SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Andrew Wiggins is a scoring machine for the Minnesota Timberwolves right now. Teammate Karl-Anthony Towns is nearly keeping up while doing a ferocious job rebounding.

But it's the team defense the Minnesota Timberwolves are playing lately that has them thinking playoffs.

"The big thing for us is just getting better and better everyday," coach Tom Thibodeau said after the Timberwolves beat the Sacramento Kings 102-88 at the Golden 1 Center on Monday. "No shortcuts."

They didn't take any against the Kings. Towns scored 29 points and grabbed 17 rebounds, and Wiggins scored 27, extending their personal run of 20-point contests as Minnesota won for the third time in four contests.

The Timberwolves, who entered the night three games behind eighth-place Denver in the Western Conference playoff race, also have won 13 of their past 23.

"It definitely feels different than in the beginning of the season," Wiggins said. "Games like this, these are games we need to help us go forward."

Wiggins' scoring has taken a huge leap forward recently. He topped 20 points for the 18th consecutive game, extending the franchise record previously held by Kevin Garnett. He hasn't been held below 27 in his past nine.

"I'm just trying to be aggressive and stay aggressive, keep attacking and get to my spot" said Wiggins, who is averaging 31.2 points during that nine-game stretch. "And my teammates are doing a great job of setting screens and getting me open."

Towns' recent work has been arguably even better. The second-year center has scored at least 24 points and collected at least 17 rebounds in Minnesota's past four games. He has averaged 19 rebounds a game in that four-game stretch and has recorded at least double-digits in rebounds in 24 of his past 28 games.

"He's just a monster right now," Wiggins said.

Still, Thibodeau pointed to the defense the Timberwolves played in the second quarter as the key reason why Minnesota prevailed.

Sacramento led 31-25 early in the second quarter, before Minnesota blitzed them with separate runs of 13-0 and 10-0 en route to a 40-19 advantage in the quarter.

Towns hit a driving layup and a mid-range jumper on successive possession to jumpstart the first run, which gave the Timberwolves the lead to stay. Sacramento reduced its deficit to 40-37, but Minnesota responded with 10 straight, with Wiggins capping the run with a 3-pointer and a driving dunk on successive possessions.

"I've said the when we defend consistently, we'd start winning games," Thibodeau said of a Wolves team that lost by 12 to Houston on Saturday despite scoring 130 points. "Three of the last four games, we've played consistent defense, and we've won those games. The one game we didn't, we lost."

The Kings, playing for the third time without forward DeMarcus Cousins, have struggled to find offense or defense in two of the three games since trading him to the New Orleans Pelicans. They shot just 44 percent from the field, made only six 3-pointers and scored just 40 points in the middle two quarters.

They also had 18 turnovers and were outscored 23-8 on second-chance points.

"We turned the ball over too much," coach Dave Joerger said. "Fumbling around, ball hit us in the hands a lot of times. We dropped some balls and didn't get loose balls like we needed to get. ... It was too much to overcome."

Kosta Koufos had 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Kings, who have not produced a 20-point scorer in losing their past two.

Willie Cauley-Stein, in his first start since the Cousins trade, and Ben McLemore also scored 14 points. The Kings have lost two straight at home after a four-game home winning streak that was their longest since the 2012-13 season.

"With some of the new guys and very slow putting in more plays, it's going to be a little stagnant," guard Darren Collison said of the offense. "But I'm more confident that once we get things rolling, everything is going to be fine."

Nemanja Bjelica and Shabazz Muhammad added 10 points each for Minnesota off the bench, and Bjelica grabbed 12 rebounds.

NOTES: F Karl-Anthony Towns joined Kevin Garnett, Al Jefferson and Kevin Love as the only Minnesota players to record 35 points and 20 rebounds in a game when he tallied 37 and 22 against Houston on Saturday. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported that Towns joined Atlanta's John Drew (1974), Buffalo's Bob McAdoo (1973) and Philadelphia's Rick Barry (1965) as the only players to post at least 37 and 22 in a game before turning 22 years old. ... Kings G Ben McLemore averaged 13.1 points per game in 30 minutes per contest during Sacramento's 11-game February, after averaging 1.7 and 7.5, respectively, while playing only seven games in January. McLemore started his seventh consecutive game Monday. ... Minnesota allowed eight second-chance points one game after allowing 29. ... Kings F Arron Affalo (hamstring soreness) hasn't played in three games since the All-Star break.