The Kings upset the Timberwolves 124-120 in the West, Fox was out with a left knee contusion, and the Kings have been in poor form recently. Theoretically, this pair of Timberwolves is a welfare bureau, and nine out of ten are sure. But the NBA is like this, the more optimistic you are, the more upsets you have. The amazing performance of the Kings in this game, the Kings were full of firepower and enthusiasm in the first quarter, Sabonis was unstoppable on the inside, and the Timberwolves had a bad hand, and the Kings led by 8 points in the first quarter.
In the second quarter, the Timberwolves tried to fight back, Reed and Conley were **, McDaniels was hot, Towns and Gobert teamed up to attack, and despite Edwards' slump, the Timberwolves counterattacked fiercely. It's just that the Kings wonder man Mitchell suddenly broke out, he scored 12 points in a single quarter, and the Timberwolves couldn't turn the game around, and they still trailed by 1 point at halftime. Monk started to work in the second half, and he was a point that the Timberwolves couldn't solve on the second lineup, and the Kings eventually led by nine points after three quarters.
The Timberwolves did show the resilience of the No. 1 in the West in the final quarter, and they went on an 11-2 run to tie the game. The king could only rely on Munch, and his continuous attacks and goals were like ghosts descending. The two teams managed to drag it into overtime, and Monk became the Grim Reaper again, hitting various three-pointers in overtime, and the Kings successfully established an advantage. At the critical moment of life and death, McDaniels missed a three-pointer, and the Timberwolves surrendered. On the Timberwolves side of the game, McDaniels did his best with 26 points, Towns scored 19 points on 7-of-17 to be honest, Reid scored 18 points, Gobert scored 16 points, 16 rebounds and 3 blocks in regular operations, Conley scored 14 points and 8 assists, and Huazi scored 11 points on 2-of-11.
For the Kings, Monk shot 16-of-29 from the field in 33 minutes and 5-of-8 from three-point range, and went crazy to score 39 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists, Sabonis dominated the interior with 21 points, 15 rebounds, 8 assists and 3 blocks, Keegan Murray 17 points, Mitchell 16 points, Barnes 14 points, and Huerter 8 points. After this upset, Monk successfully changed the situation in the west. Originally, the Timberwolves had already opened a position ahead of the Thunder, and now the Thunder are also 05 wins.
At the same time, the Thunder and Timberwolves lost one after another, the Nuggets soared, the Clippers also successfully stopped the bleeding, and the competition for the top four in the West began to intensify. Basically, the top four are the Clippers, Timberwolves, Nuggets and Thunder, and the rankings are determined, and it is difficult for other teams to intervene. The Suns, who are currently closest to the top four in the West, are also 35 wins. You really didn't expect Monk to play such a terrifying output after leaving the Lakers.
Sometimes it can only be said that the Lakers are quite outrageous, and the three guards they let go are much better than the Vincent they have recruited. Vincent has been recovering from an injury since he joined, and then Schifino, who was selected in the first round last year, was out of action again. Then look at Munch, Pope and Caruso are all fierce generals. Monk's contract with the King is $19 million for two years. But this season, Monk played All-Star numbers, averaging 15 minutes per game in just 26 minutes4 points 28 plates 55 assists on 45 shooting8%, 376%。In fact, Monk played well when he was with the Lakers, and in the 2021-22 season, Monk averaged 138 points 34 rebounds 29 assists with a true shooting percentage of 597%, very strong key ball ability.
True shooting percentage is a key statistic, but any guard who can achieve a true shooting percentage of 60% can be a huge help to a team. Then look at Pope, who the Lakers sent away, who is currently averaging 10 per gameTwo points are still a key player in the integration of offense and defense. Caruso, not to mention, the Lakers' version of Ginobili, which integrates offense and defense. Now the Lakers guards are actually flawed, and the effect of the recently introduced Dinwiddie is really average, if the Lakers now replace Dinwiddie and Vincent with Monk, this bench firepower will be greatly enhanced. Now the Lakers are actually okay on the front line and inside, but the backcourt is almost meaningless.