Vivek Ranadive’s face said it all as the Timberwolves crushed them at home

This The Sacramento Kings are on a one-way trip to the bottom in the NBA standings if this continues. On Sunday, the Kings were laughed out of their park by the surging Minnesota Timberwolves, 144-117, and there seems to be no end in sight to this madness in Sacramento.

The Kings made some changes to their starting lineup, like launching Precious Achiuva instead of Russell Westbrook, but that move probably won’t solve their defensive problems at all, and at this point it might be the best decision for this team to simply cut their turnovers and tank on purpose.

Even the majority owner of the franchise, Vivek Ranadiv, made an appearance he wanted to to gouge his eyes out watching the Kings crumble against the Timberwolves at the Golden 1 Center on Sunday.

It’s pretty baffling that the Kings would bench one of their more productive players in recent games to bring in Achiuva just so they could, at least on paper, better match up against the Timberwolves’ big frontcourt.

But this line-up bled points anyway, and they didn’t make up for it at the other end of the pitch. The Kings rank 27th in defensive rating, and until they learn how to get stops on a more consistent basis, they will continue to lose like they are right now.

Kings players in bad defense after knocking down the Timberwolves

The Kings simply have a bad defensive staff and it’s hard to put up an average defense when most of the team’s top players are below average on that side of the floor. Their best perimeter defender, Keon Ellis, is stuck on the bench. Westbrook was benched. Nikue Clifford is just starting to get permanent burns. And this led to some very bad results.

“We couldn’t stop the ball. The other teams look really easy. The defense is spread out,” Zach LaVine said, via James Ham of The Kings Beat. “We play a lot in transition. We don’t do much offensively, which puts us in some bad defensive positions. It’s easier to play with a set defense.”

Zach LaVine on Kings effort and defense after 144-117 drubbing by Timberwolves. pic.twitter.com/cB0rIZkubv

— James Ham (@James_HamNBA) November 10, 2025