National Basketball Association
Minnesota 105, Sacramento 97
When: 10:00 PM ET, Thursday, April 7, 2016
Where: Sleep Train Arena, Sacramento, California
Officials:
#63 Derek Richardson, #28 Kevin Scott, #4 Sean Wright
Attendance:
17317
By The Sports Xchange
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The Minnesota Timberwolves and Sacramento Kings will have played a combined 22 seasons of non-playoff basketball when the regular season concludes next week. For both teams, it's about the future.
For the Wolves, a successful one may be here sooner rather than later.
They backed up a win over the defending champion Golden State Warriors with a 105-97 victory over the Kings on Thursday, thanks to 18 points apiece from Gorgui Dieng, Zach LaVine and Nemanja Bjelica and a fourth-quarter spurt completed a 4-0 season sweep of Sacramento.
Minnesota (27-52) will miss the playoffs for the 12th straight year, but has won five of its past eight on the road including the win over the Warriors, who had won 55 of their previous 56 in Oakland. That the latest win came against one of the league's worst teams seemed to be another step up the latter for a team that seems to be on the rise.
"It was important to show it wasn't a fluke," LaVine said. "We knew that it wasn't a fluke. We wanted to come out and put on a stamp of approval."
LaVine embodied that immediately, scoring 12 of his 18 points in the opening quarter. He made six of his 10 shots, threw down a ferocious windmill first-quarter dunk and set up another by Dieng with one of his three steals.
Bjelica brought home the victory late, connecting on all three of his 3-point attempts in the second half, and both of them during a 22-12 fourth-quarter run while en route to a career high.
"I felt good," Bjelica, a rookie forward out of Serbia said. "I've been waiting to have this type of game, to get that confidence. I'm still learning. You have to be aggressive, and you can't miss open shots."
Rookie of the Year favorite Karl-Anthony Towns added 17 points and 10 rebounds for Minnesota. Teammate Shabazz Muhammad, who scored a career-high 35 points against Golden State, finished with 10 points and two rebounds and made only 3 of 10 shots from the field.
"You want to follow up a good win," Timberwolves coach Sam Mitchell said. "It's a natural tendency, especially when you're a young team, all people, when you have a little success to kind of let your guard down. I didn't think we played great."
The Kings decided to rest scoring leader DeMarcus Cousins and NBA assists leader Rajon Rondo. They are 1-2 in the three games both have sat out this month and 5-17 when one of them has missed a contest this season.
Without them, Darren Collison scored 19 points and Quincy Acy added 17 to pace the Kings.
The Kings (31-48) have followed a three-game home winning streak by losing three straight in their building. They will miss the playoffs for the 10th consecutive season.
"You have to be professional," forward Kosta Koufos said in a nearly deserted locker room. "Be focused. Do your best."
Rudy Gay scored 13 points but made only 4 of 15 shots for Sacramento in his return to the lineup. Gay, Collison and Koufos all missed Tuesday's home loss against Portland because of the team's decision to have them rest. Koufos also was back and contributed 10 rebounds.
Sacramento plays its final home game in the arena where they've played since 1988 on Saturday against the Oklahoma City Thunder. They will move into the Golden 1 Center in downtown Sacramento next season.
"It's definitely going to be exciting," Koufos said. "It'll be electric. We've got to come and be ready and do our best, and hopefully get a win."
The finale is expected to be met with the same excitement that the new arena seems to be creating. Kings president Chris Granger announced Thursday on Twitter that the team has sold its full allotment of approximately 11,000 season tickets.
NOTES: With C DeMarcus Cousins and G Rajon Rondo sitting out to rest, the Kings trotted out their 16th starting lineup in 26 games since the All-Star break. Sacramento has used 32 starting lineups in 79 games this season after needing 41 in the two previous seasons combined. ... Timberwolves G Andrew Wiggins has 10 30-point contests this season, joining C Kevin Garnett, F Kevin Love, G/F Tony Campbell and C Al Jefferson as the only players in the franchise's 27-year history to do so. ... Rookie of the Year favorite C Karl-Anthony Towns already has set Minnesota's franchise rookie records for rebounds and blocks in a season, and needs to score 37 points in his final three games to break Christian Laettner's rookie scoring mark set in 1992-93. ... Kings F Quincy Acy received the team's Oscar Robertson Triple-Double Award for exemplifying excellence on and off the court. Acy, averaging 4.8 points in 14.2 minutes per his 56 contests, has been the Kings' most outgoing player in the community.
Top Game Performances
Minnesota |
|
Sacramento |
Nemanja Bjelica 18 |
Scoring |
Darren Collison 19 |
Ricky Rubio 7 |
Assists |
Darren Collison 6 |
Gorgui Dieng 13 |
Rebounds |
Rudy Gay 13 |
Gorgui Dieng 4 |
Free Throws Made |
Darren Collison 4 |
Tyus Jones 4 |
Steals |
Rudy Gay 5 |
Nemanja Bjelica 1 |
Blocks |
James Anderson 2 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Minnesota
|
105 |
45.0 |
11-21 |
22-31 |
25 |
43 |
4 |
11 |
16 |
Sacramento
|
97 |
42.4 |
6-17 |
19-21 |
19 |
47 |
5 |
11 |
20 |
Upcoming Games
-
Sacramento will play their next game at home against Oklahoma City. The Kings have a W/L % of .375 after a win and .404 after a loss.
-
Minnesota will play their next game on the road against Portland. The Timberwolves have a W/L % of .333 after a win and .346 after a loss.