Chris Finch used to joke about deploying a three big-man lineup of Naz Reid, Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert. But after Anthony Edwards left Friday's game at halftime for personal reasons, Finch decided to turn to it in the fourth quarter, when that lineup led the Timberwolves back from a nine-point fourth-quarter deficit vs. Sacramento.
But the Wolves still lost to the Kings 124-120 in overtime, and they did because the big lineup couldn't do something that seems intuitive for an alignment so tall: rebound.
The Wolves gave up 20 second-chance points to the Kings, including six big ones to the hot-shooting Malik Monk in the fourth quarter, and that prevented them from getting a victory even after Edwards departed at halftime. The Kings, who were without their best guard in De'Aaron Fox (knee), also became the only team this season to beat the Wolves twice on their home floor and take a season series from them (2-1).
"There was a bunch of 50-50 balls that we kind of watched in the middle of the floor down the stretch," Finch said. "If we just secured those, we could probably control the end of the game better. With the size we had out there, it's really kind of inexcusable."
The Wolves had to navigate late-game offense without their main catalyst in Edwards (2-for-11, 11 points), and they got key contributions from Jaden McDaniels, who had a season-high 26 points. But it wasn't enough to offset the second-chance points allowed and defensive breakdowns in overtime.
Monk had 39 after going just 2-for-7 in the first half. Twice in the fourth quarter, Monk hit threes after Sacramento secured offensive rebounds against the Wolves' triple-tower lineup.
One made it 108-106 Sacramento with 4 minutes, 36 seconds to play, and another made it 113-111 Kings with 2:39 left in the fourth.
"Those are winning plays," Gobert said. "A lot of times, we did a great job defensively, and those rebounds, they get a kick out three and that hurts. Instead of getting a stop, you get a wide-open shot. We've gotten better but tonight they hurt us."
In a back-and-forth fourth quarter when the teams traded leads, they were tied 115-115 after Gobert hit one of two free throws with 40.3 seconds left. On Sacramento's next possession, officials called Mike Conley for holding Sabonis on a rebound with 16.9 seconds left.
Wolves coach Chris Finch challenged the call, and the replay review upheld the call. Monk then airballed a three with 2.9 seconds left and the Wolves had a final shot, but Towns (19 points, 7-for-17) airballed a three of his own.
The Wolves grabbed a 120-117 point lead after Sabonis fouled out in overtime (21 points, 15 rebounds), but Monk hit threes on consecutive possessions to give the Kings the lead for good with 2:05 left. Gobert took the blame for a defensive breakdown on one of the plays.
The Wolves didn't score the rest of the night as they tried to figure out how to operate in crunch time without Edwards.
"It was just a little confusion, sometimes," McDaniels said. "We're so used to having him and being in certain spots. We gotta do a better job. When someone goes out, someone else has to step in and replace his role. That's just really it.".
BOXSCORE: Sacramento 124, Wolves 120
The start of the night also put the Wolves behind where they were playing catch-up most of the night. They opened the game down 20-6 as they continued a recent trend of slow starts.
"For whatever reason, man, the energy level has been low," Conley said. "Not from everybody, but just a couple guys here and there, different games. It's been a different person every night, and it affects all five guys.
"If we don't have everybody in the right state of mind to go out there and compete, we're gonna have starts like that. Teams coming out, trying to give us their best shot. They're gonna run, they're gonna play fast."
Sacramento also dominated fast-break points 19-0. Even without Edwards, the Wolves felt like did more to lose Friday's game than Sacramento did to win it.
"We know what works and what doesn't work against them," Finch said. "Tonight, I think our slow start and the offensive rebounding were the things that sunk us."
