Minnesota Timberwolves – Sacramento Kings · NBA

Win probability changed during the game. · 21 April 2021

MIN125–128SAC

Is it worth watching?

Recommended

It was more exciting than 74% of NBA games since 2017

· The win probability swung between the two teams 16 times

It measures how much the win probability moved during the game —without looking at who won or at the score— and compares it with the 10,950 NBA games with a curve since 2017. “Highly recommended” is the most intense 20%, “recommended” runs from 50% to 80%, and “skippable” is the rest. Source: ESPN.

↑ SAC winsMIN wins ↓

Home team's win probability across the game (source: ESPN). The band rises when SAC leads and falls when MIN does.

This is how the game was decided.

De'Aaron Fox decided it, the Sacramento Kings player with the most points (30, with 5 rebounds and 7 assists; +13 with him on the floor). The criterion: the winner's points in the box score; plus-minus says who was on the floor when the game opened up.

The game-winner in Sacramento Kings 128-125 Minnesota Timberwolves (April 21, 2021) was hit by Buddy Hield: a three-pointer with 8.8 s left in the fourth quarter, putting the Sacramento Kings up 126-125. They never trailed again.

The biggest run of Sacramento Kings 128-125 Minnesota Timberwolves (April 21, 2021) was a 12-0 run by the Sacramento Kings in the fourth quarter (from 5:20 to 2:41), from 105-115 to 117-115. The Minnesota Timberwolves' best was a 9-0 run in the second quarter (from 9:56 to 6:47), from 38-49 to 47-49.

▸See where these figures come from

Play: Buddy Hield makes 25-foot three point jumper (Harrison Barnes assists).

I count as the game-winner the basket that puts the winning team ahead for good. Source: the official NBA play-by-play (since 2002-03) and each team's official box scores.

A run here is consecutive points by one team without the opponent scoring. Source: the official NBA play-by-play (since 2002-03) and each team's official box scores.

Source: the game's official box score and play-by-play.

Buddy Hield decided this game: his points put his team ahead with 8.8 seconds left in the fourth quarter, and the opponent never led again.

It is one of the 3 games he has decided this way in the NBA since the 2002-03 season.

His profile shows the games Hield decided

▸See where these figures come from

A game is decided by the last basket that puts a team ahead in the final ten seconds of the fourth quarter or of an overtime, if that team wins.

21 April 2021 · The source is the ESPN play-by-play, play espn:401307690:620; the date is the one on the NBA box score.

Rotations · who was on the floor

Closing lineup · MIN

Towns · McDaniels · Rubio · Russell · Hernangomez

Closing lineup · SAC

Fox · Barnes · Harkless · Haliburton · Jones

Q1Q2Q3Q4

MIN

Karl-Anthony Towns

33′ · -21

Jaden McDaniels

32′ · -21

Ricky Rubio

29′ · -5

Anthony Edwards

28′ · -3

Josh Okogie

24′ · +7

D'Angelo Russell

29′ · -6

Juancho Hernangomez

19′ · +12

Jarred Vanderbilt

16′ · +14

Jordan McLaughlin

6′ · +1

Naz Reid

24′ · +7

SAC

De'Aaron Fox

39′ · +13

Harrison Barnes

38′ · +5

Buddy Hield

38′ · +13

Maurice Harkless

26′ · +6

Hassan Whiteside

13′ · +1

Tyrese Haliburton

29′ · -1

Chimezie Metu

13′ · -5

Delon Wright

15′ · -12

Terence Davis

7′ · -12

Damian Jones

22′ · +7

Each bar is a stint on the floor (source: NBA). The number is minutes played and the team's +/− with him on the court. MIN and SAC.

These lineups played the most minutes together.

Minnesota Timberwolves

Towns, Okogie, Edwards, McDaniels, and Rubio played 11.3 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 1 point.
Towns, Reid, Edwards, McDaniels, and Rubio played 4.8 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 6 points.
Russell, Hernangomez, Vanderbilt, McLaughlin, and Reid played 4.7 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 8 points.

Sacramento Kings

Hield, Fox, Whiteside, Barnes, and Harkless played 12.0 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 1 point.
Hield, Jones, Fox, Haliburton, and Barnes played 10.2 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 5 points.
Wright, Hield, Jones, Fox, and Harkless played 3.7 minutes together.
Their team tied that stretch.

