Pacers 102, Timberwolves 88
MINNEAPOLIS -- Monta Ellis had a team-high 22 points and Paul George scored 18 points as the Indiana Pacers topped the Minnesota Timberwolves 102-88 on Saturday night at Target Center.
Rookie Karl-Anthony Towns led all scorers with 24 points and had eight rebounds for Minnesota. Andrew Wiggins chipped in 19 points and Ricky Rubio had 15 points and nine assists for the Timberwolves.
Indiana beat Minnesota for the second time this season. The Pacers won their previous meeting with the Timberwolves on Nov. 13 in Indianapolis.
Saturday's game was close until a fourth-quarter push by Indiana, which went on a 16-2 run in the late third and early fourth quarter to take a 77-70 lead. Guard George Hill had five straight points during that stretch and former Timberwolves forward Chase Budinger capped the run with an emphatic dunk.
After falling behind by as many as eight points in the fourth quarter, Minnesota climbed back in with an alley-oop dunk from Towns and a three-point play by Wiggins to trim its deficit to 82-79.
Minnesota later cut it to two on a 3-pointer by Rubio, but George and Indiana's Rodney Stuckey hit consecutive 3-pointers to thwart the Timberwolves' rally. George and Ellis each hit 3-pointers after that to seal the Pacers' 17th win of the season.
Towns, whose bobblehead was handed out to fans before the game, led all scorers in the first half with 14 points. He added five rebounds in the first two quarters as the Timberwolves took a one-point lead into the locker room at halftime.
The rookie continued his strong play into the second half. Towns scored eight points in the third quarter, giving him his eighth 20-point game of the season.
NOTES: Indiana entered the game with the third-best 3-point shooting percentage in the league. After going just 4 of 18 early, the Pacers finished 9 of 26 from beyond the arc on Saturday. ... Timberwolves PG Tyus Jones returned to action Wednesday against the Spurs after playing six games with the Idaho Stampede of the NBA Development League. Jones had six points and two assists in 20 minutes against the Spurs. He averaged 24.7 points per game with Idaho. ... The first meeting between Minnesota and Indiana this season was Nov. 13. The Pacers won 107-103 in Indianapolis.