Kings 101, Timberwolves 98: Tyreke Evans scored 11 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter to lift host Sacramento past Minnesota.

Isaiah Thomas scored 24 points and DeMarcus Cousins added 15 and 14 rebounds as the Kings avenged two early-season losses to the Timberwolves and improved to 4-1 in their last five home games.

Nikola Pekovic had 18 points and 12 rebounds and Ricky Rubio contributed 12 points, nine assists and seven boards for Minnesota, which tumbled to its ninth consecutive road loss.

The Timberwolves led by as many as nine points in the third quarter before Sacramento ripped off a 17-6 spurt en route to taking a 79-77 lead after three quarters.

Evans helped the Kings pull away, scoring nine points in a 13-2 burst to make it a 10-point edge with 5 1/2 minutes to play. Rubio scored eight straight points to cut the deficit to 99-97 with 1:36 left, but Evans scored with 41 seconds left for a 101-97 lead and Sacramento survived a missed 3-point attempt by Dante Cunningham at the buzzer.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Timberwolves F Chase Budinger had nine points and four rebounds in 17 1/2 minutes in his first action since tearing his left meniscus on Nov. 10. ... John Salmons scored 13 points and Patrick Patterson 11 as the Kings reached 100 points for the 17th time in 19 games. ... Cunningham had 12 points and J.J. Barea scored 11 as Minnesota's reserves combined for 46 points.