The Sacramento Kings were able to smoke the Boston Celtics on Friday after two abysmal games against bad teams. Yeah, I don't know either. But if the Kings are awful against bad teams and incredible against good teams, how will they do against the average Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday?

Minnesota comes in at 22-23, one of the surprise teams of the season but appearing to be just short of a playoff berth. The loss of Ricky Rubio last week doesn't at all help: the Wolves had good guards with La Pistola and Luke Ridnour, and now the team's down to one. That's why Minnesota attempted to land Jamal Crawford from the Blazers at the deadline; that deal fell apart because the Wolves reportedly didn't want to take on one of the Lakers' dumb salaries in exchange for Michael Beasley.

But what the Wolves lack in the backcourt, they more than make up for up front. Kevin Love is a player we all know well. Nikola Pekovic has been a revelation over the last two months, and Derrick Williams is playing well. Beasley isn't as bad as he often appears to be -- he can burn a bad defense, and we know empirically that the Kings have a bad defense.

The Kings' offense has been just brilliant in the last two games, and you hope that can continue against an average defense that Minnesota brings. DeMarcus Cousins will have a challenge getting by or through Pek, but the guards should see lots of open court and open space. Let's hope they can deliver.

The game's an early one: a 3 p.m. Pacific start. We have game threads ready for 3 and 4:30. Let's go Kings!