‘No tomorrow’: Kings’ playoff hopes take another hit with loss to lowly Timberwolves
D’Angelo Russell had a big game in his return from knee surgery to help the Minnesota Timberwolves hand the Kings their fourth consecutive loss Monday night in Minneapolis.
Russell scored 25 points and Karl-Anthony Towns posted a double-double, leading the Timberwolves to a 116-106 victory over the Kings at Target Center. Russell scored 13 points over the final 6:43 to close out the Kings.
“Unfortunately we’re going through a tough time again,” Kings coach Luke Walton said. “We’ve been here before and we’ll fight our way out of it again.”
Towns had 23 points, 13 rebounds and five assists for the Timberwolves (13-38), who had lost four of their last five games. Rookie Anthony Edwards added 19 points, eight rebounds and five assists.
De’Aaron Fox had a game-high 31 points, nine assists and six rebounds for the Kings (22-29), who are stuck in another tailspin after winning five in a row in late March. Harrison Barnes had 21 points and 12 rebounds. Buddy Hield had 18 points on 6-of-17 shooting with seven rebounds, three assists and two steals.
The Kings now trail the Golden State Warriors by 1 ½ games and the New Orleans Pelicans by one game for the final play-in spot in the Western Conference with 21 games remaining.
“Playoff teams are jockeying for position and teams like us who are on the cusp are trying to get in,” Barnes said. “We have to have that sense of urgency that there really is no tomorrow. You get down too many games, the margin starts to widen, and you’re not going to be able to make up that difference. For us, if we don’t come out with that sense of urgency, then it doesn’t mean that much to us.”
The Kings outscored the Timberwolves 29-26 in the opening period. They went up by five early in the second quarter, but the Timberwolves staged a 10-1 run to go up 39-35 on a 3-pointer by Edwards. The Kings trailed by eight with four minutes to play in the half, but they closed with a 14-6 run to tie the game.
The Kings reclaimed the lead early in the second half. They went up 80-72 on a three-point play by Barnes with 3:11 to play in the third quarter, but the Timberwolves came back to tie the game going into the fourth.
Sacramento went up 93-92 on a driving layup by rookie Tyrese Haliburton with 8:12 remaining, but the Kings quickly found themselves trailing by double digits after Minnesota responded with a 12-0 run over a span of 1:59. A pull-up jumper by Russell gave the Timberwolves a 106-95 lead with 4:38 to go before the Kings mounted one last charge.
Fox made a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to six and Haliburton scored to cut it to four, but a big 3-pointer by Towns and a couple of free throws by Russell helped the Timberwolves hold on for the win.
Russell returns
Russell, who came out of Ohio State as the No. 2 pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, suited up for the first time since Feb. 8 after missing 26 games due to knee surgery.
Timberwolves coach Chris Finch elected to bring Russell off the bench, saying he would be on a “pretty limited” minutes restriction. Russell logged a total of 24 minutes, making 7 of 19 from the field and 4 of 7 from 3-point range.
Russell is averaging 19.3 points and 5.1 assists in his sixth NBA season. He was an All-Star with the Brooklyn Nets in 2018-19.
Up next
The Kings will have two days off before they play host to the Detroit Pistons on Thursday night at Golden 1 Center.
The Pistons (14-35) will be making their third stop on a five-game road trip after visiting the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday and the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday. Fox scored 27 points to lead the Kings to a 110-107 victory over the Pistons on Feb. 26 in Detroit.
The game will mark the return of former Kings guard Cory Joseph, who was traded to the Pistons on March 24 in the deal that brought Delon Wright to Sacramento. Joseph averaged 10.8 points, 4.8 assists and 2.8 rebounds in his first six games for the Pistons.
Injury report
Kings: OUT — Marvin Bagley III (hand).
Timberwolves: OUT — Malik Beasley (hamstring); Jaylen Nowell (tibia).
Kings upcoming schedule
April 8 vs. Detroit Pistons, 7 p.m.
April 10 at Utah Jazz, 6 p.m.
April 12 at New Orleans Pelicans, 6 p.m.
April 14 vs. Washington Wizards, 7 p.m.
April 15 at Phoenix Suns, 7 p.m.
This story was originally published April 5, 2021 at 7:30 PM.
