Sacramento Kings defeat Minnesota Timberwolves, 117-116

NBA Commissioner David Stern last week introduced the 'C' word -- contraction -- into labor negotiations with the players' union.

Before Wednesday's season opener, Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor said his team's fans need not worry about something that probably is negotiating posture and concept for now.

"I can say that Minnesota is not one of the teams that would be contracted, nor do we expect that in the future," Taylor said, sounding somewhat surprised at the ques...

Timberwolves coach Kurt Rambis needed only one game to prove his point about how this team is different from last season's.

This team, he contends, has enough talent to allow him to call upon whoever is playing best any night, a premise he illustrated down the stretch in Wednesday's season-opening, 117-116 loss to Sacramento at Target Center.

On opening night against a Kings team missing suspended star Tyreke Evans, that meant that Kevin Love sat for the final eight-...