Timberwolves looking to snap bizarre streak against Kings on Friday

For whatever strange reason, no home team has a won a game between Minnesota and Sacramento in almost three years.

Nov 9, 2025; Sacramento, California, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (5) dribbles the ball against Sacramento Kings forward Domantas Sabonis (11) during the third quarter at Golden 1 Center. | Justine Willard-Imagn Images

After a slightly unusual three-day layoff, the Timberwolves will be back in action for their second NBA Cup group stage game on Friday night at Target Center (which means the return of their comically-bright green court). Not only will the Wolves look to stay atop their group in the in-season tournament, they'll also attempt to snap a peculiar streak against a Western Conference foe.

The opponent on Friday is the Kings, who the Wolves just beat 144-117 last Sunday in Sacramento. That continued a very strange 11-game winning streak for the road team in the series between these two franchises. The Timberwolves have now won six straight games in Sacramento. Meanwhile, the Kings have won five straight contests in Minneapolis.

The last time a home team won a game in the series was a Wolves victory at Target Center on Jan. 28, 2023. Kyle Anderson, Austin Rivers, and Jaylen Nowell were among Minnesota's top seven rotation players in that game.

These are the 11 results since then:

• 1/30/23 at MIN: Kings 118, Timberwolves 111 in OT
• 3/4/23 at SAC: Timberwolves 138, Kings 134
• 3/27/23 at SAC: Timberwolves 119, Kings 115
• 11/24/23 at MIN: Kings 124, Timberwolves 111
• 12/23/23 at SAC: Timberwolves 110, Kings 98
• 3/1/24 at MIN: Kings 124, Timberwolves 120 in OT
• 10/24/24 at SAC: Timberwolves 117, Kings 115
• 11/15/24 at SAC: Timberwolves 130, Kings 126 in OT (despite 60 from De'Aaron Fox)
• 11/27/24 at MIN: Kings 115, Timberwolves 104
• 2/3/25 at MIN: Kings 116, Timberwolves 114
• 11/9/25 at SAC: Timberwolves 144, Kings 117

Without looking it up (since that would probably prove difficult), 11 straight road wins in any NBA series has to be very rare, if not entirely unprecedented.

The good news for Wolves fans is that this looks like a prime opportunity for Chris Finch's team to end the streak. The Timberwolves are 7-4, having beaten up on bad teams for five wins in their last six games. Led by their big three, their offense is humming. And with Rudy Gobert and Jaden McDaniels on the floor, the defense figures to improve over time.

Justine Willard-Imagn Images

Meanwhile, the Kings are 3-9 and are 26th in the NBA in net rating. They've been blown out in four consecutive games by an average of over 26 points. Sacramento had a good team in a couple recent seasons, but their outlook has fallen apart. Gone is De'Aaron Fox, who regularly gave the Wolves problems. Zach LaVine, Domantas Sabonis, and DeMar DeRozan lead a roster that doesn't make much sense, especially with Russell Westbrook and Dennis Schroder thrown into the mix.

Sabonis and frequent Wolves killer Malik Monk are both listed as questionable for Friday night's game. Keegan Murray, one of the Kings' most important players, remains out. With everything considered, the Timberwolves are favored by 12.5 points in this game, which means it would be relatively surprising if the road teams wins a 12th consecutive matchup in this series. With that said, Minnesota can't get caught looking ahead to a marquee game against Denver on Saturday in the second leg of a back-to-back.

It's a 7:00 p.m. CT game on FanDuel Sports Network North tonight.

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