Kings End 1-3 Road Trip With Ugly Loss To T-Wolves
Nov 17, 2021, 7:49 PM | Updated: 7:51 pm
(Photo by David Berding/Getty Images)
(Photo by David Berding/Getty Images)
De’Aaron Fox’s big night was spoiled by Anthony Edwards and the Timberwolves to cap off a disappointing road trip
Entering play on Wednesday afternoon, the Minnesota Timberwolves had lost eight of their previous nine games.
The Sacramento Kings were in a strong position to end the four-game road-trip on a high-note before returning home to face open up a tough four-game home-stand—but these are the Kings we are talking about, here.
Minnesota guard Anthony Edwards exploded for 16 points in the fourth quarter to hand the Kings its fifth loss over their past six games as the Timberwolves defeated Sacramento by a final of 107-97 at Target Center.
The Kings are now 6-9 on the season with a brutal upcoming schedule that includes matchups against Toronto, Utah, Philadelphia, Portland, Memphis and the Los Angeles Lakers.
Sacramento struggled to find an offensive flow in the first quarter, trailing 22-18 heading into the second after shooting just 23-percent from the field and one-of-12 from beyond the arc while turning the ball over six times during the opening period.
While the Kings managed to find the bottom of the net in the third quarter, Minnesota was able to capitalize on Sacramento’s sloppy play to keep things close at the break, as De’Aaron Fox’s 14-point half gave his team a slight 48-44 advantage.
Minnesota opened up the third quarter with a sense of urgency to regain control of the contest, using a huge quarter from All-Star center Karl Anthony-Towns to take a 77-72 lead into the fourth. Anthony-Towns punished the Kings in the third, scoring nine points on four-of-four from the field to almost single-handedly give the Wolves the lead.
Buddy Hield caught fire in the second half to keep the Kings in the game, knocking down four of his first five attempts from downtown to begin the second-half.
Last year’s number-one pick in the NBA draft did his best to match Hield’s hot-streak as Anthony Edwards scored eight points over the first five minutes of the fourth quarter to give Minnesota an 87-83 advantage.
De’Aaron Fox and Edwards traded buckets in a back-and-forth affair down the stretch, but the Timberwolves emerged with a 99-91 lead with 2:27 left once the dust settled. The Kings were unable to close the gap late and suffered their fifth loss over their past six games to end the four-game road-trip with a disappointing 1-3 record.
Was it good to see De’Aaron Fox have a big game? Absolutely. Fox finished with 28 points on 10-of-20 shooting from the field to go along with five assists over 37 minutes.
While Fox found success on Wednesday, Tyrese Haliburton followed up his impressive double-double performance on Monday with arguably his worst showing of the season (seven points, 3/10 FG, 1/5 3PT, four turnovers). Harrison Barnes’ struggles continued in the loss, while Richaun Holmes also did not get as many looks as the Kings would have wanted–especially with Towns battling foul-trouble early in the second half.
A rough stretch against playoff contenders awaits this team once they land in Sacramento. With pressure mounting for both head coach Luke Walton and the current state of this roster, you can’t help but wonder if some big changes are right around the corner for the Kings.
The upcoming home-stand could be make-or-break time for Walton’s time as head coach of this team.
Coming Up
The Kings will return to Golden 1 Center for a four-game home-stand beginning on Friday night against the Toronto Raptors in what will be the first game of a back-to-back set that will conclude on Saturday against Utah.
Last season, Toronto and Sacramento split a two-game set, with the Kings claiming the most recent matchup on January 29th–a 126-124 thriller that was capped off by a game-sealing triple from Tyrese Haliburton with just under 45 seconds remaining.
Be sure to get all of your Kings vs Raptors coverage right here on Sports 1140 KHTK starting with pregame coverage at 3:00pm PST on The Jason Ross Show prior to a 7:00pm PST tip-off from Golden 1 Center.
Upcoming Sacramento Kings Schedule
- November 19th vs Toronto Raptors
- November 20th vs Utah Jazz
- November 22nd vs Philadelphia 76ers
- November 24th vs Portland Trail Blazers
- November 26th @ Los Angeles Lakers
