MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — De’Aaron Fox scored 32 points and Trey Lyles had eight of his 11 points in overtime for the Sacramento Kings, who outlasted the Minnesota Timberwolves 118-111 on Monday night.
Malik Monk scored 19 points, Domantas Sabonis had 17 points and 13 rebounds before fouling out and Keegan Murray added 13 points and 13 rebounds for the upstart Kings, who produced another signature win in their promising quest to end an NBA-record 16-year absence from the playoffs.
The Kings had a season-high 15 steals and turned 18 turnovers by the Timberwolves into 21 points.
“It’s just trying to be disruptive. If we get a deflection and it turns into a steal, great,” Fox said.
Lyles took over for Sabonis at center and started overtime with a 3-pointer. He dunked on Rudy Gobert for a three-point play and got wide open for a slam with 37.8 seconds left for a five-point lead that put the game away and gave the Kings a two-game split after a 117-110 loss on Saturday.
“Both those games were kind of ugly to our standards, so I thought we did a good job maintaining our composure down the stretch,” Murray said.
Anthony Edwards had 33 points and eight rebounds for the Timberwolves, hitting the 30-point mark for the fifth time in the last six games, but he had six turnovers amid heavy double-teams down the stretch.
“He’s drawing a big crowd,” Wolves coach Chris Finch said. “For the most part, he’s trying to make the right play. Maybe he needs to see it a little earlier.”
Gobert added 19 points and 14 rebounds in a classic big man battle with Sabonis, who was whistled for a technical after a missed contested layup that had him screaming at the officials about the no-call with 3:57 left.
Neither team led by more than five points for the entire fourth quarter, when Edwards went to work once again for the Wolves and made baskets on three straight possessions for a 98-95 lead with 2:12 to go.
Fox is one of those clutch players, too. He gave the Kings the lead twice with shots in the final 1:48 and had the chance to win it at the regulation buzzer, when his fadeaway fell short.
Jaden McDaniels hit the game-tying 3-pointer with 13.5 seconds left for the Wolves, but they failed to take advantage of the absence of Sabonis in overtime and hurt themselves anew with unforced errors on both ends. In another sign of the crowded Western Conference race, they fell from fifth place to ninth. The Kings are in third, with just one more win than the Wolves.
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