Minnesota Timberwolves at Sacramento Kings Date: November 24th, 2025 Time: 9:00 PM CST Location: Golden 1 Center Television Coverage: FanDuel Sports Network – North Radio Coverage: KFAN FM, Wolves App,
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There are losses… and then there are Wolves losses.
Friday night in Phoenix? That wasn’t just a loss, that was a textbook Timberwolves Greek tragedy, a masterclass in how to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory violent efficiency. We’re talking about one of the most heinous one-minute stretches in franchise history.
Minnesota is now 10–6. With ten wins over sub-.500 teams and six losses against teams above .500. It’s NBA comedy so on the nose you could pitch it as a Hulu original and no one would blink. To be fair, if you’re a Wolves optimist, you can build a tidy little case around these losses:
- The first Lakers game was referee-induced chaos.
- The first Nuggets loss and second Lakers defeat came without Ant.
- The Knicks loss featured a hobbled Ant making his way back into the lienup.
- The second Nuggets loss was the second night of a back-to-back against a rested Jokic buzzsaw with the Wolves fading in the 4th quarter.
- The Suns collapse? Combination platter: officiating, turnovers, missed free throws, poor late-game execution, and a psychic meltdown.
You could tell yourself all of those things. You could also tell yourself that if the Wolves made free throws and didn’t play hot potato with the ball in the final minute, they’d be 11–5 and have their first “big-boy” win.
And now we’ve arrived at the next test: Sacramento, on the road… again. The Kings are a team Minnesota has already slapped around twice this month, a team the Wolves match up beautifully against, and a team that is absolutely not on their level.
You want 11–6? You want to keep treading water until someone teaches these guys how to beat grownups? You handle the Kings. Here’s how:
1. Do Not Look Ahead
Wednesday night against OKC is the one circled in red Sharpie on every Wolves fan’s calendar: A potential group-stage decider in the NBA Cup agains the defending champs, the team that sent them packing in the Western Conference Finals 4–1. It’s a revenge game so juicy it should come with a trailer narrated by Morgan Freeman.
Which is exactly why this Kings game is terrifying. This is a classic Wolves trap.
If you’re the Timberwolves, you cannot allow yourself to look past Sacramento. You come out focused, you crash the glass, you rotate defensively like adults, and you avoid the “let’s play with our food” routine that has cost this franchise more wins than I can count.
Beat them early. Beat them decisively. Beat them like you’re trying to get out of the gym without sweating through your shooting shirt.
2. Minnesota’s Three-Headed Monster Must Eat
Rudy Gobert, Julius Randle, and Naz Reid are three highly-skilled and capable big men who will be wearing Wolves jerseys on Monday night. And on the other side? Domantas Sabonis. Just him.
The Kings simply cannot match the Wolves’ size, especially with how Randle has embraced full-time bruiser mode this season. The Wolves trio needs to limit Sacramento’s second-chance points, get their own put-backs, and make Sabonis feel like he’s trying to fight a polar bear with a butter knife.
3. Ant and Julius Need to Use This Game as Therapy
Anthony Edwards was sensational in the second half against Phoenix until he morphed into a blooper reel in the final minute. Julius Randle? The picture of steadiness… right until the turnovers and missed free throws.
The Wolves need their stars to show up angry. Take the frustration from Phoenix and throw it at Sacramento’s head until the beam stays unplugged.
This team follows Ant’s energy and Julius’ stability. When they’re locked in, the rest of the roster falls into place like Avengers assembling. This is a tone-setter night. Business suit, not sweatpants. No “we’ll get up for OKC.”
You get up now, then you go after the Thunder.
And that brings us to the existential question hovering over this Wolves season: what exactly are we?
Through sixteen games, the Timberwolves have become the NBA’s equivalent of that guy who can bench 350 pounds but pulls a hamstring every time he jogs to the mailbox. They destroy the weak. They obliterate mediocre rosters. They feast on the bottom-feeders of the league like it’s all-you-can-eat night at Fogo de Chão… and then immediately lose their appetite when a grown-up opponent walks in the room.
Phoenix was the perfect encapsulation of that phenomenon. In the second half, Minnesota looked like a mature, focused playoff team shaking off the cobwebs. Then, in one horrific minute they became every version of their own worst habits: panic passing, bricked free throws, defensive brain cramps, and the unmistakable aroma of “are we really doing this again?!?!?”
That’s why Sacramento matters. Not because they’re scary. Not because they’re a measuring stick. Because good teams know how to win the games you’re supposed to win, even when you’re pissed off about the one that slipped away. Playing the Kings on the road after a meltdown isn’t about revenge, it’s about discipline. It’s the emotional palate cleanser before Thanksgiving Eve becomes a knife fight with Oklahoma City.
The Wolves don’t need to reinvent themselves on Monday night. They don’t need some Hollywood redemption arc or a 50-point explosion from Ant. What they need is the boring, professional kind of dominance that championship teams eventually learn to enjoy. They need Gobert swallowing rebounds like oxygen, they need Randle being the adult in the room, they need McDaniels locking car doors on the perimeter, and they need Edwards to remember that he doesn’t have to be Superman every night, especially not against a Kings roster that’s been outclassed by Minnesota twice already this season.
Because here’s the secret nobody in Minnesota wants to say out loud: being 11–6 doesn’t fix anything. It doesn’t erase Phoenix, it doesn’t heal your historical trauma, and it doesn’t magically guarantee that the Wolves won’t turtle when they see a contender. But it does keep the floor from cracking beneath you. It buys you breathing room. It tells the locker room, “We took the punch on Friday and we didn’t flinch.”
And sometimes that’s the first domino. Sometimes the season turns when you stop apologizing for being angry, when you take all the embarrassment and bitterness from a collapse and you pour it into a team that simply isn’t equipped to handle you.
Sacramento isn’t a referendum on whether Minnesota can beat Denver or OKC It’s a referendum on whether Minnesota has the maturity to treat November like it matters. That’s how grown-up teams win trophies, moral or otherwise.
So go steal the beam’s batteries, get to 11–6, and walk into Thanksgiving Eve with your fists already clenched. If Oklahoma City is the war, Monday is the sharpening of the blade.
