Sometimes, the basketball gods make the right call. The Kings threatened to come back and win tonight's game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, but a prayer of a shot by Kevin Love helped secure a deserving victory for the visitors. On top of everything else - DeMarcus Cousins' foul trouble, lack of rebounding, terrible decisions, etc. - the injured Ricky Rubio is still a few weeks away from being activated following major knee surgery.
So, here are just a few final thoughts on the Kings' latest effort:
* Kevin Love (outrebounded) the Kings entire starting lineup (20).
* Except for Tyreke Evans, who is playing the best basketball of his career, and really seems to be settling into the type of player he can be in this league, none of the Kings played well.
* Given the Kings' atrocious decision-making and late-game execution - not a new problem in light of the absence of a big time floor leader - it seems strange that Jimmer Fredette can't get on the court. The second-year guard has played sparingly of late and lost time to Isaiah Thomas, but now that teams are becoming more familiar with the energetic, but diminutive Thomas, his turnovers - particularly on penetration - are becoming an increasing issue.
* Maybe it's contagious. Rookie Thomas Robinson totally ignored a wide-open Marcus Thornton on the right wing, and attempted an ill-advised dribble-drive, among other things. He grabbed six boards, but seemed confused and tried to do too much.
* There is no way Cousins should have attempted 22 shots in 27 foul-plagued minutes. And five rebounds? He is not exactly on a roll ...
* Finally, I am still trying to figure out why Cousins, Isaiah Thomas, John Salmons, among others, insisted on driving into a crowd of defenders that, for the most part, consisted of the 6-foot-9, long-limbed Andrei Kirilenko, the 6-foot-10 Kevin Love and the 6-foot-11 Nikola Pekovic. Once again, the Kings' reluctance to make the extra pass (or even a meaningful pass, period) contributed mightily to their demise despite their reasonable assist total (21).
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