Pacers at Timberwolves
THE STORY: There are few teams in the league more exciting than the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Indiana Pacers, for example, aren’t anywhere near the Timberwolves in terms of buzz. Where the Pacers hold the advantage is in the standings. Indiana has been one of the surprises of the Eastern Conference, playing tough defense and earning wins over conference contenders like Boston, Atlanta, Orlando and Chicago. Minnesota has started picking off better teams as well and has crept to within a game of .500 by beating all three Texas teams in its last four games. Ricky Rubio and Kevin Love give the Timberwolves premier passers in both the back and frontcourt and Michael Beasley is working his way back into the lineup after an 11-game absence. They will try to hit the .500 mark when they host the Pacers on Wednesday.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FSIN (Indiana), FSNO (Minnesota)
ABOUT THE PACERS (14-6): Indiana went 13 straight games without reaching 100 points but managed to go 8-5 in that stretch thanks to a defense that allowed 85.6 points in the eight victories. In the last two games, the Pacers have broken out for 106 points in each to beat the Magic and the New Jersey Nets. Paul George provided the highlight with a reverse dunk on Tuesday and finished with 24 points, but the big difference has been Danny Granger, who has finally started to come on after a slow start.
ABOUT THE TIMBERWOLVES (10-11): Rubio is the biggest on-court change from last season, but the biggest difference overall has been coach Rick Adelman, who has Minnesota surging in the second half of games instead of fading away. The Timberwolves scored 42 points in the third quarter on Monday and Rubio finished two rebounds shy of a triple-double. The Spaniard has recorded double-digit assists in five of the last six games.
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. The teams have split the series in each of the last two seasons, with the home team winning each game.
2. Granger has gone over 20 points in four straight games after reaching the mark a total of four times in the first 16.
3. Love failed to record a double-double Monday for only the second time this season.