The Sacramento Kings demonstrated Tuesday night why they would deal one of their top young players, guard Tyrese Haliburton, for board-sweeping big man Domantas Sabonis.
At the same time, however, they also exposed the void in perimeter defense left in Haliburton’s wake.
Playing less than 12 hours after pulling off a six-player blockbuster trade with the Indiana Pacers, the Kings were drubbed 134-114 at home by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the opener of a two-day doubleheader.
The clubs will meet in a rematch, also hosted by the Kings, on Wednesday night.
Playing without the newly acquired trio of Sabonis, Jeremy Lamb and Justin Holiday, the Kings debuted their backcourt of the future when De’Aaron Fox returned from an ankle injury to join rookie Davion Mitchell as the starting guards against Minnesota.
Fox went for 29 points, but Mitchell contributed just eight points in the one-sided loss. The two combined for 10 assists and nine rebounds.
Neither was effective on the defensive end, where the Timberwolves took advantage of poor Kings perimeter defense to bury 22 of their 44 3-point attempts.
Meanwhile, the Timberwolves, led by Karl-Anthony Towns and Jarred Vanderbilt, dominated on the boards. Minnesota ran up a 49-38 overall advantage thanks in large part to a 16-5 edge on the offensive glass.
The 11 extra possessions, combined with 19 Sacramento turnovers, helped the Timberwolves fire off 104 shots, the club’s second most this season.
Towns finished with 25 points and nine rebounds, while Vanderbilt had seven offensive boards and 11 in all to complement nine points.
Malik Beasley led the long-distance shooting assault with 7-for-8 accuracy from 3-point range. He wound up with 21 points.
Beasley wasn’t the only Minnesota reserve who excelled. Jordan McLaughlin logged an 11-point, 11-assist double-double, Naz Reid chipped in with 12 points and Taurean Prince complemented 11 points with four steals.
This on a night when the usually reliable Jaylen Nowell contributed just six points.
“We feel like we’re the best bench in the league,” Beasley said after the club’s season-best-tying fifth straight win.
The triumph was Minnesota’s second this season over Sacramento. The Timberwolves go for a second season-series sweep of the Kings in the last five years in Wednesday’s final meeting of the regular season.
The Kings hope to have Sabonis, Lamb and Holiday available for the rematch. However, the newcomers will have to pass physicals before the game in order to become eligible.
Chimezie Metu was Sacramento’s top rebounder in the loss with eight as the club awaits Sabonis, who ranks fourth in the league at 12.1 per game.
The Kings also were without big men Richaun Holmes (personal reasons) and Marvin Bagley III (sprained left ankle) in the series opener, then lost forward Maurice Harkless to a sprained right ankle.
Sacramento forward Harrison Barnes noted after the game that he believes management made the move in an effort to make the playoffs this season.
“It’s less about developing and more about where we’re at,” he said. “You don’t bring in a guy with the talent like Sabonis to grow and develop in the next two to three years. This pushes us forward.”
