De’Aaron Fox scored 36 points and dished 12 assists as the Sacramento Kings pulled away for a 124-111 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves in an NBA in-season tournament game Friday night in Minneapolis.
Sacramento improved to 3-0 in West Group C during tournament play. Minnesota dropped to 2-1.
Harrison Barnes scored 18 points on 7-for-11 shooting for the Kings. Malik Monk contributed 17 points off the bench, and Domantas Sabonis notched 15 points and 11 rebounds.
Anthony Edwards scored 35 points to lead Minnesota, which lost for only the second time in in the past 12 games. Karl-Anthony Towns tallied 27 points and 11 rebounds, and Rudy Gobert recorded 12 points and 11 rebounds.
The Timberwolves trailed by double digits for most of the fourth quarter. Troy Brown Jr. made a free throw to cut the deficit to nine points with 24.1 seconds left, but Sacramento held steady with two free throws by Barnes and one free throw by Fox.
The Kings led 92-79 entering the fourth quarter.
Sacramento was up 77-72 before going on a 13-2 run late in the third quarter. Davion Mitchell made a 3-pointer and a jump shot to boost the Kings’ lead to 16.
Sacramento held a 70-64 edge at the half.
The Kings jumped to a 21-12 lead in the first five-plus minutes. Barnes drained a 3-pointer off an assist from Sabonis to finish the early run.
Minnesota fell behind 36-23 before it finished the first quarter on an 8-2 run to trim the deficit to seven. Kyle Anderson made a basket with less than a second remaining.
Sacramento responded by opening the second quarter on an 8-0 run to go ahead 46-31. Monk and Trey Lyles made back-to-back 3-pointers to cap the sequence.
The Kings increased their lead to 22 points before the Timberwolves battled back within nine points thanks to a 13-0 run. Minnesota pulled within six entering halftime thanks to a basket by Edwards with 32.1 seconds to go.
–Field Level Media