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Posted Mar 01 2014 2:23AM It is shaping up to be a night of returns Saturday for the Sacramento Kings and the Minnesota Timberwolves. DeMarcus Cousins will be back from suspension for the Kings while the visiting Timberwolves could have Nikola Pekovic and former Sacramento first-round pick Kevin Martin available. Cousins will return after missing Friday's 126-122 road loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. He was suspended for punching Houston Rockets guard Patrick Beverley in the stomach in the first quarter of a 129-103 loss Tuesday and fined $20,000 as part of the incident in which he verbally abused official Courtney Kirkland and failed to leave the court in a timely manner. The power forward posted on Twitter following the game: "Disappointed with the way I acted out on the court tonight. I want to apologize and say sorry to my team and the fans for letting them down." Cousins leads the league with 15 technical fouls this season and will be suspended one game by the NBA if he gets another one. Minnesota (28-29), meanwhile, could see the returns of its second- and third-leading scorers in Martin and Pekovic, respectively. Martin averages 19.0 points and has missed the last seven games with a broken left thumb. Pekovic, averaging 18.0 points, has missed the last 13 with an injured right foot. Both were back at practice Thursday and could be back in action, with Pekovic a likely candidate to match up in defending Cousins. Martin spent nearly his first six seasons with the Kings. He has won all four games he has played as a visitor to Sleep Train Arena, where he scored 2,903 points with Sacramento to rank seventh all-time. While Cousins is tied for fifth in the league with 34 double-doubles, Minnesota's Kevin Love continues to lead in that category with 48. Love has averaged 34.3 points and 12.0 rebounds in his last six games since missing one with a bruised left quadriceps. Love just missed his second triple-double in three games Tuesday as he had 33 points, 13 boards and nine assists in a 110-101 win at Phoenix. "I think when we were up 10 they told me that if I can get an outlet here, you get your triple-double," Love said, "but at the point I just wanted to secure the rebound and get to the free throw line, get the lead up a little bit more so we wouldn't have to worry about much. Nine assists again, I have been there a few times." Love had 27 points and 11 rebounds the last time these teams met and Cousins had 20 and 11, but Rudy Gay's game-high 33 points may have proved decisive in Sacramento's 111-108 road win Jan. 15. That contest marked Derrick Williams' first game against the team that drafted him second overall in 2011. Williams, traded Nov. 26 to Sacramento (20-38) for Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, scored 16 points off the bench. Mbah a Moute will face the Kings for the first time since that trade. He's started five of nine games for Sacramento this season, totaling 40 points and 27 rebounds. Gay scored 32 points Friday and is averaging 29.7 in his last three games. His 20.9 average against the Wolves is his highest against any team.

Copyright 2014 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited Copyright 2014 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited

