Timberwolves at Pacers
A day after both the Minnesota Timberwolves and Indiana Pacers faded late in their respective losses, the teams will try to bounce back quickly when they meet Thursday in Indianapolis. The Pacers were outscored by eight points in the final five-plus minutes of a 110-101 setback at Dallas that capped their 1-2 road trip.
Bojan Bogdanovic scored 22 points for Indiana, which saw its lead over Philadelphia for third place in the Eastern Conference cut to one-half game. "The guys that are in uniform have got to play," Pacers coach Nate McMillan told reporters when asked if the absences of Domantas Sabonis (ankle) and Tyreke Evans (illness) were a factor late. "We've been dealing with this all season long, injuries. That's not an excuse. We've got to execute better." The Timberwolves had won four of their last five contests and led Atlanta by as many as 13 points late in the third quarter on Wednesday but faltered down the stretch and ended up with a 131-123 overtime defeat. Karl-Anthony Towns scored 37 points and grabbed 17 rebounds in the loss as Minnesota fell four games behind San Antonio for the final playoff spot in the West.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FS North (Minnesota), FS Indiana
ABOUT THE TIMBERWOLVES (29-32): Towns is averaging 35.5 points on 67.6 percent shooting and 19 rebounds in two games since returning from concussion protocol following a car accident last week. Three others finished with at least 15 points in Atlanta and Tyus Jones handed out 11 assists, but Minnesota's inability to get stops late was the story as the team fell to 9-22 on the road. "We felt good," coach Ryan Saunders told reporters about the team's mindset entering the fourth quarter. "Took our foot off the gas a little bit. They made some plays. They've got a lot of talent within that pick-and-roll."
ABOUT THE PACERS (40-22): Indiana received a boost off the bench at Dallas from forward T.J. Leaf, who hit all four of his shot attempts and hauled in a career-high seven rebounds in 17 minutes. Bogdanovic hit the 20-point mark for the ninth time in 12 games and has shot at least 50 percent from the floor in five consecutive contests. The 29-year-old finished with 20 points in a loss at Minnesota on Oct. 22.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Timberwolves PF Dario Saric is 6-for-27 from the floor over his last three games.
2. Pacers SG Wesley Matthews is averaging 18 points over a four-game stretch after scoring a total of 16 in his first two contests with the team following a trade with New York.
3. Minnesota is aiming for its first sweep of the season series since 2006-07.