Game Rewind: Pacers 104, Timberwolves 99

In the first game of back-to-back contests against the Timberwolves, the Pacers (26-15) bested Minnesota (15-25) 104-99 on the road at Target Center. This is Indiana's first win streak of three or more games since winning five in a row from Dec. 11 to Dec. 20.

Domantas Sabonis finished as the game's leading scorer with 29 points, including a career-high 25 first-half points on 11-of-13 shooting, and grabbed 13 boards to notch his 32nd double-double of the season. His first half proved vital in helping the Pacers hang around.

With 6:15 left in the fourth quarter and Indiana holding on to a 90-87 lead, Sabonis collided with Shabazz Napier at the right elbow of the paint. After initially calling an offensive foul on Sabonis, the call was reversed to a double personal foul, allowing Indiana to retain possession. Five seconds later, T.J. McConnell connected on a 14-foot pull-up jumper to give Indiana a 92-87 lead. The swing of events steered the momentum in Indiana's favor.

Then, in presidential fashion, Malcolm Brogdon closed out the game for the Blue & Gold. The first-year Pacer scored 10 of Indiana's final 12 points to secure the win — including a 3-point dagger with 4:18 remaining, two tough layups, and a free throw with 9.0 seconds left to ice the game. He finished with 21 points, six rebounds, and six assists.

Kickstarting Brogdon in the fourth was Doug McDermott. The sharpshooter scored 10 of his bench-high 14 points in the fourth — including five straight moments before the double-personal foul — to give Indiana a 90-85 advantage before the momentum-changing call.

Sabonis' performance helped the Blue & Gold withstand a 24-of-42 (57.1 percent) shooting performance by Minnesota, including 7-of-13 (53.8 percent) from deep in the opening half. Without him, the Pacers shot just 11-of-31 in the first two quarters. But thanks to him, Indiana found itself only trailing by five at the half.

The potential All-Star found tons of success in the paint with Karl-Anthony Towns sidelined for his 15th-straight game due to a left knee sprain. His cutting finger-roll layup shot at the 6:57 mark of the first pulled Indiana to within one of Minnesota, 10-9, before the first timeout of the game.

Out of the timeout, Brogdon grabbed Indiana an 11-10 lead on a tough one-legged teardrop shot from beyond the free-throw line. That would be the last lead they'd have in the first half.

Later, with the score knotted at 16 apiece, Minnesota rattled off seven straight points to grab a 23-16 lead on Indianapolis native Jeff Teague's 15-foot floater with 2:44 remaining in the first period.

But the Pacers' second unit, led by Sabonis, climbed right back. The forward completed a three-point play in the paint and tallied a second-chance layup on consecutive possessions to cut the deficit to 23-21 with 1:45 remaining. After two free throws from Teague, Justin Holiday connected on a 3-pointer from the left wing to cut the lead to 25-24.

But the Timberwolves finished the final minute by scoring five straight points, including a 3-pointer from Vonleh, to take a 30-24 lead into the second quarter.

Sabonis continued to put on a show down low in an effort to bring the Pacers back. The former Gonzaga star scored the Pacers' first 14 points of the quarter to keep Indiana within striking distance. His 11th bucket in the paint kept Indiana at a 44-38 deficit with 6:33 remaining in the half.

As the Timberwolves threatened to go up by double-digits, Myles Turner nailed a 3-pointer to trim Indiana's deficit to 52-46 with 2:56 left in the half. But Andrew Wiggins responded just 12 seconds later to push the Timberwolves lead back to eight.

After a brief timeout, Indiana managed to string together four straight points to bring the deficit to within four, 54-50, with 1:40 remaining. But that would be the closest they'd come before the half ended. A Wiggins 3-pointer followed by a massive baseline dunk from Josh Okogie gave the Timberwolves the 59-54 lead at the halftime buzzer.

Despite Minnesota connecting on just two field goals in the first 5:52 of the third, Indiana could not take over the lead. That is, until Timberwolves head coach Ryan Saunders called a timeout at the 6:08 mark of the frame.

Trailing 65-64, Indiana rattled off six straight points to take a 70-65 lead with 3:56 left in the third. In an effort to stop the damage, Saunders quickly burned another timeout.

After Minnesota tightened things up down the stretch, it appeared as if Indiana was going to enter the fourth with the lead. With 19.7 seconds left and the score tied 74-74, McDermott connected on a cutting baseline layup to give Indiana a slim two-point advantage. But on the Timberwolves' next possession, McConnell fouled Keita Bates-Diop beyond the arc. He connected on all three free throws to give Minnesota a 77-76 lead heading into the final frame.

After a Bates-Diop three pushed Minnesota ahead 83-80 early in the fourth, McDermott responded immediately with his first three of the game to knot the score. On the next Pacers possession, Sabonis connected on another layup to give Indiana an 85-83 lead with 9:29 left to play.

McDermott's trey appeared to give him a spark. With the score tied 85-85, he drew a from from beyond the arc and connected on all three free throws to give Indiana the three-point advantage. With 7:22 remaining, he added to his total by finishing a layup from McConnell's dish to extend Indiana's lead to five.

After the double-personal foul, Brogdon's clutch 3-pointer from the left wing pushed Indiana's lead to 95-89. When Jarrett Culver responded with a bucket, he connected on a 16-foot jumper from the right side to push the Pacers lead back to six.

With 2:35 to go, Lamb extended Indiana's lead to 99-91, after driving the lane against his former UConn teammate, Napier.

Brogdon then took control of the reigns. After consecutive Minnesota buckets threatened Indiana's lead, he finished a reverse layup along the baseline to give the Pacers a 101-95 lead with 1:36 remaining. After a miss from Napier, Brogdon tallied two more to widen the margin back to eight.

With the Timberwolves forced to foul, the Blue & Gold managed to get the ball into their ace's hands. Though he connected on only one of two, it was enough to seal the deal.

Indiana heads back home for a rematch against the Timberwolves on Friday night.

Indiana finished the night with 27 assists — 20 from McConnell (8), Brodgon (6), and Sabonis (6).

After missing several games due to injury, Malcolm Brogdon finished with 21 points for the second game in a row. It's the seventh time this season he's finished with 20 or more points, five or more assists, and five or more rebounds in a game.

The Pacers outscored the Timberwolves in the paint 56-46

The Blue & Gold have held their opponents to less than 100 points in back-to-back games for the second time this season

"I was just trying to be aggressive. T.J. [McConnell] and Malcolm were doing a great job finding me. I got some easy offensive rebounds and got the ball back into the basket." –Domantas Sabonis on his first-half performance.

"He establishes us on both ends of the floor. 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." –Head coach Nate McMillan on recent late performances from Malcolm Brogdon

"I told him they stopped collapsing on the pick-and-roll, and to stop passing me the ball — I'm going to get you open, just knock it down. He has done that two games in a row now, so that was great." –Domantas Sabonis on Malcolm Brogdon's performance in the second half

Brogdon and McDermott shot a combined 7-of-11 from the field in the fourth quarter en route to snatching the victory.

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 »

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