Matchup
After Malcolm Brogdon's late-game heroics earned the victory against the Minnesota Timberwolves on the road, the Pacers will play host to the same team on Friday night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
Wednesday night's game against the Timberwolves (15-25) remained tight until a fortunate overturn of a personal foul favored the Pacers midway through the fourth quarter. A seldom-seen, double personal foul call on Domantas Sabonis and Minnesota's Shabazz Napier gave possession back to the Pacers. Five seconds later, T.J. McConnell sank a pull-up jumper that pushed a slim, three-point lead to five.
Brogdon then capitalized on the swing, drilling a deadly 3-pointer moments later. He then followed up with tough layups on consecutive possessions to keep the Timberwolves at arm's length for the remainder of the period. He scored 10 of the Pacers final 12 points.
On Friday night, the Pacers (26-15) hope to use homecourt advantage to strike down the Timberwolves once again. The Blue & Gold are currently the NBA's eighth-best team at home, boasting a 16-5 record at the halfway point of the season.
Once again, they'll have to have tough defense around the perimeter. Minnesota averages the league's third-most 3-point attempts on the road this season (39.0). On Wednesday, the team saw glimpses of what can happen if Robert Covington or Andrew Wiggins catches fire from deep.
Questions still surround Karl-Anthony Towns' status for the Timberwolves. Towns has missed 15 straight games due to a left knee sprain. His absence was especially noticeable in the first half of Wednesday night's bout, as Sabonis tallied 25 points on 11-of-13 shooting in the paint.
This is the penultimate home game for Indiana in the month of January. After this matchup, they'll hit the road for a five-game Western Conference road trip — their longest of the season so far. With home games few and far between in the foreseeable future, the Blue & Gold hope to make the best out of their brief visit back home.
Projected Starters
Malcolm Brogdon
Jeremy Lamb
T.J. Warren
Domantas Sabonis
Myles Turner
Shabazz Napier
Jarrett Culver
Andrew Wiggins
Robert Covington
Gorgui Dieng
Pacers: PG - Malcolm Brogdon, SG - Jeremy Lamb, SF - T.J. Warren, PF - Domantas Sabonis, C - Myles Turner
Timberwolves: PG - Shabazz Napier, SG - Jarrett Culver, SF - Andrew Wiggins, PF - Robert Covington, C - Gorgui Dieng
Injury Report
Pacers: Victor Oladipo - out (right knee surgery rehab)
Timberwolves: Karl-Anthony Towns - questionable (left knee sprain), Jake Layman - out (left toe sprain)
Last Meeting
January 15, 2020: The Pacers took the trip up to Minneapolis and etched out a 104-99 win over Minnesota at Target Center.
Domantas Sabonis finished with a game-high 29 points, including 25 in the first half that helped Indiana withstand seven first-half threes from Minnesota.
Malcolm Brogdon added 21 points, six boards, and six assists, while Doug McDermott tallied 14 off the bench to aid in capturing the win. Brogdon and McDermott combined for 20 of Indiana's 28 fourth-quarter points.
After three free throws and a cutting baseline layup from McDermott, Brogdon closed out the game with his second consecutive clutch performance. The first-year Pacer drilled a dagger 3-pointer with 4:18 left to give the Pacers a much-needed, two-possession lead, 95-89. Later, Brogdon connected on consecutive layups just 14 seconds apart to negate a late Timberwolves comeback. His free throw with 9.0 seconds left then sealed the deal.
"He establishes us on both ends of the floor," Pacers head coach Nate McMillan said postgame. "Late in games he's the guy who's playing with the ball and making decisions. This just his second game back, it seemed they had better chemistry down the stretch tonight out on the floor and I though they executed well."
Noteworthy
- The Pacers lead the all-time regular season series against the Timberwolves, 38-21.
- Providing energy off the bench, T.J. McConnell has led Indiana in assists 13 times this season, including Wednesday night's game when he finished with eight.
- Indiana is 13-9 in games decided by 10 points or fewer this season. They're 8-2 at home.
Tickets
The Pacers conclude the home-and-home series with Minnesota when they host the Timberwolves at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Friday, Jan. 17 at 7:00 PM ET. Find Tickets »
Broadcast Information TV & Radio Listings »
TV: FOX Sports Indiana - Chris Denari (play-by-play), Quinn Buckner (analyst), Jeremiah Johnson (sideline reporter/host)
Radio: 93.5/107.5 FM/1070 AM The Fan - Mark Boyle (play-by-play), Slick Leonard (analyst), Pat Boylan (sideline reporter/host)
Please Note: Inside Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Pacers radio broadcasts can be heard on 1080 AM instead of 1070.