Kings, T-wolves finish out the string in Sacramento

(SportsNetwork.com) - A pair of Western Conference bottom feeders will try to stop losing streaks Tuesday, as the Sacramento Kings play host to the Minnesota Timberwolves at Sleep Train Arena.

The Kings have dropped five in a row and the Timberwolves are mired in a six- game slide.

Sacramento hopes to wrap up a three-game homestand on a positive note and dropped a 101-95 decision versus the Utah Jazz Easter Sunday. DeMarcus Cousins once again double-doubled his way to 26 points and 12 rebounds, but had eight of the Kings' 20 turnovers. Utah scored 25 points off the miscues.

Utah's lead was trimmed to 83-82, but the Jazz went on a 14-2 run for a 97-84 cushion with less than four minutes to go.

"We just had a bad stretch defensively," Sacramento coach George Karl told NBA.com. "Utah's not a great offensive team, but we gave them enough possessions that they scored 100 points. They did because our defense had its flaws, but more importantly, our offense created bad defense."

Karl is 8-16 since taking over during All-Star weekend.

Ben McLemore and Omri Casspi scored 20 and 14 points, respectively, for the Kings, who are 16-23 at home and have lost 13 of the last 18 games. Rudy Gay missed his third straight game with a concussion and is listed as day-to-day. Gay is averaging 20.9 points this season.

Cousins, who had posted back-to-back triple-doubles, has recorded six straight double-doubles and owns 47 on the season.

The Kings will start a three-game road trip Wednesday against Utah, Oklahoma City and Denver.

Minnesota is trying to gather the most ping-pong ball in the upcoming NBA lottery and sustained a 97-84 setback to the Orlando Magic on Friday.

Andrew Wiggins was one of six players in double figures with 22 points, while Justin Hamilton scored 14 points and the trio of Kevin Martin, Chase Budinger and Adreian Payne posted 12 apiece. Zach LaVine had 10 points in defeat.

Magic center Nikola Vucevic had a career-high 37 points to go with 17 rebounds. Orlando held a commanding 53-30 rebounding and 46-34 points in the paint advantage.

"Vucevic is a good player," Wolves coach Flip Saunders said. "He's got nice touch shooting the ball."

The T-wolves have lost 17 of their last 20 games and will begin the final road trip of the season along the west coast Tuesday against Sacramento, Portland, LA Lakers and Golden State. Minnesota is 7-30 away from home.

Minnesota is 0-2 against Sacramento this season with both losses coming at Target Center. The Kings have won three straight and five of the last seven meetings with the Wolves.