SACRAMENTO, Calif. _ The NBA will likely take Thursday's matchup between the Minnesota Timberwolves and Sacramento Kings, put in a vault and just let it collect dust for generations upon generations, never to see the light of day again. Or it might eject it into space so the sun could burn any trace of it.
Two teams with losing records, each with the best players out because of injuries; the Kings losing De'Aaron Fox and Marvin Bagley during the game, the Wolves without Karl-Anthony Towns and Jake Layman entering the night. Nobody could hit from the outside. Neither team broke 20 in the fourth quarter and missed many shots down the stretch.
But this game meant a heck of a lot for the Wolves. It meant the difference between continuing a nearly month-long losing streak or relieving some of the "heaviness" that coach Ryan Saunders said has shrouded the team while this has happened.
But the Wolves finally threw a few more rocks in the hoop than their opponent, ending their miserable 11-game losing streak with a 105-104 double overtime victory over the Kings.
After a grueling end of regulation and first overtime filled with missed shots and poorly-executed inbound plays, the Wolves scored the first six points of overtime to set up the win, but not after Buddy Hield missed an open three from the top of the key at the buzzer that would've won the game.
Andrew Wiggins had an awful night shooting (4-for-19) but he ended up with 10 rebounds and seven assists. The Wolves also don't pick up the win without Gorgui Dieng's 21 points and 15 rebounds in place of Towns in the starting lineup. The Wolves won while shooting just 35%, 22% from three-point range. That's because they held Sacramento to just 35% and 23%
With the score tied 90-90 late in the fourth, Robert Covington missed a mid-range jumper with under a minute to play, but he blocked a shot from Bogdan Bogdanovic at the other end, giving the Wolves another crack at the lead. They got two, but Shabazz Napier missed a three and Wiggins missed a pull-up jumper to send the game into overtime.
Covington and Jeff Teague score the first five of the extra session for the Wolves while the Kings answered with the next four.
With the score tied 97-97 late in the extra session, the Wolves had two more chances to take the lead, but Jeff Teague had a shot blocked by Bogdanovic while Wiggins missed a three-pointer. Bogdanovic missed a three on the other end and the Wolves had 0.5 seconds to try and get a shot off but Teague's inbound pass went out of bounds off Covington ultimately leading to overtime No. 2.
Then the Wolves took over _ a Wiggins layup, a Teague drive and a Covington layup off a steal to take a 103-97 lead. Hield scored five straight points for the Kings to pull them within 105-104, but couldn't put them over the top.
The game was a mirror for what's been happening with the Wolves of late with Towns out of the lineup. Their defense was holding its own while the offensive struggled to gain traction.
The defense did catch a break when Fox left because of back spasms less than two minutes into the game. Bagley had 18 points before exiting in the third.
The Wolves fell behind in the third quarter when Covington picked up his fourth foul trying to prevent a fast break. Covington exited with 10:39 to play in the half. The Wolves had a 53-51 lead. Sacramento would score 14 of the next 18 points for a 65-57 lead. The Wolves had a miserable quarter offensively, going just 7 of 24 from the field.
With Covington back on the floor, the Wolves mounted a charge in the fourth. A Treveon Graham three pulled them within 84-83 with 6:41 to play, setting up the excruciating overtimes, but sessions that would leave the Wolves smiling.
