Timberwolves' win streak hits four with 124-110 NBA Cup victory over Kings

Chris Hine, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Nov 14, 2025

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MINNEAPOLIS — The Timberwolves had a tougher time with the Kings than they had earlier this week in Sacramento, but they still came away with a 124-110 victory. The Wolves improved to 2-0 against the Kings after a 27-point win on Sunday on the road and won their fourth straight overall.

Anthony Edwards had 30 points to lead them while Julius Randle had 26 points and 11 rebounds. Jaden McDaniels returned from three different injuries he suffered to score 13 points. Domantas Sabonis had 34 points to lead Sacramento.

After a sluggish game most of the night, the Wolves locked down in a fourth quarter they won 32-19.

Another Cup win

The Wolves improve to 2-0 in the group stage of the NBA Cup, the league’s in-season tournament. They have Phoenix and Oklahoma City remaining as part of Group A in the Western Conference. Each winner of the three groups advances to the quarterfinals of the tournament, with one second-place team getting a wild-card berth. Head to head and margin of victory tiebreakers figure into that, and after a 40-point win over the Jazz in their first Cup game, the Wolves now have a margin of plus-54. Even if they lose a game in group play, they have set themselves up well to capture a wild-card spot.

How it happened

The Wolves opened the night by hitting seven of their first eight shots and racing out to an 18-7 lead. They shot 69% in the first quarter (13-for-19) but six first-quarter turnovers allowed the Kings to stay in it early. Both Randle and Sabonis had nine as the Wolves led 35-30 after one.

The sloppiness continued into the second quarter, when the Wolves had another five turnovers. The also hit just 10 of 16 free throws in the first half. The Kings took a five-point lead in the second behind 24 from Sabonis, but the Wolves tied it back up 61-61 at the half.

In the third quarter, Edwards got aggressive driving to the basket, and he 17 points as the Wolves took an 88-84 lead. Eight of his points came at the free-throw line as he got his team into the penalty within the first four minutes.

The Wolves led by one entering the fourth and quickly took a 103-94 lead with Edwards resting. Donte DiVincenzo had a pair of 3s in the run, the second coming off a Randle rebound on a missed free throw.

Green court is back

The bright green court the Wolves use for the NBA in-season tournament games was back for the second time, and it could be the last time. That should satisfy fans annoyed by how bright it looks on their screens. The court could return one more time if the Wolves play host to a quarterfinal game in the next stage.

McDaniels leaves three times

McDaniels left the game momentarily after he was hit in the face in the first quarter, but he was able to re-enter at the 8-minute, 30-second mark. The Wolves appear to have avoided another broken nose after Rob Dillingham, DiVincenzo and Rocco Zikarsky all had them. DiVincenzo began the game with a mask on, but he ditched it after a few minutes.

McDaniels left the game again in the second quarter after Sabonis hit him in a sensitive area near his groin. He came back in the third quarter only to get hurt again, momentarily.

His right leg gave out and did a split as he stepped on a drive to the hoop. When the Wolves got the ball back, coach Chris Finch called timeout, McDaniels took his jersey off and left it by the scorer’s table as he exited down the tunnel for the third time in the night. But he came back in before the quarter ended.

Shannon out at least a week

Terrence Shannon Jr. missed his fifth consecutive game Friday because of a bone bruise on his left fifth toe. The team announced Shannon would be re-evaluated in a week after having a magnetic resonance imaging exam to diagnose the injury. Shannon is averaging 3.9 points in seven games.