The Minnesota Timberwolves fell 124-111 to the Sacramento Kings on Friday, ending their undefeated stretch at home to start the season. The Kings drilled 17 three-pointers on 35 attempts (49%) and carried that hot shooting inside the arc as well. Sacramento took 100 total shots on the game, 18 more than the Timberwolves mustered—the byproduct of some sloppy Wolves turnovers as well as Sacramento grabbing 14 offensive rebounds.
Let's get into three instant reactions from Minnesota's disappointing in-season tournament loss to the Kings.
Anthony Edwards highlights Kings’ strengths
Anthony Edwards was a real bright spot for the Timberwolves in Friday's loss. He finished the game with 35 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Most notably, Ant channeled his aggression and became a foul-drawing machine, connecting on 17 of his 18 free throw attempts. Edwards finished with two steals and a pair of blocks as well, stopping some Sacramento paint touches with a couple exhilarating defensive plays.
When asked about Sacramento’s offense, Edwards seemed quite impressed with the Kings' pace and ball movement.
“We never played a team like that,” Edwards stated. “They were moving the ball. We got to get used to that. You gotta guard for 24 seconds.”
The 124 points scored by Sacramento on Friday night is the third-most points Minnesota has allowed in a game this season.
Domantas Sabonis causes problems for Wolves
Friday night’s matchup was a matchup between Sacramento's great, high-paced offense and Minnesota's big, sound defense. The King won that battle. Their uptempo offense featuring Domantas Sabonis as an initiator through dribble hand-offs and pushing the pace in transition proved a tough challenge for the Wolves.
One of the big issues for Minnesota was finding a role defensively for Karl-Anthony Towns. While KAT’s been a pleasant surprise for Minnesota this season, Friday night he was attacked early.
Wolves coach Chris Finch elected to put to Towns on Sacramento forward Harrison Barnes to start the contest. Barnes, averaging 12.2 points before Friday’s matchup, scored eight points in the first quarter with Towns struggling to navigate through Sabonis’ dribble hand-offs and screens. Barnes finished the night with 18 points on just 11 shots, a huge bonus for a Kings’ team playing without Keegan Murray.
Despite a tough battle with Sabonis, Gobert played his consistent style of basketball by finishing with another double-double. Gobert wasn’t happy postgame with his team’s effort and attention to detail.
“A lot of the issues were things we can control. First our urgency to get back in transition wasn’t there, wasn’t good enough,” he said. “…Our ability to respect the game plan. They can shoot threes. Chase them over screens. It took us a quarter and a half to really start doing it.”
To Gobert’s point, the Wolves allowed 70 first half points against the Kings. On average this year, opponents score just 55.9 points in first halves against Minnesota. That 14-point difference hurts a lot in a 13-point loss, especially when it comes down to game plan execution.
Posting 12 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks, Gobert, individually, made his impact felt by finishing with a +4 plus-minus in a game the Wolves lost by double-digits. His effort, box-outs on Sabonis and ability to contain dribble-drive penetration was huge for Minnesota in limiting Sacramento’s two-point scoring.
Upcoming schedule
Minnesota has a chance to get back into the win column on Sunday, when they visit the struggling, injury-ravaged Memphis Grizzlies. That will be a quick one-and-done trip on the road before the Wolves return home to take on the OKC Thunder at Target Center on November 28th and Utah Jazz on November 30th.
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