NBA 2018-19: Minnesota Timberwolves vs Sacramento Kings

The Sacramento Kings had a nice 141-130 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves in what was a very high scoring affair. The Kings are one of the fastest teams in the NBA with young players having great speed. Their pace was on full display in this game.

The Timberwolves are now winless in their 10 road games against the Western Conference opponents. They are the second worst travelling team in the NBA with just two road wins so far.

The Kings took a 63-50 lead in the halftime. The Timberwolves got on a run at the start of the third quarter and even got a 3 point lead. But the Kings started their hot shooting from the deep and never looked back.

With the victory, the Sacramento Kings hang on to the 8th position in the Western Conference Playoff standings with a 15-12 record. On the other hand, the Timberwolves are at the 13th position with a 13-15 record.

Here are the top 3 takeaways from the game

#3 Great bench production from the Kings

Marvin Bagley III has been great for the Kings

The Kings had seven players who had a double-digit scoring game. They got massive production from the bench unit as well.

Bogdan Bogdanovic came off the bench to contribute 20 points for the team on 9-15 shooting from the field. Marvin Bagley III, the number 2 overall pick in this year's draft, is having an impressive rookie season and again provided a great spark from the bench.

He had a double-double scoring 17 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. He shot 4-5 from the field and 9-10 from the free throw line. Yogi Ferrell shot 4-4 from the deep and kept the Kings in command of the game.

The Kings will be looking for great production from their bench players in the upcoming matches as they hope of making the playoffs this season.

#2 Poor defensive effort from the Timberwolves

Karl-Anthony Towns scored 19 points in the match

The Wolves scored 80 points in the second half alone but still lost the match. The defense was the major problem for them in the match.

Jimmy Butler confronted the team in the preseason saying that the team plays very soft basketball. Since his departure, the Wolves have improved their displays massively but this game again exploited their weaknesses.

The Wolves concede around 110 points per game but in this match, they conceded 141 points making it look like an All-Star game scoreline. Much of this was down to the pace with which the Kings operate on offense but the Wolves' defense didn't help them either.

The Kings players drove into the paint with ease and also got easy looks from downtown. The Wolves need to improve their performance in their upcoming road match against the bottom-placed Phoenix Suns.

#1 Hot shooting from the Kings

The Sacramento Kings had 19 made three-pointers for the game on 50% shooting from the deep. They also shot 58% from the floor and were scoring freely throughout the game.

Nemanja Bjelica led the Kings in scoring with 25 points for the game on 4-9 shooting from beyond the arc. Buddy Hield also had a nice 20 points for the game on 5-8 shooting from the 3PT line.

De'Aaron Fox, the star sophomore guard for the Kings had another good game in which he scored 13 points and also dished out 8 assists. Fox has been playing at a tremendous level for the Kings and is the biggest factor for such an improved display from the Kings this season.

The Kings were great in moving the ball ending the match with 34 team assists. Such ball movement has also been responsible for the Kings rise this season. The Kings next face the Golden State Warriors who were dismantled in their match against the Raptors.