Martin, Love lead Wolves past Kings 108-97



Posted Mar 02 2014 2:01AM SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) Having played six seasons with the Kings, Kevin Martin is very comfortable at Sleep Train Arena in Sacramento. He showed it again Saturday night, scoring 26 points to help the Minnesota Timberwolves reach .500 with a 108-97 win over the Kings. Returning after missing Minnesota's last seven games with a broken left thumb, Martin fell into a groove from the start, making his first four shots and scoring 19 first-half points. "I feel like basketball is the easy part," said Martin, who is 5-0 in games at Sacramento since being traded to Houston in the 2009-10 season. "I remember getting hurt before and coming right back with good games, so this didn't surprise me." Martin was a late first-round draft pick who blossomed with the Kings. His first head coach was Rick Adelman, now Minnesota's coach. The time spent in Sacramento is something Martin savors. "I take pride in coming back here and trying to play well. Sacramento is like my second home," he said. "The fans here saw me grow from a guy who played 10 minutes a game as a rookie and is now a 10-year veteran." It was the second straight win and fifth in six games for the Timberwolves (29-29). Trailing by three points at the half, Minnesota outscored the Kings 31-17 in the third quarter, opening the frame with nine straight points and never relinquishing the lead. Kevin Love added 22 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists for Minnesota, and Nikola Pekovic had 20 points and nine rebounds. Corey Brewer scored 13. DeMarcus Cousins had 21 points and 17 rebounds for the Kings in his return from a one-game suspension. Rudy Gay had 22 of his 24 points in the opening half and Isaiah Thomas had 22 points and eight assists in Sacramento's third straight loss. The Kings committed 19 turnovers, including six in the third quarter that led to numerous fast-break opportunities for the Timberwolves. "For whatever reason we just continue to beat ourselves," Kings coach Michael Malone said. "Nineteen turnovers and 27 points? Good teams don't beat themselves. So it's very hard in the same game to beat your opponents and yourself and we did that tonight." It was a rare off night for Love, who averaged 34 points and 14 rebounds in seven February games. He shot 4 of 12, but converted 12 of 14 free throws. But Love received plenty of help from Martin and Pekovic, who sat out the last 13 with a right foot he injured Jan. 27 at Chicago. "It was way more than I expected," Pekovic said of his 28 minutes. "I was trying to be productive and had to push myself. I'm told the (ankle) pain will be there all the time." Cousins was suspended one game for punching Houston Rockets guard Patrick Beverley on Tuesday and fined $20,000 as part of the incident in which he verbally abused official Courtney Kirkland and failed to leave the court in a timely manner. Cousins leads the NBA with 15 technicals this season. One more and he will be suspended for one game under NBA rules. The Kings are winless in the 10 games Cousins has missed this season. "My biggest disappointment is the first quarter and the third quarter," Cousins said. "We let them get a hot start in the first quarter and the same thing with the third. Coming out of that third we had to dig ourselves out of ditch." Thomas made consecutive baskets to get the Kings within 97-95 with 2:09 remaining. But Pekovic converted two free throws and Rubio hit a 3 to give the Timberwolves some breathing room at 102-95 with 53.4 seconds left and Minnesota closed it out from the free throw line. NOTES: Kings reserve forward Carl Landry missed his second straight game with a sore right knee. ... Sacramento shot 70 percent in the first quarter and led 31-30. ... Adelman was head coach for eight seasons with the Kings and his teams made the playoffs every year. Sacramento hasn't made the playoffs since Adelman was fired following the 2005-06 season. ... The Timberwolves are 3-1 on their road trip, which concludes Monday in Denver.

Copyright 2014 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited Copyright 2014 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited

Notebook: Timberwolves 108, Kings 97

James Ham, for NBA.com

Posted Sun Mar 02, 2014 1:17 AM - Updated Sun Mar 02, 2014 1:17 AM THE FACT: With a win Friday in Sacramento, the Minnesota Timberwolves have won five of their last six games and clawed their way back to .500 on the season. THE LEAD: The Kings (20-39) made a late charge to pull to within two points, but the Timberwolves (29-29) received timely shooting and a solid defense to pull out the 108-97 victory in Sacramento. Kevin Martin torched his former team, scoring a game-high 26 points on 9-for-16 shooting in his first game back from injury. Kevin Love struggled with his shot, but still managed to drop in 22 points, grab 10 rebounds and hand out seven assists. Nikola Pekovic added 20 points and nine rebounds in the win for Minnesota. Rudy Gay scored a team-high 24 points on 8-for-14 shooting in the loss. DeMarcus Cousins returned from suspension to kick in a 21-point, 17-rebound double-double, while Isaiah Thomas finished with 22 points and eight assists. QUOTABLE: "Winning on the road has been great. This is our longest road trip on the year so to be 3-1 now feels good, but we still, have a chance to finish it out in Denver and we feel like we need to do that."

-- Kevin Love on getting to .500 THE STAT: Minnesota outscored Sacramento 31-14 in the third quarter. Sacramento made a late charge, but the damage was already done. TURNING POINT: With just under two minutes remaining, Gay missed an open court layup that would have tied the game at 95-95. Ricky Rubio nailed a 3 on the other end and the game was all but over. QUOTABLE II: "I think I probably should have gone up and tried to dunk it, that's what I really should have actually done."

-- Rudy Gay on his timely miss QUOTABLE III: "It was awesome. He stepped into the shot with a lot of confidence and he knocked it down. That was a huge shot for us."

-- Kevin Love on Rubio's dagger HOT: Martin smoked the Kings in the first quarter, scoring 14 of the Timberwolves' 30 points in the quarter on 6-for-7 shooting. NOT: After being signed earlier in the week, second-year wing Orlando Johnson had a miserable night from the field, finishing with two points on 1-for-8 shooting in 12 minutes. BAD MOVE: Sacramento went away from Gay in the second half and the Timberwolves made them pay. After scoring 22 points in the first half, Gay missed his only three shots in the second half. NOTABLE: Sacramento rookie Ray McCallum finished with a career-high nine points and tied his career high with five assists on the night. UP NEXT: For the Timberwolves, Monday @ Denver, Wednesday vs. New York, Friday vs. Detroit. For the Kings, Monday vs. New Orleans, Wednesday @ Milwaukee, Friday @ Toronto.