SACRAMENTO, Calif. _ Punched in the mouth so hard that you couldn't have blamed them if they heard ringing in their ears, the Minnesota Timberwolves picked themselves up off the canvas Saturday night before ultimately losing to the Sacramento Kings 106-103.
Three nights after they lost a 17-point lead and the game in their season opener at Memphis, the Wolves kicked away an 18-point second-quarter lead this time and trailed by as many as 10 points in the fourth quarter.
But with point guard Kris Dunn on the floor down the stretch with the starters instead of injured Ricky Rubio, who sprained his right elbow, the Wolves rode Andrew Wiggins' rediscovered scoring touch and some newly found toughness to tie the score three times down the stretch.
Kings guard Ty Lawson's three-point shot with 1:10 left put his team ahead 105-100.
Karl-Anthony Towns' driving layup with 19 seconds left brought the Wolves within 105-103 and, after forcing a jump ball that Wiggins won, they had the ball and a chance to win the game with a three-pointer with 7.5 seconds left.
But Wiggins' long jump shot missed and Gorgui Dieng's putback missed as well.
Until they found some fourth-quarter courage, that ringing the Timberwolves probably heard in their heads at third quarter's end was not necessarily the giant cowbell being rung on a concourse at the city's new Golden 1 Center.
It might have been in their heads after getting punched in the mouth by star center DeMarcus Cousins and a Kings team that did exactly what Memphis had done to the Wolves just three nights earlier in their season opener: Wipe away an early big lead.
On Wednesday, the Grizzlies recovered from an early 20-3 lead and beat the Wolves by four points.
This time, Cousins repeatedly bulled his way to the basket, bringing his Kings back from an 18-point, second-quarter deficit against a Wolves team just too young and soft to stop him before he fouled out with 37 seconds left.
A member of two U.S. teams coached in part by new Wolves coach Tom Thibodeau, Cousins put up a 29-point, seven-rebound performance that not only brought the Kings back, it also forced Thibodeau to juggle his defensive assignments. Cousins got Dieng, Cole Aldrich and Towns into foul trouble.
"I loved being around DeMarcus with Team USA," said Thibodeau, who as an assistant coached Cousins on the 2014 U.S. World Championship and 2016 U.S. Olympic teams, before the game. "We have two gold medals because of the stuff he did for us. His skill set is so unusual for a guy his size. You don't expect him to be able to handle the ball, make plays, shoot the three, put it on the floor and dominate inside. He's a load to deal with."
And he was again Saturday before he fouled out with his team leading 105-101.
Teammate Rudy Gay added 28 points for the Kings, who have started their season 2-1 under new coach and Staples, Minn., native Dave Joerger.
Just as they did in Memphis, the Wolves burst from the game's start, this time leading 28-15 by late in the first quarter and by 45-27 early in the second quarter.
On Wednesday, Wiggins scored 25 points, but only two of them in the fourth quarter.
On Saturday, he scored 29 points, but again missed a free throw in the game's final minutes after he had missed two in Memphis.
