Spiraling Kings fall in Minnesota, losing 5th straight game by double digits
The feeling around the Sacramento Kings could be embodied by the color of the court Friday night at the Target Center in Minneapolis: a nauseating neon green.
Sacramento’s losing streak extended to five games and the Kings fell to 0-2 in the NBA Cup with a 124-110 defeat to the Minnesota Timberwolves, continuing the rough vibes after their 1-4 home stand.
A big scoring night from Domantas Sabonis, who finished with 34 points, a change in the starting lineup and improved effort on the defensive end wasn’t enough as the Kings fell to 3-10 on the season, continuing their free fall in the competitive Western Conference. Only the New Orleans Pelicans (2-10) had a worse record among Western teams as of Friday night.
The Kings came in losers of four straight by an average of 26 points and are now on a five-game skid, losing all five by 14 points or more. Their previous defeat, a 33-point drudging by the Atlanta Hawks, led to coach Doug Christie chastising his team’s defensive effort after the game.
But unlike Wednesday, the game was still in the balance early in the fourth quarter when Minnesota had a 1-point lead. Then the Timberwolves put their foot down and outscored Sacramento 32-19 in the final period, giving them their fourth straight victory and snapping Sacramento’s five-game winning streak in Minneapolis.
It appeared his team responded to Christie’s message by hanging with the Timberwolves after falling behind by double digits early in the first quarter. The game was tied at halftime.
“These guys care,” Christie said before the game. “I’ve been around this league, around basketball, my whole life. You have ups and downs and all those different things. It’s part of what we do. But they care, so I expect them to come out and play as such.”
Anthony Edwards scored 17 of his 30 points in the third quarter. Julius Randle had 26 points and 11 rebounds.
Russell Westbrook for Sacramento notched a 13-point, 13-assist, 10-rebound triple-double as he got his final rebound in garbage time before the clock expired.
Westbrook enters starting lineup, Schroder comes off bench
Christie said after Wednesday’s blowout loss to the Atlanta Hawks that he would consider making changes to the starting lineup after the team had three starters were minus-31 or worse, which included falling behind 18-8 in the first 4:23, which his team never recovered from.
That change was inserting Russell Westbrook into the starting lineup in place of Dennis Schroder, who has struggled since signing a three-year, $45 million contract in the offseason.
“We’re searching and trying to make sure that we put a lineup out there that represents all those things that I talked about,” Christie said. “So everything is up for discussion. ... But more than anything, it’s just about the energy, the vibe, making sure that we find something that is Sacramento Kings basketball as we continue to define out identity. And we’re going to get there, no doubt.”
But the move to Westbrook didn’t seem to work initially. The Kings fell down 18-7 in the first four-plus minutes while the Timberwolves went 7-of-8 from the floor and hit their first three 3s.
Westbrook went scoreless in the first half but had nine assists and five rebounds.
Milestone for Westbrook
His sixth assist gave Westbrook 10,000 for his career becoming the eighth player in NBA history to reach that mark.
He joined John Stockton, Chris Paul, Jason Kidd, LeBron James, Steve Nash, Mark Jackson and Magic Johnson.
First half report
The game was tied 61-61 at the break. The Kings’ limited the Timberwolves to shooting just 39% in the second quarter, won the rebounding battle 17-10 and outscored them 31-26.
Sabonis was still clearly in pain while dealing with his rib injury that’s bothered him for nearly two weeks. But that didn’t stop him from scoring early and often. Sabonis in the first half had 24 points on seven rebounds. He was back to being a focal point of the offense getting 16 shots attempts while no other King had more than eight.
It was the first time Sabonis scored 20 in a half since December 2024 against the New Orleans Pelicans.
Minnesota led by as many as 11 in the first quarter before Keon Ellis checked in. He hit a pair of 3s and had a steal while Sacramento went on an 8-2 run in just over a minute. The Kings trailed 35-30 after the first quarter.
Schroder, while coming off the bench for the first time this season, scored 12 points with 4 assists in his first 11 minutes. He had 14 points in the first half while hitting both of his 3-point attempts.
Up next
The Kings continue their five-game road trip with an afternoon game Sunday against De’Aaron Fox and the San Antonio Spurs.
Then they’ll have two days off before playing a back-to-back: the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday and the Memphis Grizzlies on Thursday.
The road trip wraps with another game against the Denver Nuggets on Nov. 22.
