Kings 106, Timberwolves 103

[April 14, 2014]  SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Kings 106, Timberwolves 103: DeMarcus Cousins finished with 35 points and 15 rebounds as host Sacramento snapped a five-game slide.

Ben McLemore scored 11 of his 19 points in the third quarter and Isaiah Thomas had 14 points in his return to the lineup after missing 10 games with a quadriceps injury. Derrick Williams chipped in 13 points and Ray McCallum had seven of his 11 in the fourth quarter for the Kings, who finish the regular season Wednesday at home against Phoenix.

Kevin Love, who missed his last game with an elbow injury, scored 43 points to pace Minnesota, which fell to 40-40. Gorgui Dieng had 21 points and 14 rebounds while the backcourt of Ricky Rubio and Kevin Martin combined for two points on 0-of-12 shooting.

The lead exchanged hands several times early in the fourth, with Cousins putting Sacramento ahead with a dunk with 8:20 left and McCallum following with five straight points to make it 88-82. It was a seven-point bulge with just over a minute left when Cousins was whistled for a technical that helped Minnesota put together a 5-0 burst, but his slam with 24.2 seconds left made it 102-98 and McLemore and Cousins both hit two free throws to seal it.

Dieng had 14 points and eight boards at the half as Minnesota earned a 52-47 lead after trailing by as many as 11 points early on. McLemore scored seven straight Kings points to give the hosts a one-point lead late in the third before Love's jumper in the closing seconds put the Timberwolves on top 76-75 entering the final 12 minutes.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Timberwolves F Corey Brewer followed up a career-high 51-point performance against Houston on Friday with 10 points on 2-of-8 shooting. ... Martin had missed his previous five games due to a sore right foot while Sacramento was without F Rudy Gay (back). ... Cousins' technical foul was his 16th of the season, which merits a one-game suspension and would end his season with one game to play.

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