Timberwolves Fall to Pacers to Drop to 8-8 on the Season

Another road game, another loss, and the Wolves fell to the Indiana Pacers tonight in Indianapolis.

Another road game, another guard not known for his shooting goes off on the Wolves, this time in the person of George Hill, who came into this game shooting 40% from the floor, and proceeded to go 9-12 and hang 26 points.

The Wolves, after going down 10 early, were able to get back into the game and stick around through three quarters mostly because of their offensive rebounding and getting to the free throw line. Ultimately, however, the physicality and length of the Pacers took its toll, and the Wolves began rushing shots early in the 4th quarter as the game started to slip away. An 11-2 run to start the quarter gave the Pacers a 14 point lead and the game was essentially over.

The Wolves shooting is beginning to become a persistent problem, as they entered the game 23rd in overall field goal percentage, and proceeded to manage only 32% tonight. Trying to win by doing everything but shoot well is tough; the Wolves hung in with rebounding, turnovers, and free throws, but eventually making shots matters. Of course they were facing the toughest defense in the league, but their team wide inability to make shots is problematic.

On the flip side, despite what I thought was pretty good defense, another Wolves opponent had a terrific shooting night, as the Pacers, not known for their offense, shot 50% from the floor, and 54% from three point range. They were led by the aforementioned Hill, and the terrific Paul George, who quietly matched game high honors with his 26 on 15 shots.

The Wolves dropped to 8-8 with this loss, the first time they have been .500 since the start of the season. It's a long haul in the NBA, and the schedule is not favorable right now. Hopefully they can right the ship soon and start putting together some wins, but they again looked like the 2nd best team on the court tonight,

Running with Twolves (and scissors) promised us a recap later, so be on the lookout for that.

PS--No Derrick Williams tonight. Looks like we may have seen the last of him in a Wolves uniform.