After Edwards' return, the Timberwolves immediately won a game, of course, Edwards shot 3 of 19 in this game, and his hand was extremely cold, but the team still won and defeated the Dallas Mavericks led by Doncic. In this game, the Timberwolves ushered in an equally formidable opponent, which is the Indiana Pacers, the dark horse of the East this season. The Pacers have been in some terrible form lately, losing back-to-back games in the last two games, with a forgivable loss to the Bucks and a somewhat surprising loss to the Wizards.
The Pacers have the league's top offense, Haliburton, like Doncic, plays the role of the ball-handling core, the team's big threes are the league's top, but not just three-point shooting, the Pacers' interior scoring is also the first in the league. However, the Timberwolves are the best defensive team in the league, and this is undoubtedly a tough challenge for them.
However, in this game, Haliburton was sidelined due to injury, and McConaughey started in his place. At the beginning of the first quarter, Toppin had 7 points and 3 rebounds, McConaughey had 4 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists, and the team only scored 20 points in a single quarter, while the Timberwolves only scored 23 points, of which Towns scored 14 points, 3 rebounds and 1 assist on 6-of-9 shooting, and Conley had 5 points and 2 assists. After returning from the game in the second quarter, the Pacers gradually found their form, Nesmith scored 13 points on 5-of-5 shooting, Brown also had 6 points, 2 rebounds and 1 assist, and the team scored 35 points in a single quarter, which was simply unstoppable.
Edwards stepped up, shooting 6-of-7 from the field, 4-of-4 from three-point range, scoring 18 points and 1 assist, as if Jordan was possessed, while Towns had 6 points, 2 rebounds and 1 assist, and the team also scored 34 points in a single quarter, and at the end of the half, the Timberwolves led the Pacers by 2 points at 57-55. In the second half, Downs and Edwards teamed up, Downs got 13 points and 6 rebounds, Edwards was 9 points and 2 assists, under the leadership of the two, the Timberwolves scored 38 points in a single quarter, while the Pacers only scored 23 points, and in a blink of an eye, the difference between the two teams came to 17 points.
In the final quarter of the game, the Timberwolves did not give the Pacers any chance, and Towns teamed up with Reed to contribute a wave of 8-0 to stretch the difference to 25 points, and the game completely lost its suspense. The Pacers were reluctant to give up, and after Edwards came on the court, he scored 10 points, 1 rebound and 1 steal on 4-of-5 shooting. In the end, the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Indiana Pacers by 18 points 127-109.
The Minnesota Timberwolves won the game, and the double champion showed his personal strength, Towns shot 15 of 25, 2 of 3 three-point shots, and got 40 points, 12 rebounds and 4 assists of luxury data, Edwards shot 14 of 23, 7 of 10 three-point shots, and also had 37 points, 2 rebounds and 4 assists. Reed also had 17 points and five rebounds, Brown had 11 points, one rebound and three assists, and Lee Kyle had four points, four rebounds and 10 assists, with only two turnovers.
Without Haliburton, the Pacers lost their offensive engine, and the team's three-point hand was cold, with a total of only 6 of 21 shots, in this case, Brown, who scored the most, had 17 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists, Nesmith also had 17 points and 5 rebounds, Turner had 12 points and 5 rebounds, Jackson had 12 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists, McConaughey had 10 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists, and only 5 people on the team scored double-doubles. After losing this game, the Pacers suffered a three-game losing streak, and the Eastern Conference dark horse seems to be showing its stuff.