Minnesota @ Sacramento preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 25, 2019 ) Sacramento 105, Minnesota 112

A pair of teams desperate for a victory meet Thursday in Sacramento as the Kings host the Minnesota Timberwolves. Sacramento followed up a 4-1 stretch with four straight losses, a streak that continued with Monday's 113-104 loss to Houston in the opener of a three-game homestand.

De'Aaron Fox scored a career high-tying 31 points on 13-of-21 shooting for the Kings, who hurt themselves with 19 turnovers and 7-of-30 shooting from 3-point range. "We didn't do the little things well enough tonight to win the game," coach Luke Walton told reporters after his team fell to 6-6 at home. The Timberwolves' slide is a much more severe one, as 11 straight defeats have pushed the squad toward the basement in the Western Conference. A low point came Monday with a 113-104 setback against a seven-win Golden State squad while star center Karl-Anthony Towns (knee) missed his fourth straight game.

TV: 10 p.m. ET, FS North (Minnesota), NBCS California (Sacramento)

ABOUT THE TIMBERWOLVES (10-19): Andrew Wiggins is trying to make up for Towns' absence and is averaging 25.3 points with the big man out, attempting 27 of the team's 88 shots in the loss to the Warriors. "We just need a perfect game," he told reporters of the funk. "That's it ... you win one game, end that little streak, and I feel the door will be open for us." Point guard Jordan McLaughlin returned from the G League to make an impact in Monday's loss with a personal-best 19 points in 22 minutes off the bench.

ABOUT THE KINGS (12-18): Shooting guard Buddy Hield scored 10 points - less than half his team-leading average - and sat out the entire fourth quarter in Monday's defeat as he endures a shooting slump. "I played the guys that had it going," Walton told the media of the decision to sit Hield down the stretch. "It wasn't a punishment at all. It was more, 'Look, we're a team and we're trying to win out here and if these guys are going well, well then we keep rolling with them.'" Hield is 9-for-45 from the floor while averaging 8.3 points over his last three games.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Minnesota's starting guards at Golden State - Josh Okogie and Jarrett Culver - combined for two points while missing all nine of their shots.

2. Kings SG Bogdan Bogdanovic (ankle) has missed three straight games and is day-to-day.

3. The teams split four meetings last season with the home team winning each time.

PREDICTION: Kings 114, Timberwolves 107