Timberwolves 99, Kings 95
MINNEAPOLIS -- Andrew Wiggins led the way with 32 points as the Minnesota Timberwolves overcame a late rally by the Sacramento Kings and ended a four-game losing streak, winning 99-95 on Friday night.
Trailing 90-89 with just over two minutes to play, Wiggins hit a shot with 2:04 to play to give his team the lead, then drained two free throws with 80 seconds remaining, and two more with 1.8 seconds left as the Wolves survived.
Ricky Rubio hit four free throws in the final 14 seconds for the Wolves.
DeMarcus Cousins scored 24 and added 11 rebounds for Sacramento (10-16), which saw its three-game winning streak snapped. It was the 13th double-double for Cousins this season. Rudy Gay added 20 points for the Kings.
Shabazz Muhammad came off the bench to score 16 for Minnesota (10-16), which won at home for just the fourth time this season. The Wolves led by eight early in the fourth quarter but went more than six minutes without a basket, letting the Kings take over the game for a time.
The Wolves hit a quintet of 3-pointers in the first half, leading by as many as 14 at one point, but the Kings chipped away and took their first lead of the game with 1:44 left in the second quarter when Rudy Gay hit a fall-away 3-pointer with the shot clock winding down. Minnesota hit the final two baskets of the half to lead 58-54 at the break, paced by 17 points from Andrew Wiggins. Sacramento got 14 first-half points from Gay, while Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns led all rebounders with five each.
Rajon Rondo, playing in his first game back for the Kings after serving a one-game league mandated suspension for anti-gay remarks directed at an official, had to leave the game late in the first quarter after being inadvertently hit in the face. He returned before halftime with a bandage over his right eye and had six first-half points. Rondo, who is leading the league in assists, finished with 13.
Sacramento stayed close in the third, but could not get a lead, as Minnesota held an 83-77 advantage after three quarters.
NOTES: Kings coach George Karl noted before Friday's game that when coming to Minnesota he couldn't help but think of former Wolves coach Flip Saunders, a long-time friend who died of cancer in late October. "I can't deny that I remember some of my battles against him," Karl said. "There's a little melancholy there, and there's a little thought process to that. Being a cancer survivor, it's always sad to see one that succumbs to it. I think I'll feel that way probably all season long." ... Friday's game was the 101st all-time regular season game between the Kings and Timberwolves, with them splitting the previous meetings 50-50. That included splitting two games in Tokyo to open the 1999-2000 season. The Wolves won their one playoff encounter with the Kings 4-3 in the 2004 second round. ... Minnesota is off on a two-game eastern road trip next, visiting Brooklyn on Sunday afternoon and Boston on Monday evening. The Kings, who are in the midst of a four-game road trip, next play in Toronto on Sunday afternoon. They also visit Washington and Indiana before their next home game.