Minnesota Timberwolves at Kings: Odds, injuries, and what to watch for

The Minnesota Timberwolves’ losing streak has reached 11 games as they take on the Sacramento Kings for the first time in the 2019-20 campaign.

The Sacramento Kings started the season in horrendous fashion, losing to the Phoenix Suns by 29 points in the opener, falling by double-digits in each of the first three games, and and starting 0-5 overall.

Then, a quick bounce-back that found them at 7-8 and then 11-13 before a recent stretch of five losses in six games has knocked them back down to 12-18 on the season.

They’ll have ample opportunity to halt their current four-game losing streak as they take on the Minnesota Timberwolves, who have lost 11 straight games and could very well be playing their fifth consecutive contest sans All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns, who continues to nurse a sprained left knee.

This is the first of the season series between the two teams, who were each expected to be players in the race for the final playoff spots in the Western Conference this year but have, at least to this point, been largely disappointing.

Timberwolves odds against the Kings

• Favorite: Kings (-5)
• Over/under: 222
• Moneyline: -210 Sacramento/+180 Minnesota
• Odds courtesy of The Action Network. Displayed odds current as of Thursday at 1:30 p.m. CT.

Tickets, TV and streaming info for Timberwolves at Kings

• Television: Fox Sports North
• Radio: 830 WCCO
• Stream: Fubo.tv offers streaming options
• Tickets: StubHub offers ticketing options

What to watch for in Wolves at Kings

The Timberwolves’ success rests almost entirely on the health of Towns, who is questionable for this game. If he doesn’t play, the Wolves’ offense is reliant on Andrew Wiggins, and Maple Jordan has been inconsistent, to say the least, in Towns’ absence.

Minnesota has gotten next to nothing from their wings, with Robert Covington struggling mightily of late and neither Josh Okogie nor Jarrett Culver showing much improvement on offense. Gorgui Dieng has been hit and miss, as has Jeff Teague in his new bench role.

Shabazz Napier missed Monday’s loss at Golden State with an illness and is questionable to play in this game, so the Wolves may once again rely heavily on two-way players Jordan McLaughlin and Kelan Martin, who each played quite well against the Warriors.

If the Wolves shoot well from the outside and hold the Kings off the glass, they’ll have a chance to win, as they did in each of the last three road games. For as lackluster as the Wolves’ all-around performances have been of late, they’ve mostly hung around in games against superior teams.

It’s all about the start, however, as uninspiring starts in both Portland and Golden State made second-half comebacks that much more difficult.

Injury Report

The Wolves will be without Jake Layman again (sprained toe), and Towns (knee) and Napier (illness) are each questionable.

The Kings have been remarkably healthy this year and carry a relatively healthy roster into the matchup with the Wolves.

We’ll be back after the game with player grades. Enjoy!