Pacers at Timberwolves
Karl-Anthony Towns had his chance to carry the young Minnesota Timberwolves, and Andrew Wiggins is stepping up to join him. Towns and Wiggins will try to lead the Timberwolves to a season-high fourth straight win and seventh in the last nine games when they host the slumping Indiana Pacers on Thursday.
Towns posted 30-plus-point double-doubles and hit the go-ahead shot in the final minute of wins over the Los Angeles Clippers and Denver Nuggets in the first two games of the current winning streak, but Wiggins got his chance on Tuesday and buried an 18-foot jumper at the buzzer to give Minnesota a 112-111 triumph at Phoenix. "In the fourth quarter, you have to have the courage to take and make, and he does," Timberwolves coach Tom Thibodeau told reporters of Wiggins. "So the more he does it, the more comfortable he's going to get. We all have a lot of confidence in him." Indiana won seven of eight to climb to three games over .500 before dropping back to even with losses in the last three contests. "We don't think the ball's going to get moved," Pacers star forward Paul George told reporters about the team's offensive issues. "No trust that guys are going to work for one another, so you tend to stand and watch."
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FSN Indiana, FSN North (Minnesota)
ABOUT THE PACERS (22-22): Indiana coach Nate McMillan is experimenting with different lineups in an effort to jumpstart the offense and moved George to the shooting guard spot for a stretch in Monday's 109-103 loss to the New York Knicks, with swingman C.J. Miles slotting into the small forward spot on the opposite wing. George, who scored 31 points on Monday, expressed a willingness to continue with the experiment. "I don't want to be going back and forth with lineups," McMillan told reporters after practice on Tuesday. "It's important for the players to know their role and where they're playing and their rotation."
ABOUT THE TIMBERWOLVES (17-28): Minnesota was 0-10 in games decided by four or fewer points until winning each of the last three by three points or fewer. Wiggins is averaging 27.3 points on 50 percent shooting in those three games while Towns, who battled foul trouble in Tuesday's triumph but still managed a double-double, is averaging 29 points on 67.3 percent shooting in that span. The Timberwolves benefited from the return on Tuesday of point guard Ricky Rubio, who missed Sunday's game following a death in the family and shook off trade rumors to produce 14 points and 10 assists in Phoenix.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Timberwolves reserve SF Shabazz Muhammad is averaging 18 points on 15-of-23 shooting in the last two games after scoring in double figures once in the previous four contests.
2. Pacers SG Monta Ellis (ankle) and PG Rodney Stuckey (hamstring) are both questionable for Thursday.
3. Indiana took both meetings last season and five of the last seven in the series.