You can’t be mad at this one if you’re a Sacramento Kings fan. The Minnesota Timberwolves were the better team and although the Kings had their number for the majority of the game, they couldn’t hold on.

The Kings entered the fourth quarter with a nice 80-75 lead over the Wolves but ended up getting outscored 36-26, mainly due to the amount of fouls they gave quickly into the fourth, allowing the Wolves to get to the line on every foul with well over eight minutes of playing time left.

A late comeback seemed possible, with Buddy Hield draining a tough off-balanced three to make it 106-108, but time was against the Kings and a late De’Aaron Fox turnover sealed the deal for this one.

Best Performers

De’Aaron Fox: I can’t tell you how lucky we are to have De’Aaron Fox on our team. He is showing all of the qualities to be a star in this league. He opened the first quarter on fire, finishing with 14 points. Fox made some key baskets late in the fourth as well but it wasn’t enough as the scoreline indicates. He scored 23 points in total on 8/16 shooting, along with two assists, two rebounds, and three steals. #ShouldBeARisingStar

Bogdan Bogdanovic: This is really a fun backcourt combination, especially for the long term. Bogdan Bogdanovic can really do everything as a guard. He didn’t shoot as well but still finished with 13 points, eight assists, three rebounds and one steal. #RisingStar

Buddy Hield: Now these three make for one really strong combination. It will only get better when Frank Mason returns from injury. Buddy Hield, Buddy Buckets, Buddy Big off the Bench, whatever you want to call him came to play again. He scored 16 points to lead the bench in scoring and added four assists, one block, two steals and one assist. Again, the #SkalTreatment returns as Hield was only on the court for 18 minutes! :/ #RisingStar

Kosta Koufos: The second best player off the bench was Kosta Koufos. He ended the game with a double-double off the bench, scoring 12 points and snagging 10 rebounds. He played 23 minutes but did accumulate five fouls. I loved the energy he brought today, especially against those Timberwolve bigs.

Notable Performers

Zach Randolph scored 12 points and added six rebounds in 28 minutes.

Willie Cauley-Stein has not become the dog yet as he had a ruff game on defense and he turned the ball over too many times. He scored 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds in 26 minutes but gave the ball away four times on offense. Those possessions could’ve made the difference in this close game. He was out-played by Karl-Anthony Towns who had 29 points, six assists and eight rebounds.

Justin Jackson scored seven points, passed for three assists and grabbed three rebounds. He played 22 minutes and shot 3/8 overall.

JaKaar Sampson brought the energy again today, as always. He scored six points, got an assist, grabbed three rebounds, got a steal and blocked a shot in 17 minutes.

Notable Stats

Every Timberwolves starter scored in the double-digit figures tonight. Towns led the way with 29.

The Kings shot 10/25 from three, better than the Timberwolves.

The Kings out-rebounded the Wolves 43-37, out-stole 12-10, but were out-assisted 29-17 and gave up more turnovers and fouls.

The Timberwolves were 28/32 from the free throw line compared to the Kings 12/17.

Next Game

The Kings go continue their road trip at Dallas as they play the Mavericks on Tuesday at 5:30 PM.