Minnesota got a couple of its important bodies back Monday night at Target Center after playing severely shorthanded in a loss Saturday to Washington.
The result, however, was the same.
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Playing a Sacramento Kings team that just traded away three players — including star guard De’Aaron Fox and rotational shooter Kevin Huerter — Minnesota fell 116-114 to the Kings.
Sacramento acquired Zach LaVine in the trade, but he wasn’t available in time for Monday’s bout. The Kings didn’t need him. They had DeMar DeRozan.
The clutch king finished with 33 points, nine of which were scored in the fourth quarter. Sacramento (25-24) scored on eight consecutive possessions to close the game to combat every comeback attempt Minnesota made. The veteran wing also recorded five rebounds and seven assists.
“We weren’t into them. We weren’t taking away the things they wanted to do,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch told reporters of his team’s defensive effort against the Kings. “They were able to get to their spots easily. They’re all gifted scorers, and when they do that, they’re hard to stop.”
Meanwhile, Minnesota went ice cold in the middle of the fourth frame for the second straight game. The Wolves endured an eight-possession offensive streak without points in which they missed five shots and turned the ball over thrice. That led to a six-point deficit from which they could not rally.
The Wolves found offensive success in the final minute. Naz Reid, who led Minnesota with 30 points after leaving the Washington game with a sprained finger, had a three-point play to trim the deficit to two in the final 20 seconds.
Finch said Reid, who scored 16 points in the opening stanza, “was the only thing really carrying us offensively against these guys.”
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Then Mike Conley buried a triple with eight ticks remaining to bring Minnesota (27-23) to within one. But Malik Monk, who scored 26 points to go with eight rebounds and five assists, responded with a pair of free throws on the other end on each occasion, keeping ample pressure on the Wolves. Finally, Minnesota cracked.
Inbounding down three with six seconds to play, Jaden McDaniels caught the ball in the corner, and he lost the ball out of bounds. Domantas Sabonis iced the contest with two more free throws on the other end.
After missing Saturday’s game with an illness, Anthony Edwards returned, but he was not effective. Edwards torched Sacramento in two prior meetings this season but had just 21 points on 7-for-21 shooting, including a useless 3-pointer made at the buzzer.
“Tired. I was just tired. I was just exhausted. But I’m cool,” Edwards told reporters. “On the defensive end, (the Kings) just sell out, trap, double team.”
Sacramento shot 49% from the floor and 42% from 3-point range in the win. The Kings scored 38 points in the opening frame, and seemingly never lost their offensive rhythm from there.
“We committed a cardinal sin. We got into an up-and-down scoring affair with a team that likes to score it. We had to make this game about defense. We weren’t able to do that,” Finch said. “We played alongside them most of the game, and they were going to make shots, and they made shots throughout the game as a result. Our defense is not where it needs to be right now.”
The road team has now won 10 consecutive games in matchups between these two teams.
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The Timberwolves are now 0-2 since losing Julius Randle to a groin injury in Utah. They’ll host Chicago on Wednesday. The trade deadline is Thursday afternoon.
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