Did the Timberwolves beat the Kings: Round II?

In a game that both teams needed to win, and yet neither seemed to want to win, the Sacramento Kings and the Minnesota Timbewolves faced off for the second time in three days. The Timberwolves had gotten the best of the Kings in the first game, and entered this one hoping to extend their four-game winning streak at Target Center to five games.

The Sacramento Kings wanted to halt a two-game losing streak and the downward spiral that comes with losing three of their last four games.

But to be honest, neither team started hot in this one. Over two minutes had passed before the Minnesota Timberwolves point guard D’Angelo Russell finally lobbed the ball to the ever-waiting center Rudy Gobert for the dunk and the first two points of the game. It would be nearly three minutes in this one before the Timberwolves would score again.

The Kings were not much better, as they would instantly respond in this one to tie the score. Then, their guns fell silent too. In fact, the two teams combined to score twice in their first 12 shots. Eventually, the Kings would find their range long before the Timberwolves and jump out to a seven-point lead by the end of the first quarter.

For the game itself, the Timberwolves were nowhere nearly as refined as their first matchup. The Timberwolves sent it into overtime with a three-pointer from Jaden McDaniels with just 13 seconds remaining, but the home-court Wolves could not carry that momentum over into the overtime period.

What the game, and January 2023, meant to Minnesota Timberwolves

The Timberwolves struggled to keep control of the basketball, allowing the Kings to put up 14 fast-break points. Even scoring in the paint, often a strong suit of the Timbewolves, was not kind as the Kings scored 68 points to the Timberwolves’ 50 points.

The Timberwolves sent the game into overtime, but the same lack of energy that plagued the team to open this game returned, and the Timberwolves were outscored in OT 15-8 to drop their final game of January 2023. The Minnesota Timberwolves were led by Anthony Edwards with another 30+ point performance, who scored 33 points and got six rebounds, dished out five assists, got two steals, and two blocks.

But as feared, the Kings focused their defense on Edwards, contributing to his six turnovers in the game. Center Rudy Gobert had another double-double in a losing effort, putting up 19 points and hauling in 14 rebounds for the Minnesota Timberwolves.

For the month of January 2023, the Timberwolves finished with a record of 11-5. Unfortunately, the loss to the Kings dropped the Minnesota Timberwolves from fifth place in the NBA Western Conference down to ninth place in the conference. But the Timberwolves are only one game behind the fourth-place LA Clippers.