clutch Fox hitting two shots from downtown and Jae Crowder hitting a third to close out this game. The final was 115-104 with Sacramento sealing the deal in the final three minutes of the game.
Despite the absence of DeMar DeRozan out due to a lower back injury, the Sacramento Kings played a solid game offensively and defensively. The injury bug continues to hamper Sacramento although DeRozan is listed as returning this Friday.
The high score for the Kings was bench player Monk and Domantas Sabonis both scoring 27 points in the game. The surge in the final minutes of the fourth quarter was spear-headed by Monk and Fox.
Fox finished with 26 points and Sabonis had another double double scoring 27 points and 12 rebounds. Monk and Fox combined to outscore Minnesota 17-2 in the final five minutes of the game. Their four game losing streak had been broken and the Timberwolves now have lost seven of nine. The best news of all besides the win was the effort by Monk who appears to have fully healed from that right ankle injury suffered a few weeks ago.
The high score for the Timberwolves was Anthony Edwards who finished with 29 points and 5 rebounds. Julius Randle scored 21 points and had 9 rebounds as the Timberwolves struggle to turn their season around after having had a good start. The Kings outscored them in the paint 64-36 and despite scoring 29 points Edwards was 9 of 24 from the field.
Game notes: The Kings ended their four game skid against the Timberwolves at Target Center. The Kings come into this game after a Monday night loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder 130-109. Sacramento had finally seen the return of Sabonis and DeRozan but still suffered the loss to the Thunder.
They were to turn this thing around against the Timberwolves who despite being a very good team have really, much like the Kings, been struggling. The Kings got help from Fox with 26 points and Sabonis 27 points and the Timberwolves have some weapons of their own in Edwards 29 points and Randle 21 points.
Friday night the Kings will travel to Portland for a matchup with the Trail Blazers. Tipoff for that game is scheduled for 7:00 PM as Sacramento will be looking to make it two wins in a row. and getting back to five hundred.
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