Missed opportunity. With the door open to move up in the standings, the Sacramento Kings had everything going in the first quarter. And then they fell apart.
Riding the hot shooting of Karl-Anthony Towns, the Timberwolves ran the Kings off the court in the second quarter, outscoring their guests 44-23 in the 12 minutes leading up to the break.
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Sacramento made a charge in the early third and another in the fourth, but the damage was done early as the Kings fell on the road by a final of 112-105.
Here are three takeaways as the Kings dropped a tough one to the T-Wolves to fall to 31-29 on the season.
Towns Takeover
After a slow start, Karl-Anthony Towns found his stroke and absolutely dominated the Kings.
NBA
The 23-year-old posted 24 points and 13 rebounds before the intermission and he never let up. The two-time All-Star finished the evening with 34 points on 13-for-18 shooting to go with 21 rebounds and five assists.
Willie Cauley-Stein had one of his worst performances of the season, playing just 12 minutes due to foul trouble.
Starting Marvin
Dave Joerger finally made the move. For only the second time this season, rookie Marvin Bagley moved into the starting lineup. He didn’t disappoint.
Minnesota did a nice job of slowing the 19-year-old early, fronting him on every play. Once Bagley made an adjustment, it was game on.
The No. 2 overall selection in the 2018 NBA Draft posted 25 points on 9-for-14 shooting and chipped in 11 rebounds for a third straight double-double.
There is no early word on whether the change is permanent. If it is, the second unit is going to need to find a way to score and Bagley is going to have to adjust to being a third or fourth option on the offensive end.
Missed Opportunity
The stars aligned. The San Antonio Spurs lost on the road. The Lakers fell apart against a struggling Memphis Grizzlies team. And a win over the T-Wolves would have dropped them four games behind the Kings in the standings with 21 games remaining.
This is the stretch run. The outcome of every game means something. A win would have catapulted Sacramento into the eighth spot in the Western Conference standings and put more pressure on the teams around them.