Kings vs. Timberwolves Preview – By the Numbers
Will Z
The Kings are coming off of a tough loss to the Timberwolves in which they shot 27.3% from 3, their 5th worst mark of the season. Meanwhile, Minnesota shot 45.9% from 3, their 6th highest mark of the year. Tonight, it may come down to the shooting needing to come back to their means, but let’s take a look at the improvement the Kings can make as they take on the T-Wolves for the second straight game.
To start, the Kings will need to get better open looks in the rematch. Minnesota did a good job limiting the Kings’ looks from beyond the arc, and the Kings 3P% paid the price.
Meanwhile the Timberwolves got more open looks than they are accustomed to, and walked away with the win. It could be that the Kings were focused more on getting into the paint, or that the Timberwolves had a defensive scheme centered around the 3-point line, but the Kings will have to make adjustments tonight.
Something that they won’t have to adjust is how well they got to the Free Throw line. They attempted 36 Free throws on Saturday, the 2nd most they’ve taken all season. Sabonis, Fox, and Barnes were the main contributors as they combined to take 29 of those freebies, and should live at the line again tonight given Minnesota’s propensity to foul. The Timberwolves allow 25.9 Free Throws per game, 3rd most in the NBA. The 75% FT% that the Kings shot on Saturday leaves a little to be desired, but you have to love how aggressive they were, especially with how the outside shot wasn’t falling.
On the defensive side, the Kings will have to make adjustments, as Mike Brown once again stated after the game. The main focus of the defense will need to be on D’Angelo Russell and Anthony Edwards after the duo combined for 59 Points in the first game. It wasn’t just the number of points that the two of them scored, but how easily they did it. They shot 62.9% from the field and 75% from 3. That 75% from deep was no small sample size either. They went 12-of-16 from beyond the arc. The Kings may have to live with some of the other role players beating them and put more focus on the two guards.
The Kings did have some nice defensive moments on defense though, as they forced 19 T-Wolves Turnovers. Minnesota gives up the ball 15.8 times per game, 3rd most in the league. The Kings should once again have this in their game plan and look to get some easy buckets in transition. They also did a great job at limiting the Timberwolves inside, holding them to only 38 Points in the Paint. Part of that was the T-Wolves higher volume from 3, but at least the Kings didn’t let them going from both areas of the court.
This is the 3rd time this season the Kings have had two straight games against the same opponent. The first pair was with the Nuggets, and the second was the Rockets. So far, Sacramento has won both of the back-end games. Here’s to keeping that streak alive tonight and getting back in the win column.
