Sacramento @ Minnesota preview

Last Meeting ( Apr 1, 2017 ) Sacramento 123, Minnesota 117

The Minnesota Timberwolves are capable of looking like a contender one night and a lottery team the next, and consistency is coming slowly for the young squad. The Sacramento Kings, who visit the Timberwolves on Thursday, are earlier on the rebuilding curve and don't have much to lose as they try to get their younger players more experience.

Minnesota was outscored 41-26 over the final 11 minutes of the game while dropping a 118-112 decision in overtime at home against the similarly young and talented Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday. The Timberwolves were coming off back-to-back wins for the first time in over three weeks and were on the verge of a three-game streak heading into a stretch of favorable opponents at home before coming apart late on Tuesday. The Kings are showing similar inconsistency and sandwiched a pair of wins around a 102-87 home loss to Toronto in their last three games. Sacramento, which is embarking on a four-game road trip, won three of its last five away games and hits the road with some momentum after holding the Phoenix Suns to 41.1 percent from the floor in a 99-92 victory on Tuesday.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, NBCS California (Sacramento), FS North (Minnesota)

ABOUT THE KINGS (9-18): De'Aaron Fox, Buddy Hield, Willie Cauley-Stein and Skal Labissiere might be the future for Sacramento, but the present still belongs to veterans like Zach Randolph and George Hill. Randolph, 36, leads the Kings in scoring (15.2 points) and is averaging 22.7 points on 59.4 percent shooting in six games this month, including a 35-point, 13-rebound effort in a 116-109 overtime win at New Orleans on Friday. Hill got off to a slower start and is averaging 9.3 points - the lowest mark since his 2008-09 rookie season - but broke out for 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting in Tuesday's victory.

ABOUT THE TIMBERWOLVES (16-12): Karl-Anthony Towns delivered 19 points, 16 rebounds, four steals and three blocks on Tuesday but was called for a foul in the final seconds of regulation that allowed the 76ers to make the tying free throws, and he took the setback hard. "I should have made the play I needed to make," Towns told reporters. "I failed my team tonight. Things like that happen. I've got to look in the mirror and I have to be better next game. It's not good for me not to come through for my teammates." Veteran swingman Jimmy Butler, who scored 38 points in the loss while logging 46 minutes - the sixth straight game in which he played at least 40 minutes - was brought in to serve as a leader on the young team and refused to let Towns shoulder all the blame after the contest, telling reporters, "It's about this team and us as a unit."

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Timberwolves SF Andrew Wiggins is 2-of-20 from 3-point range over the last five games.

2. Cauley-Stein (back) returned from a three-game absence on Tuesday and collected 13 points and six rebounds in 30 minutes off the bench.

3. Sacramento took three of the four meetings last season, including wins in both of its trips to Minnesota.

PREDICTION: Timberwolves 105, Kings 99