Timberwolves at Kings
Kevin Love’s historic run has the Minnesota Timberwolves on the brink of .500 and hoping for a late run at a playoff spot in the Western Conference. Love will be looking for his seventh straight game with at least 30 points and 10 rebounds when the Timberwolves visit the Sacramento Kings on Saturday. The All-Star forward came up an assist shy of his second triple-double in three games during Tuesday’s 110-101 victory over the Phoenix Suns.
The Kings expect to have DeMarcus Cousins back from a one-game suspension on Saturday and could use at least one well-rested player after a wild 126-122 loss at the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday. Cousins will be one of several players likely to get a shot at guarding Love, who became the first player to average 34 points and 14 rebounds in a month since Moses Malone in March of 1982 with his 34 points and 14.1 rebounds in February. Love put up 27 points and 11 boards in a 111-108 home loss to Sacramento on Jan. 15.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, FSN North (Minnesota), CSN California (Sacramento)
ABOUT THE TIMBERWOLVES (28-29): Love has posted at least 25 points and 10 rebounds in 11 straight games - the longest such streak in the NBA since Shaquille O’Neal went 13 straight from Mar. 26-Oct. 30 2001 - and his six straight 30-point outings is a franchise record. Rookie Shabazz Muhammad is providing Love with some support while Minnesota waits for center Nikola Pekovic (ankle) and guard Kevin Martin (thumb) to return from injuries. Muhammad recorded a career-high 20 points against the Suns and has seen his minutes increase over the last week.
ABOUT THE KINGS (20-38): Sacramento’s biggest challenge on Saturday will be running Love and the rest of the Timberwolves off the 3-point line after allowing the Lakers to knock down 19-of-27 from beyond the arc in Friday’s setback. That marked back-to-back losses for the Kings, who have yielded a total of 255 points while allowing the Houston Rockets and Los Angeles to combine to shoot 58.8 percent from 3-point range. Sacramento now sits just one-half game ahead of the Lakers in the battle to avoid last place in the Western Conference.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Pekovic could return after a 12-game absence and play limited minutes on Saturday.
2. The Kings have taken two straight and four of the last six in the series.
3. Sacramento F Rudy Gay is averaging 29.7 points on 54.1 percent shooting over the last three games.