7:00 p.m., Target Center
Where to Watch: Fox Sports North
Where to Listen: 830 WCCO
After an exciting game against the Golden State Warriors on Monday, the Minnesota Timberwolves go back at it on Wednesday against the Sacramento Kings at home.
The Wolves go into the game with a 22-48 record, good for 13th in the West. They’ve lost their last two games.
The Kings are in a bit of a funk, having lost eight of their last 10 games. Sacramento is 27-43, 11th in the West.
A few tidbits going into Wednesday night’s game at the Target Center:
Ricky Rubio is quietly putting together a very good season, averaging 10.3 points, 8.8 assists, 4.3 rebounds and two steals per game. In 10 March games, he’s averaging 13.1 points and nine assists while shooting 44.6 percent from the field and 39.5 percent from the 3-point line.
The player Rubio will be going up against, Rajon Rondo, is averaging a league-high 11.7 assists per game. If he stays there, he will have led the league in assists per game three times in his career.
This is the first of two games against the Kings the Wolves have in their final 12 games. The next comes on April 7 in Sacramento.
Coming Off Of
The Wolves are coming off of a 109-104 home loss to the now 63-7 Golden State Warriors. Minnesota actually led deep in the fourth quarter, but couldn’t pull it out. Andrew Wiggins led the Wolves with 25 points, five rebounds and four assists. Karl-Anthony Towns added 24 points and 11 rebounds. Rubio had a phenomenal game on both sides of the court, finishing with 20 points, 11 assists, four rebounds, four steals and a block. He did, however, turn the ball over six times. Zach LaVine added an efficient 19 points, shooting 7-for-13 from the field.
The difference in the game was bench play. Minnesota had just eight bench points while Golden State had 36.
The Kings are coming off of a 109-102 road loss to the Chicago Bulls on Monday night. Five players scored in double digits for Sacramento, but nobody scored more than 19. All-Star DeMarcus Cousins had himself a fine night, finishing with 19 points, 18 rebounds and two blocks, but he turned the ball over eight times. Darren Collison led the second unit with 19 points. Rudy Gay added 18 points, shooting 7-for-11 from the field. Rondo and Caron Butler finished with 14 and 10 points, respectively.
Sacramento turned the ball over 19 times while forcing just nine Chicago turnovers.
Last Matchup:
The Wolves are 2-0 against the Kings this season. The last game came on Dec. 18 at the Target Center and the Wolves came away with a 99-95 win.
Wiggins was brilliant, finishing with 32 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. Shabazz Muhammad led the second unit with 16 points while shooting 7-for-13 from the field. Towns and Rubio finished with 15 and 12 points, respectively. Minnesota shot an impressive 15-for-16 from the free-throw line.
Cousins led Sacramento with 24 points and 12 rebounds. Gay added 20 points and five boards. Collison led the second unit with 15 points while shooting 6-for-10. Rondo and Omri Casspi had 11 points each while Rondo also dished out 13 assists.
Sacramento was outrebounded 49-31.
Key Matchup: Karl-Anthony Towns vs. DeMarcus Cousins
The battle of the Kentucky bigs.
Cousins, despite the attitude issues, is having a great season on paper, averaging 27.1 points, 11.6 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game while shooting 44.9 percent from the field.
In 16 career games against the Wolves, he’s averaging 16.8 points to go with 8.9 rebounds.
Towns, the likely NBA Rookie of the Year, is averaging 18 points, 10.3 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game. He’s been great in March, averaging 21.8 points and 10.5 rebounds in 10 games. He has struggled in his two games against the Kings, though, averaging just 11 points and eight rebounds per contest. He’ll look to turn that around on Wednesday night.
Injuries:
Kings: Ben McLemore (finger) is out.
Wolves: Nikola Pekovic (foot) and Kevin Garnett (knee) are both out.
Projected Starters:
Kings: PG – Rondo, SG – Anderson, SF – Gay, PF – Acy, C – Cousins
Wolves: PG- Rubio, SG- LaVine, SF- Wiggins, PF- Dieng, C- Towns
