Timberwolves score ‘so, so easy’ against Kings; end Sacramento’s five-game winning streak
Kings coach Mike Brown couldn’t find a way to stop the onslaught from the Minnesota Timberwolves, but he might have found something in Kessler Edwards.
The Kings trailed by 14 late in the third quarter when Brown turned to Edwards, the 22-year-old forward the Kings acquired in a trade deadline deal that sent the draft rights to David Michineau to the Brooklyn Nets.
Edwards provided size, length and defense, but he couldn’t save the Kings as their five-game winning streak ended with a 138-134 loss to the Timberwolves before a sellout crowd of 18,111 at Golden 1 Center.
“There was a bright spot,” Brown said while bemoaning his team’s defense. “Kessler Edwards, I thought, getting thrown in the mix and telling him to go guard Anthony Edwards is one of the toughest assignments in the league, and you’re not going to stop a guy like that, but I thought he did a good job of making him work for his points and that was a bright spot in tonight’s game.”
There weren’t many of those.
Kevin Huerter scored 29 points on 11-of-15 shooting for the Kings (37-26), who now trail the Memphis Grizzlies by 1 ½ games for the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference. Huerter went 6 of 9 from 3-point range in the surest sign yet he has snapped out of his 29.2% February shooting slump.
De’Aaron Fox added 25 points and seven assists, ending his Sacramento-era franchise-record streak of eight consecutive 30-point games. Domantas Sabonis recorded his 51st double-double with 24 points and 14 rebounds. Harrison Barnes scored 20 points and Trey Lyles was effective off the bench with 15 points and eight rebounds in 19 minutes, but the Kings couldn’t get the defensive stops they needed to win another shootout.
Edwards had 27 points and eight assists for the Timberwolves (34-32), who moved into a virtual tie with the Dallas Mavericks for sixth in the West. Mike Conley scored 24 points. Kyle Anderson had 18 points on 7-of-8 shooting with seven rebounds and nine assists while Jaden McDaniels added 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting. Rudy Gobert posted 13 points and 14 rebounds.
Edwards said he always enjoys coming to Sacramento.
“It’s even more fun now because they’re winning and it was packed tonight, so it’s even more fun,” he said. “I love Sac, man. It’s my favorite arena.”
The Timberwolves shot 60% from the field and made 20 of 39 (.513) from 3-point range. They scored 36 points in the first quarter and 38 in the second before Brown called on Kessler Edwards in the third.
“It was an in-game adjustment, and I don’t even know how many games we have (remaining), but I know I don’t want to go into the playoffs playing the way we are defensively, so it’s my job to keep trying to find different combinations that can help us get stops. So, it wasn’t planned going in. It just happened because they were scoring so, so easy.
“Even in a pick-and-roll situation, our coverage is right, but there’s no ball pressure. We don’t get back in front of the ball to stop it. We just stay on the guy’s hip and let him drive down the floor, and then they skip it with ease because there’s no ball pressure, because there’s no high hands and we can’t get to shooters if they’re able to play as comfortable as they played tonight.”
Edwards, who appeared in just his third game for Sacramento, was grateful for the opportunity. His first basket in a Kings uniform came on a 3-pointer that cut the deficit to three with 3:28 to play in the fourth quarter. He finished with three points, three rebounds, one assist and one steal in 14 minutes, posting a team-best plus-minus rating of plus-12.
After the game, he was asked about his performance and what he can do defensively.
“It felt good to get out there with my guys,” he said. “This was my first time really playing for real in Golden 1, so it was cool to be out there with those guys. Defensively, that’s just something I take pride in, bringing the energy. I know I can bother guys with my length and stuff like that, so that’s the most important thing to me when I get out there.”
Both teams were playing on the second night of a back-to-back. The Kings beat the Los Angeles Clippers 128-127 on Friday night while the Timberwolves topped the Los Angeles Lakers 110-102.
The Timberwolves led 36-30 after shooting a sizzling 68.8% in the opening period. The Kings trailed by 12 in the second quarter before Chimezie Metu scored on a putback to spark a 9-0 run for Sacramento. The Kings cut the deficit to three on two free throws by Malik Monk, but they were down 74-64 at the halftime break. The Timberwolves shot 65% from the field and made 11 of 19 (.579) from 3-point range in the first half.
Minnesota went up by 17 midway through the third quarter. The situation looked bleak for Sacramento when Sabonis went to the bench with his fourth foul. Brown looked to the end of his bench for answers, calling on Edwards, PJ Dozier and Alex Len to give Sacramento some size and defense.
The Kings staged an 11-0 run to get within three on a 3-pointer by Huerter with 1:51 to play in the third. They cut the deficit to one early in the fourth and again on two occasions in the final three minutes, but each time the Timberwolves responded with big baskets.
“We were terrible defensively,” Lyles said. “I think they had 76 in the first half. The coaches talked about it. … We can outscore anybody, but we can’t stop anybody. At the end of the day, if we want to win games like this, we’ve got to learn how to play defense better.”
This story was originally published March 5, 2023 at 12:03 AM.
