Minnesota Timberwolves over Sacramento Kings Despite Kevin Love Suspension

Despite the absence of Kevin Love, missing two games due to suspension, the Minnesota Timberwolves defeated Sacramento in a close, 86-84 game. Nikola Pekovich led the Wolves with 23 points, and Marcus Thornton tallied 22 points for the Kings.

Rookie Derrick Williams earned the privilege to start in place of Love, and he definitely proved himself to the fans at Target Center.

Williams grabbed eight rebounds and 14 points on the night, and he drained a three-point bucket with 56 seconds remaining in the game to make the Wolves "W" happen. Ricky Rubio added a free throw after Williams' three, and the team staved off a last-second attempt by Thornton to win the game.

Prior to the game, the question of the day was unanimous: how will the Timberwolves fare without their All-Star?

Although admittedly missing the big man's presence, Minnesota's players took on the challenge. The team is gaining momentum this season—the increased level of confidence is unmistakable.

“You’ve just got to come in and play hard, and everyone’s just got to do a little bit more,” guard Luke Ridnour said. “But we’ve got a lot of guys who have been playing well this year waiting to play so we’ve got to step in and do it as a team.”

Forward Anthony Tolliver added, "each of us have to pick up and get at least 2-3 more rebounds.”

That's exactly what the Wolves did.

The team cleaned the board 49 times without their top rebounder—in addition to Williams' eight, Michael Beasley came off the bench to add 14 rebounds and 17 points and Pekovich tallied an impressive 10 rebounds in addition to his 23 points.

Pekovich has gained a steady fan base and continue to improve with every game, already taking over Darko Milicic's starting slot. The second-year center even nabbed three steals for the night.

"He's going to want to be a point guard now," coach Rick Adelman commented. "All those big guys want to handle the ball."

Rubio scored only six points, but he dished out an incredible 14 assists to aid in the Wolves run.

Both teams shot below 50 percent from the field, but Minnesota had 44 points in the paint to Sacramento's 36.

Williams' defensive play didn't quite measure up to Adelman's standard, and he benched the rookie for a large chunk of the fourth quarter. However, his spark of energy and shot from downtown sealed the deal for Minnesota.

“I just told them it’s not always going to be perfect; it’s not always going to be something we look at and say, ‘That was great,’” Adelman said. “We had some terrible stretches in the game, but the important thing is we didn’t give in.”

Tuesday's home win increased the Wolves record to 13-12, the first time the team has been above .500 this season. They will face off against the Grizzlies in Memphis tonight. Love did not travel with the team. He will return to the floor on Friday when Minnesota welcomes Dallas to the Target Center.