MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Karl-Anthony Towns had 26 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks to lead the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 113-104 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday night.
Advertisement
Andrew Wiggins and Zach LaVine both added 23 for the Wolves, who are well out of the playoff race but look to be building toward a bright future with the play of young stars. LaVine’s 23 came on 7-of-12 shooting from the floor, including four three-pointers.
Cousins, who averages 27.1 points and 11.6 rebounds, injured his knee in Monday’s loss at the Chicago Bulls.
The Kings were without All-Star center DeMarcus Cousins, but Sacramento put up a solid fight throughout the entire game.
It was a “winnable” game for the Wolves, especially without Cousins, but it was a big win for a team to win against a struggling team like Sacramento even if the Wolves did play to the Kings’ level for a chunk of the game.
Cousins was listed as questionable for the game but was declared out by coach George Karl earlier in the day.
The Kings pulled within in two points in the fourth, but LaVine scored 12 points down the stretch to hold them off.
The Kings are 3-0-1 ATS in their last 4 road games and 3-10-1 ATS in their last 14 games playing on 1 days rest. Wiggins was 10-of-15 and scored 23 points.
Injuries have been a problem for Cousins lately, as he missed 23 games previous year and has just hit the 10-game mark this season. The Kings have fallen apart with 12 losses in the last 15 games while the Timberwolves have dropped eight of their past 11 contests. Smith had seven points and five rebounds in 15 minutes….
Advertisement
We apologize in advance for reminding rookie Willie Cauley-Stein about this. “That’s all I’m thinking about right now”, Minnesota interim coach Sam Mitchell told reporters.
