Thursday evening, the Minnesota Timberwolves head to Gainbridge Fieldhouse for a road clash against the Indiana Pacers. The Wolves eliminated the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday night. The Pacers upset the Dallas Mavericks. Tip-off is at 7:10 p.m. ET. Minnesota opens as a 1.5-point road favorite.
Wolves survive blazers
Minnesota completed a season sweep against the Portland Trail Blazers as they found themselves tied for first place in the Western Conference, winning 119-114 on Monday night. Rudy Gobert had 25 points and 16 rebounds for his 43rd double-double of the season and Michael Conley added 19 points and seven assists.
According to cbssports.com, the Timberwolves have an NBA-best record of 30-9 against Western Conference opponents, 20-5 against teams with a sub-.500 record and 23-8 at Target Center, for the fifth-best record at home in the league. . Karl-Anthony Towns scored 14 points, Anthony Edwards 13 and Naz Reid added 12 points in a balanced effort. “I just tried to be more patient” said Rudy Gobert to Associated Press reporters, who gave it 9 of 10 from the floor and 7 of 7 from the line. “In the last few matches, I felt like I wasn’t aggressive enough. … Tonight, (I decided) to be aggressive and more decisive.
Portland was missing five starters and played hard on a night where the Wolves looked less than 100 percent. Look for a much better effort against a Pacers team that likes to push the tempo. They hold a record of 43-19 heading into this competition.
Pacers flee Mavericks
Myles Turner had a first-half explosion as the Indiana Pacers earned a 137-120 victory over the Dallas Mavericks. Turner scored all 20 of his points in the first half and Tyrese Haliburton had 19 points and 11 assists.
Pascal Siakam added 13 points, 13 rebounds and six assists as Indiana bounced back from two straight losses, most recently against San Antonio, last in the Western Conference. Nine players scored double figures for the Pacers, including five reserves as Indiana’s bench outscored Dallas 69-32. “We had to play better” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle ” he told Associated Press reporters. “The last two games were tough, but the team made some really good adjustments for this game, and we were able to play faster and more aggressive and move the ball better.”
They outscored the Mavericks 32-18 in the third, limiting Dallas to 26.1 percent shooting, with Luka Doncic hitting 2 of 9 from the floor and missing all four of his 3-point attempts. The Pacers shot 46.2% from long range (18 of 39). Indiana entered the game leading the NBA in scoring with 123.3 points per game, also leading the league in pace.
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The Pacers actually reached ten points in Tuesday’s win over the Mavericks, with Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam being the only starters to play more than 30 minutes. Turner made good use of his time on the offensive end of the court, scoring his first 20-point game since February 25. Backup Jalen Smith had a good night, finishing with 11 points, five rebounds, an assist and a 3-point basket in 18 minutes. The Pacers are new to this game, and their pace of play will be difficult to contain for the Wolves, who looked gassed last game. The gap is only 1.5 in favor of Minnesota, but ignore it and take the Pacers on the money line. Minnesota has failed to cover that number for five straight games. Take the Pacers to win the game.
Prediction: Indiana Pacers ML
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After scoring 25 points in his first game out of the All-Star break, a Feb. 22 win over the Pistons, Haliburton failed to score 20 in six straight appearances. The good news is that he continued to pile up the assists, despite the March 1 blowout loss to the Pelicans, dishing out 52 with just seven turnovers over his last six outings. The decrease in field goal and field goal percentage is acceptable as long as Indiana continues to win. They lead the NBA in pace, hence the inflated number, but I like that this contest is coming in well below the projected total. The numbers have dropped in eight of Indiana’s last 11 games and four of five against the Timberwolves. Take the bottom.
Prediction: UNDER
