Seventeen years. It has been almost 17 years since the Kings no longer experienced the joys of the playoffs and, this night at home, they had the possibility of finding them in the event of success against wolves in “back-to-back”, but also in search of victory to continue to believe in the Top 6.
Suffice to say that, for the occasion, the public of the Golden 1 Center was fully behind their team, called to finish in 3rd place in the West and to benefit from the advantage of the field in the first round. Without Karl-Anthony Towns, preserved because he had barely returned from injury, the mission was even a little easier for the Californian franchise.
Still had to resist Anthony Edwards (17 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds), Rudy Gobert (16 points, 16 rebounds) and others…
And that is precisely what the teammates of De’Aaron Fox (29 points, 6 assists) and Domantas Sabonis (24 points, 10 rebounds), beaten and who will have to wait a bit before validating their ticket for the playoffs (119-115). On the other hand, unlike Sacramentothe players of Minnesota can have a smile because they recover the 6th place of the West to the Warriors!
WHAT YOU MUST REMEMBER
— Sacramento will have to wait. The scenario seemed almost a little too good for the Kings: home game, opponent reduced in “back-to-back” and beautiful people in the stands. Still, even if everything seemed to come together for us to witness a moment in history, there was a meeting to be won on the floor. For three quarters, Mike Brown’s men were also in the game, responding somehow to Wolves full of bite. Then the start of the last act got the better of them, because Naz Reid and Jaylen Nowell off the bench then the holders of Minnesota accelerated, to break away and then manage.
— Minnesota returns to the Top 6. Quietly, because everyone expected the Kings to reach the playoffs at home, Wolves probably realized there nice affair of the evening. With this authoritative and founding success collectively, Chris Finch’s men have effectively taken over 6th place in the West from the Warriors (“tiebreaker” obliges)! Complete (or almost) less than two weeks from the end of the regular season, and with a rather affordable upcoming schedule, we could well have witnessed one of the turning points of this end of the year…
TOPS/FLOPS
✅ The Fox/Sabonis duo. We can not say that the All-Star duo of the Kings disappointed, as De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis responded present and carried their franchise at arm’s length, all in efficiency, in this meeting which smelled good of the playoffs. Unfortunately, he missed a little something, probably from the outside address, so that the point guard and the inside did not succeed in their bet: to bring Sacramento back to the playoffs.
✅ The Minnesota Collective. Without Karl-Anthony Towns, Wolves relied on no less than seven players with 10 or more points: Jaden McDaniels (20), Naz Reid (18), Anthony Edwards (17), Rudy Gobert (16), Mike Conley ( 16), Kyle Anderson (15) and Jaylen Nowell (14). Enough to turn the heads of Kings defenders and propel them to great success in a hostile environment.
⛔ Sacramento’s 3-point address. Like Keegan Murray (1/6), who one could imagine breaking the award-winning record for a rookie in a year, the Kings tore behind the arc: 5/27. When we know that their attack feeds a lot on these outside shots, we understand better why Mike Brown’s men stalled last night on the offensive level. De’Aaron Fox (1/6), Malik Monk (0/4), Harrison Barnes (0/3) and company will have to bounce back in this exercise.
THE FOLLOWING
Sacramento (45-30) : trip to Portland, in the night from Wednesday to Thursday (04:00).
Minnesota (39-37) : trip to Phoenix, in the night from Wednesday to Thursday (04:00).
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