Timberwolves at Kings
The Minnesota Timberwolves will try to avoid a winless five-game road trip when they visit the Sacramento Kings on Friday. Minnesota fell for the fourth straight time when it suffered a 114-110 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday and stands 0-7 on the road this season.
Timberwolves point guard Derrick Rose continued to turn back the clock while making a career-best seven 3-pointers and scoring 31 points against the Lakers but the club was unable to grab key rebounds down the stretch. "It seemed like these last couple road games, we've been really playing hard and the energy was there, the fight was there, just coming up short from rebounding the ball," power forward Taj Gibson said afterward. "We are a better rebounding team than what we showed." Sacramento dropped back-to-back games and it opened up a four-game homestand with a 114-105 loss to the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday. The Kings allowed an average of 129 points in the losses to the Milwaukee Bucks and Raptors and have held just two opponent under 100.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, FS North (Minnesota), NBCS California (Sacramento)
ABOUT THE TIMBERWOLVES (4-8): Rose enjoyed another superb outing with his 11-of-17 shooting effort that occurred exactly one week after he scored a career-best 50 against the Utah Jazz. "I feel the same. I feel the same now like I felt five, six years ago," the former MVP told reporters after the contest. "Like I said, it was just opportunity, getting my bounce back, and having a coach (Tom Thibodeau) that believes in me. That's pretty much it." Minnesota knocked down a franchise-record 20 3-pointers in the loss as shooting guard Jimmy Butler drained five while scoring 24 points.
ABOUT THE KINGS (6-5): Shooting guard Buddy Hield and center Willie Cauley-Stein (10-of-15 shooting) each scored 24 points and point guard De'Aaron Fox added 20 to account for nearly two-thirds of the scoring in the loss to Toronto. Hield is averaging 23.3 points over the past seven games, topping 20 points on six occasions and scoring 19 in the other. Rookie forward Marvin Bagley III tallied 13 points against the Raptors and scored in double digits in nine of his first 11 NBA contests.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Timberwolves won all three of last season's meetings, including a 118-100 victory in Sacramento.
2. Minnesota C Karl-Anthony Towns averaged 28.3 points, 13 rebounds, five assists and 3.3 blocked shots against the Kings last season.
3. Sacramento SG Bogdan Bogdanovic (knee) made his season debut against Toronto and scored seven points in 18 minutes.