MINNEAPOLIS _ Before his Kings took on the Timberwolves at Target Center Saturday night, Sacramento coach Dave Joerger was in full flattery mode.
He lauded the Wolves front office. He gushed over the young talent the Wolves had put together. He all but guaranteed Minnesota would be in the playoffs next season.
And then his team went out and kicked the Wolves around for much of four quarters in a 123-117 victory over a Minnesota team that again displayed porous defense over the final three-plus quarters of the game.
It marked the 20th time the Wolves have built a lead of 10 or more points _ Saturday it was a 16-point lead in the first quarter _ and lost, most in the league.
The Kings shot 56.4 percent _ shooting nearly 61 percent while outscoring the Wolves 73-54 over the second and third quarters. The Kings' total was their highest in a non-overtime contest in 49 games.
And remember: This was a Kings team in full rebuild mode after the Feb. 20 trade that sent DeMarcus Cousins to New Orleans. Since that trade the Kings had lost 14 of 19 games.
But Saturday, with one Wolves defensive breakdown after another, the Kings drew within 13 after the first quarter, blitzed to a six-point lead after three quarters and extended that lead to 15 against the outmatched Wolves bench to start the fourth.
Five Kings players scored in double figures, three of them _ Ty Lawson (21), Langston Galloway (17) and Arron Afflalo (16) _ off the bench. Buddy Hield, who came to Sacramento in that Cousins trade, scored 22.
The Wolves were led by Andrew Wiggins' 32 points. Karl-Anthony Towns had 26 and 10 rebounds. Ricky Rubio scored 11 with 13 assists, but was 1-for-10 from the field.
Down 15 with 8:04 left, the Wolves went on a 12-2 run to pull within five on Shabazz Muhammad's fast-break basket with 5:42 left. But the Wolves couldn't come all the way back.
Down two early in the game, the Wolves owned the rest of the first quarter.
With Minnesota turning nine Kings turnovers into 17 points, with Rubio leading a fast break that held an 8-0 edge, the Wolves responded with a 21-3 run to take a 29-13 lead on Dieng's fast-break dunk.
The Wolves, who still led by 13 at quarters end, got seven points and seven assists from Rubio in the quarter, with Wiggins scoring eight, the Wolves forced nine Kings turnovers while allowing Sacramento just seven made field goals.
After starting the game 5 for 5, the Kings went 2 for 11 with seven turnovers over the final 8:09 of the quarter.
The Wolves bench began the second giving that lead back. By the time Wolves coach Tom Thibodeau put his starters back in the Kings were within 42-39. Even with the starters back, the Kings surged to the lead, going up 48-46 on Hield's jumper with 4:29 left in the half.
Then the Wolves reasserted themselves. Rubio made two free throws, Dieng fed Brandon Rush for a 3-pointer and Rubio fed Towns for a three-point play, an 8-2 run that put the Wolves back up four. Up six late in the half, Wiggins fouled Afflalo on a 3-pointer. He made two free throws, pulling the Kings within 59-55 at the half.
After shooting 13-for-22 in their 37-point second quarter, the Kings just kept getting one open shot _ or uncontested drive _ after another to start the third.
That four-point Wolves lead was quickly erased by the Kings, who started the third on an 19-10 run to take a 74-69 lead on Hield's 3-pointer with 6:54 left in the quarter, forcing a Wolves time out.
The Wolves rallied to retake the lead, briefly, 76-74. But the Kings finished the quarter on a 17-9 run to take a 91-85 lead into the fourth.
