Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Sacramento Kings
Date: November 14th, 2025
Time: 7:00 PM CST
Location: Target Center
Television Coverage: FanDuel Sports Network – North/KARE 11
Radio Coverage: Wolves App, iHeart Radio
After playing three games in four nights, Minnesota got a well-earned breather. Three full days off before Friday’s NBA Cup showdown with Sacramento. That’s the basketball equivalent of a spa weekend in Napa.
It comes at the perfect time, too. The Wolves’ start to the season has been… let’s
call it “Jekyll and Hyde with a calf strain.” Anthony Edwards’ injury threw off the team’s early rhythm, the defense went on a brief sabbatical, and the Wolves found themselves at 0.500 with some major questions about their identity.
Thankfully, Minnesota’s next four games were against Utah (twice) and Sacramento (twice). It’s been the kind of “get-right” stretch the current Wolves needed. At the same time, it’s also the too-good-to-be-true slate of games that the Wolves of old would absolutely botch. To their credit, the team has taken the opportunity seriously, looking like the team everyone in the front office swore they’d be when they said, “Nah, we’re running it back.”
Minnesota obliterated Utah in the first NBA Cup game (by 40!) then followed that up with a 27-point clinic over the Kings. Even the second Utah game, where they actually trailed for a stretch, never really felt in doubt. It’s not that they were perfect. There were some tired legs and some travel fatigue. But the Wolves brought something we’ve been begging to see for years: focus.
A New Identity: Defense First, Ego Second
The Wolves’ biggest Achilles heel has always been psychological. One night they’re battling Boston or Denver like a Finals contender, the next they’re losing by 11 to the Washington Wizards because someone forgot to rotate. This week, though? Zero of that nonsense. Minnesota came out locked in on the defensive end.
Gobert looks more like the French Terminator again, anchoring the paint and cleaning up everyone’s mistakes. Jaden McDaniels is doing Jaden McDaniels things, mean mugging and ruining lives on the perimeter, and Anthony Edwards been locked in defensively from tip-off.
Chris Finch and the staff deserve credit too. They’ve stopped trying to fit square pegs into round rotations. Instead, they’re playing to strengths, strategically using Gobert and McDaniels to compensate for the shortcomings of some of the team’s weaker defenders. It’s allowed Minnesota to play stout defense and avoid the wheels falling off when Rudy leaves the floor.
Maybe it’s maturity. Maybe it’s chemistry. But whatever it is, this Wolves squad suddenly looks like a group that’s figured out the concept of not playing down to your competition.
The Kings Come to Town (Again)
The Kings are the same Kings. Sabonis still racks up triple-doubles that don’t always mean much, and everyone else is either too small, too streaky, or too allergic to defense to hang for 48 minutes.
Minnesota exposed that on Sunday. Gobert, Randle, and Naz Reid all made life miserable for Sabonis. It was like watching a man get stuck in the world’s worst group hug. Edwards, McDaniels, and Jaylen Clark hounded Sacramento’s guards until they were basically out of ideas.
So, yeah, the Kings can get hot, and sure, Zach LaVine or DeMar DeRozan can put up 30 on any given night, but when the Wolves are playing like this, Sacramento looks overmatched. They’ve got big names, but not big substance.
Keys to the Game
1. Defend Like It’s Personal
The Wolves’ identity starts here. Keep the rotations crisp, let Gobert erase anything near the rim, and trust McDaniels to ruin someone’s evening. When Minnesota’s defense hums, it fuels everything — transition, confidence, swagger. Tomorrow night’s Cup game doesn’t need to be a shoot out. It shouldn’t be. The best way to build that point differential is to prevent the Kings from scoring points. Lock them down.
2. Attack the Rim
Sabonis is no Gobert. And Sacramento’s lack of size should have Edwards and Randle licking their chops. Attack, draw fouls, collapse the defense, and let Jaden or DiVincenzo spot up for open looks. The Wolves’ offense stagnates when they start standing around and playing isolation ball. They need forward momentum, and they need to use it to set up the rest of their offense.
3. Keep the Ball Flying
Here’s a stat: Minnesota is shooting 40.6% from three as a team. Edwards, McDaniels, and Conley are all at or over 50% from beyond the arc. That’s sustainable if, and only if, they keep the ball moving. The moment this group starts pounding the air out of it, the offense dies. But when they whip it around, they can punish their opponents from deep and look as good as any team in the league.
4. Step on Their Throats
The NBA Cup has a point-differential tiebreaker, which means it’s not just about winning. It’s about how much you win by. Minnesota built up a massive +40 against Utah. They need to do the same here. This is the time to be ruthless. No easing off, no empty fourth-quarter possessions. If you can go up 25, go up 35. Finch will have to balance rest and rhythm, with Saturday’s showdown with Denver looming, but the Wolves need to remain in attack mode.
The Bigger Picture
Let’s be real, the words “Timberwolves” and “stable” have never been uttered in the same sentence. After a rocky 4-4 start that trend appeared to continue. But somehow, suddenly, this team looks organized, hungry, and confident. You can certainly credit some of it to their weak opponents, but you also can’t ignore the newfound maturity that we’re seeing.
If the Wolves win Friday, they’ll move to 8–4, sitting comfortably in the top tier of the West. Sure, the easy stretch ends abruptly with Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets looming Saturday night, but if Minnesota handles business against Sacramento, they’ll be playing with house money heading into that one.
So yeah, this Cup game matters. It’s not a Finals, it’s not even a playoff series, but it’s a culture test. A prove it game. The kind of night where teams either show they’ve grown up, or revert to their old ways.
The Wolves have been the league’s ultimate “two steps forward, one step backward” franchise for years now. But if they walk into Target Center on Friday, play defense like adults, and stomp Sacramento like they should, it might be time to admit this version of the Timberwolves is starting to figure it out.
