Sacramento held off a late Timberwolves comeback in the final seconds of Thursday night’s contest to earn its first win in the New Year. Although Minnesota tied the game five times down the stretch, the Kings never trailed and won, 110-107.
Despite DeMarcus Cousins and Rudy Gay fouling out in the fourth period, all five starters finished in double-figures. Darren Collison and Gay paced the offense with 21 points apiece, while DMC tallied 19, Derrick Williams added 17 and Ben McLemore earned 14.
- En route to a 37-29 lead after the first quarter, the Kings earned a season-high field goal percentage in a quarter connecting on 77.8-percent of their attempts.
- The purple and black racked up 13 assists in the first half − two more than the team totaled in Boston versus the Celtics.
- The T-Wolves were led by Andrew Wiggins, who tied a season-high with 21 points in the first half − 15 of which came in the second quarter. The rookie finished with 27 points on 11-of-22 shooting.
- “We feel good about this win − we needed this win badly,” said Head Coach Tyrone Corbin.
- D-Will, who started 15 games for the Kings in 2013-14, earned his first start of this season and performed well connecting on 6-of-10 attempts for 17 points.
- The victory marked the Kings first road win since Nov. 25, 2014 against New Orleans.
Ben Rises Up for Huge Dunk
Collective Effort
Using their seventh different starting lineup of the season, the Kings attacked the T-Wolves by employing speed on the wing and by utilizing the size of DeMarcus Cousins in the paint.
DMC tallied 12 of his 19 points in the first half connecting on 60-percent of his attempts, while Rudy added 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting. The added speed of D-Thrill allowed the Kings to swipe five Timberwolves passes and get out in transition in the first half.
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Late in the game, Collison, Carl Landry and Williams all hit big shots to help the team seal the win.
“Darren hit a big shot, Derrick hit a big shot in the corner and our bench really stepped up," said Head Coach Tyrone Corbin after the game. “To see our bench guys come in [was great]."
D-Thrill Red-Hot vs. Former Squad
Getting his first start of the season, Derrick Williams put together an impressive outing against his former team.
No. 13 jumped out of the gate and scored seven points in the first period and added a pair of steals on defense.
“It made sense to us [to put him in the lineup],” said Head Coach Tyrone Corbin about Williams after the game. “We will make more changes to the lineup down the road, so we need everyone ready to play.”
D-Thrill finished with 17 points − just one shy of his season-high − while adding five rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals. With Thursday’s game under his belt, Williams is now averaging 16.8 points per game against the T-Wolves − his highest average against any team.
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