Wolves find the 'on' switch, pull away from Sacramento

Sam Mitchell, the Timberwolves interim coach, said he thought his team was dealing with an emotional hangover when Wednesday's game with Sacramento began at Target Center.

Two days earlier, in the same building, with fans hanging from the rafters, the Wolves had taken defending champion Golden State to the limit before losing. Wednesday, the crowd was smaller, quieter. And the Kings came in limping, without high-scoring center DeMarcus Cousins.

So it took awhile.

But, after a lethargic and loose first half, the Wolves came out and took control in the second in a 113-104 victory. The Wolves built a 14-point lead late in the third quarter, allowed the Kings back within two early in the fourth, then pulled away to break a two-game losing streak. The Wolves (23-48) have won three of their past six games.

"We could have won [Monday],'' said Zach LaVine, whose game mirrored that of his team. LaVine was scoreless in the first half, but had 23 in the second — 11 in the third quarter, 12 in the fourth. "We had the champs on the ropes, and I feel we could have closed it out better. We needed to come out today in a game when you're tired, when you played your hearts out the game before …''

And win.

Now, not everyone subscribed to Mitchell's theory. Center Karl-Anthony Towns, for example. He said he felt fine, and showed it, scoring 26 points with 11 rebounds; he and Gorgui Dieng (16 points, 12 rebounds) had double-doubles. Ditto for Andrew Wiggins. Aggressive from the start, he scored 23.

But it was clear in the first 24 minutes of the game that something was off.

Eventually, the players found the "on'' switch.

"I thought our guys grinded it out," Mitchell said. "We made some mistakes early, but I thought in the third quarter we came out and executed, scored some baskets, got some defensive stops. Just picked up our energy.''

In particular, Mitchell said he talked to LaVine after the shooting guard had taken only two shots in the first half.

"We told him he had to pick it up," Mitchell said. "Little did I know. I mean, you talk about picking it up.''

With the Wolves up by six with six-plus minutes left in the third, LaVine's three-pointer finished a 7-0 run that stretched the lead to 13. That lead grew to 14 on another LaVine trey.

Sacramento (27-44) didn't give up. With Rajon Rondo (25 points, 12 assists) and center Kosta Koufos (15 points, 15 rebounds) leading the way, the Kings drew within 8:42 left.

But Greg Smith converted on a three-point play, LaVine hit another three-pointer and the lead was back to eight with the Wolves in firm control.

"We moved the ball, played as a team, started going to the glass harder," said Wiggins, who made 10 of 15 shots, including an impressive dunk over Kings center Willie Cauley-Stein.

Minnesota shot 69.7 percent in the second half, and that was too much for the Kings to handle. The Wolves scored 23 points off 17 Kings turnovers, scored 64 points in the paint and scored 13 on the fast break.

Before Wednesday the Wolves had gone 2-8 in their previous 10 games against teams with losing records. This time they took care of business.

"We did what we had to do to win the game," Mitchell said.