▸See every lineup of the game

Minnesota Timberwolves

Russell, Hernangomez, Okogie, Vanderbilt, and Reid played 4.4 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 6 points.
Russell, Towns, Edwards, McDaniels, and Rubio played 3.9 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 7 points.
Russell, Hernangomez, Vanderbilt, Reid, and Rubio played 3.0 minutes together.
Their team tied that stretch.
Russell, Towns, Okogie, Reid, and McDaniels played 2.9 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 6 points.
Russell, Towns, Okogie, Edwards, and McDaniels played 2.6 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 5 points.
Russell, Towns, Okogie, McDaniels, and Rubio played 2.5 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 1 point.
Russell, Towns, Hernangomez, Edwards, and McDaniels played 2.3 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 4 points.
Hernangomez, Vanderbilt, Reid, Edwards, and Rubio played 2.1 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 7 points.
Russell, Towns, Hernangomez, Vanderbilt, and McLaughlin played 1.3 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 4 points.

Sacramento Kings

Hield, Metu, Davis, Haliburton, and Harkless played 3.6 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 6 points.
Wright, Fox, Metu, Haliburton, and Barnes played 3.4 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 1 point.
Wright, Metu, Davis, Haliburton, and Barnes played 3.2 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 6 points.
Wright, Jones, Fox, Haliburton, and Barnes played 3.1 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 5 points.
Hield, Jones, Fox, Barnes, and Harkless played 2.9 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 3 points.
Hield, Fox, Metu, Haliburton, and Harkless played 1.7 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 4 points.
Hield, Fox, Metu, Haliburton, and Barnes played 1.3 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 4 points.
Wright, Hield, Jones, Haliburton, and Barnes played 1.2 minutes together.
Their team tied that stretch.

▸See where these figures come from

The lineups come from the NBA's official rotation: who was on the floor and when. Each lineup's plus-minus is worked out from every player's stints and is only shown when they all add up with each other and with the final score.

Harrison Barnes covered 4.88 km, more than anyone in the game.

De'Aaron Fox touched the ball 93 times, a game high.
Chimezie Metu defended 7 shots at the rim, a game high, and opponents made 5.
Buddy Hield had 13 rebound chances, a game high.

▸See what was measured for each player

Minnesota Timberwolves

Player	km	km/h	Touches	Passes
Jaden McDaniels	4.05	7.0	34	29
Karl-Anthony Towns	3.80	6.4	70	45
Ricky Rubio	3.51	6.7	73	60
D'Angelo Russell	3.28	6.2	70	50
Anthony Edwards	3.14	6.3	41	23
Naz Reid	3.01	7.0	53	35
Josh Okogie	2.82	6.6	21	14
Juancho Hernangomez	2.65	7.6	25	14
Jarred Vanderbilt	2.27	7.6	18	15
Jordan McLaughlin	0.88	7.3	16	14

Sacramento Kings

Player	km	km/h	Touches	Passes
Harrison Barnes	4.88	7.0	70	48
De'Aaron Fox	4.70	6.6	93	60
Buddy Hield	4.31	6.3	66	47
Tyrese Haliburton	3.56	6.6	55	43
Maurice Harkless	2.99	6.5	20

The figures come from the NBA's optical tracking (NBA.com) for this game; speed is each player's average while on the floor.

Who stood out on defense during the season

These figures cover the whole 2020-21 regular season, not this game.

Minnesota Timberwolves

Karl-Anthony Towns contested 10.5 shots per game over his 50 games.
He ranks 14 of 364 in the league.
Ricky Rubio deflected 2.3 passes per game over his 68 games.
He ranks 38 of 364 in the league.
Naz Reid contested 7.9 shots per game over his 70 games.
He ranks 52 of 364 in the league.

Sacramento Kings

Delon Wright deflected 3.1 passes per game over his 61 games.
He ranks 11 of 364 in the league.
De'Aaron Fox deflected 2.8 passes per game over his 58 games.
He ranks 20 of 364 in the league.
Maurice Harkless deflected 2.3 passes per game over his 34 games.
He ranks 41 of 364 in the league.

Hustle figures come from the hustle stats the NBA publishes (NBA.com) and rim defense comes from its tracking; both cover the regular season. For each player in this game we show the figure that ranks him highest in the league, and for each team, the three best ranked. Ranks count players with at least 30 games and, at the rim, at least 4 defended shots per game.

The Sacramento Kings have won 68 of their 145 games against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

68-77record of the Sacramento Kings · NBA 1989-90 – 2025-26, regular season and playoffs

1-3in 2025-26

See the full head-to-head in the Analyst

See where it comes from

Official NBA box scores, regular season and playoffs, 1989-90 – 2025-26. It counts every game between the two teams that the house holds, this one included.

SportiveWorld knows much more about this game

Game context

Scoring

253

combined points

28.8 above the season average (224.2)

⚖️ The last two minutes

Official NBA L2M report: every call in the endgame, reviewed by the league.

20 calls reviewed0 no admitted errors