Timberwolves Wrap: Close, late loss to Pacers

The Timberwolves had a chance for their first four-game winning streak of the season, but a rough patch in the second half and shoddy officiating sealed the deal for the Pacers.

After winning six of their last eight games, including a pair of three-game win-streaks sandwiched around a couple of losses, the Timberwolves returned to Target Center with a chance to enjoy their first four-game winning streak of the season. Alas, the Indiana Pacers had other ideas.

The Pacers led by five points at the end of a first quarter that was exceedingly sloppy for both teams. At halftime, the visitors had a six-point advantage.

Neither team could hit shots with any regularity, and the Wolves especially struggled with a high rate of turnovers. Jeff Teague turned a sluggish start into a hot second quarter and torrid stretch throughout the middle stages of the game, and Paul George was fantastic throughout.

Karl-Anthony Towns was the only truly dominate force for the Timberwolves, although Zach LaVine easily had his best game since returning from a two-game absence due to injury, and Andrew Wiggins was solid overall.

Save for a strong stretch of energetic, transition-heavy play, the bench scuffled. Shabazz Muhammad only managed to tally eight points in 20 minutes and carried a team-worst -12 in the plus/minus column.

The Wolves cut Indiana’s lead to just a single point after an impressive three-point play from Towns, but a tough call on Andrew Wiggins set Tom Thibodeau off and George was able to knock down a technical free throw in addition to a trio of free-bees from the personal foul and the Pacers had a five-point advantage.

The Pacers stretched their lead to a game-high eleven points with just over three minutes remaining in the game, but the Wolves trimmed it back to just three after four consecutive three-point makes — three by Towns and one by LaVine — and a layup from Wiggins with just 15 seconds left.

After the inbounds pass went to Jeff Teague, the Wolves forced the Pacers point guard along the sideline. While there was sufficient contact to warrant a foul call, the official swallowed his whistle while Teague stepped out of bounds at least twice. Neither the foul nor the out-of-bounds was called, and then an attempted foul from Rubio was ignored as well.

Teague threw a lob pass to Myles Turner, who sealed the game with a layup that stretched the Pacers’ lead to five points.

Tweets of the Night

Star of the Night

Karl-Anthony Towns: 33 points (13-23 FG, 4-6 3P, 3-4 FT), 10 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals

Towns was great once again as his hot stretch continued. The 18-point, 10-rebound showing in Phoenix on Sunday was the low point in the streak, which tells you just how well he’s played over the past coupe of weeks.

Down the stretch, Towns hit three consecutive three-point attempts, including a crazy, off-balance catch-and-shoot after coming around a pin-down screen on the right baseline. While his long-range shooting has hit a cold spell for much of the season, it was on-point on Thursday night.

Notable Timberwolves Lines

• Andrew Wiggins: 21 points (7-17 FG, 1-4 3P, 6-7 FT), 5 rebounds, 2 assists, one steal, 3 turnovers
• Zach LaVine: 23 points (7-19, 3-9 3P, 6-7 FT), 5 assists, 3 rebounds, one steal, one block, 2 turnovers
• Gorgui Dieng: 8 points (3-6 FG, 2-3 FT), 9 rebounds, 2 blocks, 2 steals, one assist, one turnover
• Ricky Rubio: 4 points (2-6 FG, 0-2 3P), 12 assists, 4 steals, 2 rebounds, 3 turnovers

Wiggins was solid, scoring most of his points in the mid-range. His non-scoring stats continue to stabilize in his third season in the NBA.

LaVine finally began to break out of his recent slump, scoring on a couple of nice drives to the basket and knocking down a few outside jump shots.

Dieng and Rubio both had relatively quiet nights but were active defensively and in many of the non-scoring categories.

Next: Ricky Rubio Rumors, D-League Clarity

Who’s Up Next?

The Timberwolves will host the Brooklyn Nets at 8:00 p.m. Central Time on Saturday night. The Nets hold the NBA’s worst record at 9-36.