SACRAMENTO -- Out-run, out-gun.
The Kings continue to defy the oddsmakers early in the 2018-19 season. On Friday night at Golden 1 Center, they hit the Minnesota Timberwolves hard in the third quarter, and then hung on for a 121-110 victory.
In front of a sold out crowd, the Kings snapped a two-game losing streak, and moved to 1-1 on the current homestand.
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SIGN UP HERE Here are six notes as the Kings improved to 7-5 on the season.
Big Bigs
Sometimes the numbers are confusing. Karl-Anthony Towns put up a huge night against his former college teammate, Willie Cauley-Stein. Towns did it all, dropping in 39 points and 19 rebounds in 40 minutes. He also lost the game and ran a negative-five in the plus-minus category.
Cauley-Stein, meanwhile, managed to put up 25 points and five rebounds in 29 minutes. He almost fouled out, but his team was victorious and he was even in plus-minus.
NBA
Double-double
De’Aaron Fox continues to shine early in the season for Sacramento. He didn’t post huge offensive numbers against veteran Derrick Rose, but he still impacted the game.
Fox posted his third double-double of the season, finishing with 16 points points on 3-of-7 shooting from the field and 9 of 12 from the line. He added 10 assists, four rebounds and two highlight-reel blocks in 32 minutes of turnover-less ball.
Remember me?
Nemanja Bjelica played three seasons in Minnesota before joining the Kings over the summer. He caught fire in the third quarter and lit up his former team, scoring 10 of his 14 points in the quarter.
He was fired up, running to the bench and imploring the crowd to stand up and cheer. It was a rare sign of emotion from the Serbian forward.
Good Iman/Bad Iman
Iman Shumpert is always an adventure. On certain nights, he can’t find the bucket. In other games, he looks like a stone cold sniper from the perimeter. Against Minnesota, he did both.
In an up-and-down game, the veteran scored 17 points on 5-of-16 shooting, including 4 of 11 from long range. His defense helped limit Jimmy Butler to 13 points on 3-of-12 shooting, and Shumpert ran a plus-11 for the game.
Buddy Hield shows up late
Through three quarters, Hield was 2 of 8 from the field with jas many points (four) as personal fouls. In the fourth, he did what he’s done in almost every game this season, and put the ball in the basket.
The Kings’ starting shooting guard scorched the T-Wolves for 11 points in the fourth on a perfect 3-of-3 shooting from long range. Despite the slow start, he finished the night with 15 points and a team-high 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the season.
Dysfunction junction
It doesn’t take a psychology degree to see the chemistry issues with the Timberwolves. A playoff team a year ago, the T-Wolves looked broken after losing their fifth straight.
It was a highly competitive game through the first half, but the team that came out of the visiting locker room after the intermission was a shell of themselves, and the Kings ran them off the court.
Minnesota made a late run, but when the Kings needed stops, they got them against a team with a lot more experience and multiple potential All-Stars. The Timberwolves finished their Western swing 0-5 and they return home 4-9 on the season and in search of answers.
[RELATED: Kings' Dave Joerger wants more from De'Aaron Fox after surging start]