SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Omri Casspi scored 16 of his career-high 31 points in the third quarter and the Sacramento Kings overcame a sluggish start to beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 116-111 on Tuesday night.
The Kings gave up 31 points in the first quarter and were misfiring offensively until Casspi and Rudy Gay got going to help Sacramento end its five-game losing streak.
Sim Bhullar, Sacramento's 7-foot-5 center, made history when he checked in for the final 16.1 seconds, becoming the first player of Indian descent to play in an NBA game.
Casspi went 12 of 20 from the floor and made four 3-pointers, three in the pivotal third quarter. Gay had 33 points, seven rebounds and five assists in his first game back after suffering a concussion last week.
Former Timberwolf Derrick Williams added 18 points off the bench and made a 19-foot jumper with 3:25 remaining after Minnesota had trimmed a 19-point deficit to 106-100.
Kevin Martin matched his season high of 37 points and had eight assists for the Timberwolves.
Sacramento won despite being without leading scorer and rebounder DeMarcus Cousins. The 6-foot-11 center sat out with a sore right foot.
It didn't matter much.
After giving up 31 points in the first 12 minutes, Sacramento's defense held Minnesota to just 43 points over the next two quarters on the way to completing a season sweep of the Timberwolves.
Ray McCallum scored 13 points and Andre Miller added four points and eight assists for the Kings.
Zach LaVine had 21 points and 11 assists for Minnesota.
The Kings trailed by eight at the end of the first quarter. Gay turned things around quickly for Sacramento with 10 points as part of a 17-4 run in the first 5 1/2 minutes of the second period that put the Kings up 40-35.
Reggie Evans later capped a fast break with an emphatic one-handed dunk, and Gay added a free throw to make it 54-49 at halftime.
Also of note, Minnesota's Nikola Pekovic will undergo surgery Wednesday on his right Achilles tendon.
Up next, Minnesota will visit Portland late Wednesday night.
