MINNEAPOLIS — Saturday's game at Target Center offered the Timberwolves two opportunities:
— To see how they stacked up against a quality opponent in the first of two consecutive games against Sacramento, third in the Western Conference, and;
— A forum on two All-Star hopefuls in Anthony Edwards and the Kings' De'Aaron Fox.
The verdict: A two-fer for the Wolves in front of an announced sellout crowd of 17,136.
Minnesota used a 13-2 third-quarter run to take the lead for good, then beat back every Kings challenge in a 117-110 victory over Sacramento. The All-Star duel? Give the edge to Edwards — who scored 10 of those 13 points during that run and outscored Fox 34-29, though Fox closed hard down the stretch with 21 of his points in the fourth quarter.
Edwards was one of a group of Wolves who carried the team at different points. D'Angelo Russell scored 25 points, going a perfect 7 for 7 on 3-pointers in the first half. Naz Reid scored 14 off the bench. Jaden McDaniels had 15 points and eight rebounds. Rudy Gobert scored 13 points with 14 rebounds.
Domantas Sabonis had 23 points and 10 rebounds for the Kings.
The Wolves trailed by three early in the third quarter when Edwards scored 10 points in a 13-2 run. In all, the Wolves outscored the Kings 31-19 over the final 10:20 of the third quarter to take a 90-81 lead into the fourth.
And then the Wolves hung on. The Kings got within five twice, the first time with just over 6 minutes left, the second time with 4:27 left. With 37.9 seconds left Fox's dunk made it a four-point game. But Edwards followed with a crowd-rousing 3-pointer.
The Wolves (27-25) won their third game in a row and earned their fifth victory in six games. Sacramento (27-21) lost its second straight.
