Wolves fall to Kings, extending skid to 12 games

De'Aaron Fox scored 31 points on 10-of-16 shooting to help the Sacramento Kings post a 113-109 victory over the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night. Bogdan Bogdanovic added 23 points and Buddy Hield tallied 16 off the bench for the Kings. Harrison Barnes had 14 points and seven assists, and Nemanja Bjelica scored 12 points for Sacramento, which never trailed while winning for the fourth time in the past six games.

Andrew Wiggins' potential tying 3-pointer was in-and-out with less than a second remaining as Minnesota took its season-worst 12th straight loss. Karl-Anthony Towns recorded 22 points, 10 rebounds and six assists for the Timberwolves. Shabazz Napier had 17 points and seven assists, Robert Covington scored 15 points, Josh Okogie and Kelan Martin had 12 apiece, and Wiggins scored 10.

The Timberwolves had an 11-game losing streak from Dec. 1-23. They halted that skid with a 105-104 double-overtime win in Sacramento on Dec. 26. Minnesota shot 43.5 percent from the field on Monday, including 13 of 38 (34.2 percent) from 3-point range.

Dewayne Dedmon had 12 rebounds and a season-high five blocked shots for the Kings, who shot 50.7 percent from the field and were 14 of 27 (51.9 percent) from behind the arc. Minnesota trailed by 20 points in the third quarter before getting back into the game with 11 straight. Towns had four points during the run, and Jordan McLaughlin drained a 3-pointer to pull the Timberwolves within 91-82 with 1:52 remaining.

Minnesota was down 93-84 at the end of the quarter and continued its push in the final stanza, moving within 97-95 when Towns buried a 3-pointer with 6:06 left. The Kings answered with a 9-3 burst with Barnes scoring the final five points, including a 3-pointer to make it 106-98 with 4:02 remaining.

The Timberwolves later moved within 108-104 on Covington's 3-pointer with 1:31 left. Covington drained another 3-pointer with 4.7 seconds left to pull Minnesota within 112-109. Barnes was unable to get the ball inbounded and was called for a violation to give Minnesota and Wiggins the late opportunity.

Bogdanovic split two free throws with 0.1 seconds left to seal it. Fox scored 17 first-half points and Hield added 14 as the Kings took a 65-50 lead into the break.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)