Three takeaways from Indiana Pacers loss in Minnesota to top-seeded Timberwolves
The Indiana Pacers wrapped up a nearly two-week long road trip on Saturday night in Minnesota. They dropped their game against the Timberwolves 127-109 after only trailing by two points at halftime. The Pacers were crushed in the second half.
The Wolves hold the NBA's best defense and Indiana was without star guard Tyrese Haliburton. It isn't surprising that the blue and gold struggled to reach their typical offensive level, but their dropoff in defensive effectiveness from the first half to the second was jarring. It cost them the game.
Pacers assistant coach Jenny Boucek was asked at halftime on the Bally Sports Indiana broadcast if she thought an offensively-centered second half or a defensive-focused finish to the game would be better for her team. "Any kind that we win, I don't really care. We're missing a lot of guys... so people are in different roles. They are finding a way right now," she said before noting that the Pacers needed to be gritty on defense.
They weren't in the second half, and they ended up falling to Minnesota. The loss put the Pacers at 13-11. It was their third-straight defeat.
Indiana now heads back home but plays four games in six days this week. Their schedule this month has been tough. The Pacers takeaways from the loss in Minnesota will reveal things that they can address in the upcoming stretch that could change their fortunes.
The Timberwolves size and shooting combination was too much for the Pacers
During this season — and the last few seasons, really — size has been a challenge for the Pacers. Teams with big wings are difficult for the blue and gold to slow down, and Indiana is usually in trouble when an opponent can throw out multiple skilled big men.
Minnesota starts Karl-Anthony Towns next to Rudy Gobert in the frontcourt, and they bring Kyle Anderson and Naz Reid off the bench. They have a large group of forwards and big men. The Pacers were already facing a hurdle there.
Towns finished with 40 points and Reid had 17. Those two were tough to handle. The blue and gold could have overcome some difficulties on the interior if they could outshoot the Wolves from long range, though.
That didn't happen. Instead, it was Minnesota who was hot from deep. They shot 18/30 — a ridiculous 60% — from beyond the arc while the Pacers were 6/21. That difference, on top of the Timberwolves size, gave the Pacers little chance of winning.
The Pacers ran out of gas
Indiana won't be looking for excuses after a game like this. They played poorly against one of the NBA's best teams, and they know it. They were held in check against a top defense — without Haliburton, it was a reasonable yet underwhelming performance.
But it was clear that the Pacers were out of gas at times in this game. They were playing their sixth-straight road game, including two in Las Vegas for the In-Season Tournament. It was their third game in four nights, and all three required travel in between them.
They also had plane issues leading up to the outing and arrived at the Target Center just a few hours before the game. There were many signs that the Pacers wouldn't maintain their usual energy level in this game.
After a competitive first half, that's exactly what happened. The blue and gold hit a wall and couldn't string together long stretches of good play. It cost them.
"We had a good fight that first half, and just ran out of gas in the second half, you know," Pacers center Myles Turner said after the game, per game notes provided by the Timberwolves. "You know give credit to them, they made a bunch of punch shots... especially a bunch of threes, and that made it tough on us."
Indiana is back home for three of their next four games. They need to rest and take advantage of that stretch.
Jarace Walker showed important growth
Pacers 2023 lottery pick Jarace Walker has played for 84 minutes this season. 37 of them — nearly half — came over the weekend. Against the Wolves, Walker reached a career-high 24 minutes, playing in over half of a game for the first time in the NBA.
He took advantage of the opportunity. The rookie forward had five points, two rebounds, three assists, and two steals. He looked like he belonged on both ends of the court, and the Pacers were just -5 in an 18-point loss with the 20-year old on the floor.
It was Walker's best game as a pro, and he had more successes on defense than he has in the past. For a Pacers team that had many things go poorly over the weekend, Walker's promising play was not one of them.
"It's great to see him out there in such a difficult game... he's having to follow a pretty sophisticated game plan, so it's great experience for him and he did a good job," Boucek said. It was an important weekend for Walker's growth, and perhaps it could lead to more opportunities in the future.
The Pacers return to action on Monday when they host the red-hot Los Angeles Clippers.
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- What the Indiana Pacers lost in the In-Season Tournament Finals they gained in experience. CLICK HERE.
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- Indiana Pacers stumble and fall to Washington Wizards behind ugly performance. CLICK HERE.
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