Indiana Pacers lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves Thursday evening. What’s even worse is that it was at home without Karl Anthony-Towns playing in the game. He was released with a torn meniscus. However, the Pacers still failed to take advantage and win the game.
Despite a comeback in the second half, they ultimately failed. It didn’t help that the Pacers were without Bennedict Mathurin. He could have helped in the first half as things started to get out of hand. But not having him isn’t the Pacers’ biggest problem.
Frankly, the Timberwolves exposed Indiana’s biggest flaw. This is a flaw that we have already noticed, mainly during the finals of in-season tournaments. The Lakers were the first team to show that the Pacers are simply too small to be true contenders. The Wolves showed it again Thursday evening.
Indiana has never been a good rebounding team. They are the third worst rebounding team in the league in terms of total rebounds. and are 22nd in rebound differential. This happened against Minnesota when they were -9 on rebounds.
Myles Turner had no answers for Rudy Gobert inside. Gobert grabbed 6 offensive rebounds and had 18 points, mostly on lobs. Indiana is getting killed by big guys who know how to rim-run. They’re not big enough in the frontcourt to deter him, either in length or girth. Turner and Siakam are skinny, as are Jalen Smith and Isaiah Jackson.
It’s clear that unless the Pacers’ three-point shots are falling at a high rate, they can’t beat these bigger teams. Making a group of three is how they beat the Bucks four times this season. While they made 10 against the Wolves, they shot just 38% from beyond the arc.
Following. Next story. The Pacers will be without a key player for at least a week. dark
That’s not a bad percentage, but they need to reach an elite level. That’s how disadvantaged they are compared to some of the best teams. Minnesota, Boston, Milwaukee, Denver and Cleveland all have significant size advantages over them. Haliburton better get back to making those deep threes.
