Game Preview: Timberwolves at Pacers

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Game Preview: Timberwolves vs. Pacers

Tuesday, March 28, 2017 at 6:00 p.m at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana.

MATCHUP:

Minnesota (28-44) is coming off a rough 112-100 loss to the Trailblazers in Portland Saturday night, as the duo of Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum was too much for the Wolves porous defense. The most recent loss is the Wolves’ 6th in a row, marking a point in the season where nothing seems to be going right for the young pack.

Indiana enters the contest with a 37-36 record, good enough for 7th in the Eastern Conference standings. In their most recent outing, Indiana defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 107-94 at home, thanks to 21 points and 8 rebounds from star forward Paul George.

PROJECTED STARTERS:

Timberwolves:

PG: Ricky Rubio #9

SG: Brandon Rush #4

SF: Andrew Wiggins #22

PF: Gorgui Dieng #5

C: Karl-Anthony Towns #32

Pacers:

PG: Jeff Teague #44

SG: Monta Ellis #11

SF: Paul George #13

PF: Thaddeus Young #21

C: Myles Turner #33

INJURY REPORT:

Timberwolves: Nikola Pekovic – out/season (recurring ankle pain), Zach LaVine – out/season – (Torn left ACL)

Pacers: Al Jefferson – out (ankle), Glenn Robinson III – out (calf), Rodney Stuckey – doubtful (knee)

LAST MEETING:

The only previous meeting between these two came Jan. 26, as the Pacers came away victorious, 109-103 in Minneapolis. Paul George paced the Pacers with a team-high 32 points. He also added 5 assists and 4 rebounds. Myles Turner also had a solid night, scoring 23 points to go along with 7 rebounds.

For the Timberwolves, Karl-Anthony Towns led the way in the scoring and rebound department, posting a game-high 33 points, and 10 rebounds to go along with 4 assists. Zach LaVine chipped in 23 points in the loss.

The first quarter would end up being the difference-maker, as Indiana outscored the Wolves 25-20. The other three quarters were either evenly scored, or had a one point difference.

NOTEWORTHY:

The Minnesota defense has fallen off the cliff as of late. Over the past 6-game stretch, the Timberwolves defense ranks dead last in the league, at 119.6. It is especially evident if you simply sit down and watch their recent outings. Most bigs, and guard combos, really hurt the Wolves in all areas. This will need to change ASAP if Minnesota wants to end the season with a few more wins under its belt.

BROADCAST INFORMATION:

TV: Fox Sports North – Dave Benz (play-by-play), Jim Peterson (analyst)

Radio: 830 WCCO-AM – Alan Horton (play-by-play)

(All stats found on nba.com, and basketball-reference.com)    

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