
After a slightly unusual three-day layoff, the Timberwolves will be back in action for their second NBA Cup group stage game on Friday night at Target Center (which means the return of their comically-bright green court). Not only will the Wolves look to stay atop their group in the in-season tournament, they'll also attempt to snap a peculiar streak against a Western Conference foe.
The opponent on Friday is the Kings, who the Wolves just beat 144-117 last Sunday in Sacramento. That continued a very strange 11-game winning streak for the road team in the series between these two franchises. The Timberwolves have now won six straight games in Sacramento. Meanwhile, the Kings have won five straight contests in Minneapolis.
The last time a home team won a game in the series was a Wolves victory at Target Center on Jan. 28, 2023. Kyle Anderson, Austin Rivers, and Jaylen Nowell were among Minnesota's top seven rotation players in that game.
These are the 11 results since then:
Without looking it up (since that would probably prove difficult), 11 straight road wins in any NBA series has to be very rare, if not entirely unprecedented.
The good news for Wolves fans is that this looks like a prime opportunity for Chris Finch's team to end the streak. The Timberwolves are 7-4, having beaten up on bad teams for five wins in their last six games. Led by their big three, their offense is humming. And with Rudy Gobert and Jaden McDaniels on the floor, the defense figures to improve over time.
Meanwhile, the Kings are 3-9 and are 26th in the NBA in net rating. They've been blown out in four consecutive games by an average of over 26 points. Sacramento had a good team in a couple recent seasons, but their outlook has fallen apart. Gone is De'Aaron Fox, who regularly gave the Wolves problems. Zach LaVine, Domantas Sabonis, and DeMar DeRozan lead a roster that doesn't make much sense, especially with Russell Westbrook and Dennis Schroder thrown into the mix.
Sabonis and frequent Wolves killer Malik Monk are both listed as questionable for Friday night's game. Keegan Murray, one of the Kings' most important players, remains out. With everything considered, the Timberwolves are favored by 12.5 points in this game, which means it would be relatively surprising if the road teams wins a 12th consecutive matchup in this series. With that said, Minnesota can't get caught looking ahead to a marquee game against Denver on Saturday in the second leg of a back-to-back.
It's a 7:00 p.m. CT game on FanDuel Sports Network North tonight.
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