No KAT, no problem as Wolves stymie Kings

With Karl-Anthony Towns ruled out of Saturday’s game against the Sacramento Kings with left knee soreness, the Timberwolves needed to find a way to replicate his offensive production.

Rudy Gobert provided it in the first half, Jaden McDaniels did so in the second half and Anthony Edwards was dominant from wire to wire. 

The Timberwolves’ defense did the rest.

All of that added up to a 110-98 victory in Sacramento.

Gobert got the Wolves going early, getting several quick dunks, be it on a perfect pass in stride from Mike Conley or an alley oop from Naz Reid. Gobert had 10 points in the first quarter to help Minnesota take a 28-20 advantage into the second frame.

"(Gobert) set the tone early, had a bunch of dunks, put pressure on the rim early and kind of loosened things up," Wolves coach Chris Finch told reporters postgame. 

Gobert finished with 21 points, 17 rebounds and two blocks.

Edwards also had it going early for the Wolves (22-6), scoring 10 points in the first quarter and nine in the second as Minnesota built on its early lead behind its stifling defense. Edwards finished his night with 34 points, 10 assists and five boards.

De’Aaron Fox scored 20 in the first half, but the Wolves stymied the rest of the Kings offense and took a 59-47 advantage into the halftime break. 

Fox finished with 27 points and six assists.

Kyle Anderson started in place of Towns and finished with 10 points, five rebounds and five assists. 

McDaniels started to come alive after the break. Despite starting the day cold, McDaniels saw shots fall in the third quarter as the Wolves built a 20-point advantage. And despite a third-quarter push from the Kings (17-11), McDaniels’ 3-pointer in the fourth quarter pushed the Minnesota lead back to 20.

But then came the Kings’ real rally.

Keegan Murray got hot from long range, helping Sacramento slowly whittle the Wolves’ lead all the way down to five points in the waning minutes of the contest.

But McDaniels — who finished with 20 points, five rebounds and four steals — answered with a bucket, Edwards got a steal and took it to the other end for a layup and McDaniels blocked a shot that resulted in another transition bucket for Edwards. 

"It's a tough one to guard somebody like Fox, who's having his best season ever. Jaden battled them all and got the big block there at the end to seal it," Finch said. 

Edwards' layup after McDaniels' block pushed the Wolves’ lead right back up to 12.

Then after Murray hit another 3-pointer to close the gap back to nine, Conley answered right back with a 3 for the final dagger.

The collective acted as the closer once again for the Wolves, who continue to find ways to win regardless of who’s in and out of the lineup. 

Final key stats

• Anthony Edwards: 34 points, 10 assists, 5 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 block
• Rudy Gobert: 21 points, 17 rebounds, 2 blocks, 1 assist 
• Jaden McDaniels: 20 points, 5 rebounds, 4 steals, 1 assist, 1 block 
• Mike Conley: 12 points, 9 assists, 7 rebounds, 2 steals
• Kyle Anderson: 10 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 block
• De'Aaron Fox: 27 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds, 2 steals 
• Keegan Murray: 20 points, 7 rebounds, 3 steals, 1 block
• Domantas Sabonis: 17 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists, 1 steal