Kings bounce back with win over Timberwolves
MINNEAPOLIS -- The Sacramento Kings put an ugly road loss behind them by picking up a road victory just one night later.
Rookie Buddy Hield scored a career-high 22 points while Ty Lawson added 21 points off the bench to lead Sacramento to a 123-117 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Five Kings players scored in double figures as they won for just the third time in nine games.
Saturday's win for Sacramento came on the heels of a 117-89 drubbing at the hands of the New Orleans Pelicans 24 hours earlier.
Andrew Wiggins had 32 points for Minnesota, which had its modest two-game winning streak stopped. Karl-Anthony Towns chipped in 26 points and 11 rebounds. The Timberwolves fell to 30-45 on the season.
Minnesota led by as many as 16 points in the first half before seeing that lead shrink to just 59-55 at halftime. Sacramento took the lead early in the third quarter and eventually led by as many as nine in the third.
That lead grew in the fourth quarter as the Kings used a 9-0 run to gain a 15-point advantage -- a 31-point swing from the 16-point lead Minnesota held in the first quarter.
The Timberwolves didn't go away quietly, though. Wiggins hit an open 3-pointer and Shabazz Muhammad converted a tough layup to cap a 10-0 Minnesota run that made it 106-101 with under six minutes to play.
Sacramento responded, using an 8-2 run to retake a double-digit lead. Minnesota never threatened from that point.
The Kings' bench outscored Minnesota's reserves by a lopsided 66-26 margin. Three players scored in double figures off Sacramento's bench.
Timberwolves point guard Ricky Rubio, who scored a career-high 33 points in Thursday's win over the Lakers, struggled from the floor Saturday. He finished just 1 of 10 from the floor and was 0 of 3 from 3-point range.
NOTES: Timberwolves G Zach LaVine, out for the season with a torn ACL, received the Flip Saunders Legacy Award at halftime of Saturday's game. The award, named for the late Minnesota coach, annually honors a Timberwolves player who has made an impact on the community. ... Sacramento F Tyreke Evans, C Kosta Koufos and G Garrett Temple did not play Saturday due to planned rest. Temple and Evans both played in Friday's 117-89 loss to New Orleans. ... F/C Karl-Anthony Towns notched his 56th double-double of the season with a 24-point, 10-rebound effort. He trails only Houston's James Harden (60) and Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook (57) for the most double-doubles in the NBA this season.