Minnesota Timberwolves: Player grades from win over the Kings
The Minnesota Timberwolves won on Monday night against the Sacramento Kings by a score of 112-105. Let’s look at player grades from the win.
84. 112. 86. Final. 105
The Minnesota Timberwolves won on Monday night against the Sacramento Kings by a final score of 112-105. It was a key win for several reasons, most significantly because the Kings are right in front of them in the Western Conference standings.
After Monday’s win, the Wolves are tied with the Lakers for No. 10 in the West, two games behind Sacramento for No. 9 and three games behind the No. 8 spot.
The Wolves were coming off of a 1-1 mark on the road after the All-Star break before returning home. They won in New York and lost in Milwaukee without Karl-Anthony Towns, who was injured in a car accident. Thankfully, he was able to come back on Monday night and dominate in the win over the Kings.
Beyond Towns, Tyus Jones and Derrick Rose also had major contributions on this night.
The Wolves shot 42-of-83 (50.6 percent) from the field and 8-for-31 (25.8 percent) from 3-point range. Minnesota turned things around in the second quarter after coming out of the gates slow.
Thanks to a 20-1 run in the second, the Wolves were able to surpass Sacramento and never looked back, building a lead well into the teens before a late Kings run made things a three possession game.
But Minnesota was able to stem the tide and rebuild a comfortable lead in the final couple of minutes of the game to win their second game in three tries since the All-Star break.
Karl-Anthony Towns missed his first two games of his career on the recently-completed road trip due to a car accident. In his first game back, Towns dominated in every fashion, putting up 34 points, 21 rebounds, five assists and two blocks. He also shot it efficiently, going 13-18 from the field and 3-for-6 from 3-point range. Towns accumulated four of his five fouls in the second half and had to sit for a couple of stretches. Otherwise, his damage would have been even greater.. Center. Minnesota Timberwolves. KARL-ANTHONY TOWNS. A+
D. <a rel=. Guard/Forward. Minnesota Timberwolves. ANDREW WIGGINS
<a rel=. Point Guard. Minnesota Timberwolves. JERRYD BAYLESS. F
B. <a rel=. Guard/Forward. Minnesota Timberwolves. JOSH OKOGIE
TAJ GIBSON. B+. Once again, there’s not much one can complain about when it comes to <a rel=. Power Forward. Minnesota Timberwolves
B-. Deploying <a rel=. Power Forward. Minnesota Timberwolves. DARIO SARIC
LUOL DENG. A-. <a rel=. Forward. Minnesota Timberwolves
Guard. Minnesota Timberwolves. DERRICK ROSE. A. Derrick Rose has been wonders this season for Minnesota both in the starting lineup and coming off the bench. He was the team’s leading scorer off the bench on this night, adding to his Sixth Man of the Year award case, contributing 20 points and five rebounds. Rose has been Minnesota’s second-best player this year and they wouldn’t be where they are without him.
Minnesota Timberwolves. TYUS JONES. A. Tyus Jones had himself a night and was the team’s second-best player in the win over the Kings. He had 16 points, eight assists, three steals and one block. He went 6-for-10 from the field and 1-of-4 from beyond the arc. At least on this particular night, Jones did not hesitate to shoot the rock and it did wonders for the Wolves.. Point Guard
The rest of the players
Anthony Tolliver didn’t have himself quite the night that he had against the New York Knicks and Milwaukee Bucks. He had just four points on 1-of-4 shooting and surprisingly didn’t hit a 3-pointer in Monday night’s win.
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What’s Next?
The Timberwolves will look to get a road win against the Atlanta Hawks at 6:30 p.m. CT on Tuesday. The Hawks have not been good this season and these games against lower-tier teams are must-wins.