Kings at Timberwolves
The Minnesota Timberwolves are slumping their way toward the All-Star break with losses in two straight and six of the last nine. All of those losses came on the road, and the Timberwolves will play each of their three remaining games before the break the break at home, beginning with a visit from the lowly Sacramento Kings on Sunday.
Minnesota's last road trip was the toughest of the bunch, with the team dropping a 140-138 overtime decision at Cleveland on Wednesday before falling 114-113 at Chicago on Friday in a homecoming game for All-Star guard Jimmy Butler and forward Taj Gibson. "We're not good enough to think the game is over five minutes into the third quarter," Timberwolves coach Tom Thibodeau told reporters after the loss to the Bulls. "When you do that, we messed around, we played with fire and we got burned." Minnesota should feel confident returning home, where it is enjoying a 12-game winning streak. The Kings knocked off the Bulls at home on Monday to give themselves a chance at splitting a four-game homestand but missed the mark when they fell 118-100 to the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NBCS California (Sacramento), FS North (Minnesota)
ABOUT THE KINGS (17-37): Sacramento officially handed its point guard spot to rookie De'Aaron Fox by trading away veteran George Hill on Thursday, and the 20-year-old learned he has some improvements to make on the defensive end after allowing Damian Lillard to score 50 points in Friday's setback. "It's experience in this league that allows you to become a better defender, so really it's not on the guy or his fault when he's young," Lillard told reporters. "There's a lot of ways you can be manipulated as a young player, and that's what happened to me at times. De'Aaron competes hard -- he's competitive." Fox contributed 13 points and nine assists at the other end in the loss.
ABOUT THE TIMBERWOLVES (34-24): All-Star center Karl-Anthony Towns collected 14 points and 10 rebounds on Friday but missed on a game-winning attempt and so infuriated Thibodeau earlier in the fourth quarter that the coach drew a technical foul for yelling at his own player. "What cost us the game is being up by 17 and not closing them out. Up by 17, you have to end them," Towns told reporters. "You can't give a team like this life. They'll quit. We gave them life. We gave them hope. We gave them confidence and it led to us being the loser tonight." Towns averages 21.8 points and 12.7 rebounds at home while posting 18.3 points and 11.6 boards on the road.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Butler scored at least 30 points in each of the last three games and is averaging 34.3 in that span.
2. Kings SG Iman Shumpert, who came over in the trade that sent Hill to Cleveland, sat out Friday and has not played since Jan. 23 while dealing with plantar fasciitis.
3. Minnesota took the first meeting 119-96 at home on Dec. 14 behind 30 points and 14 boards from Towns.