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The Pacers posted their best shooting percentage of the season,
and forward David West hit a jumper with 34.3 seconds left, snapping
a 94-94 tie and helping the Indiana win for just the second time in
the past 12 games, 100-96 over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday.
C.J. Miles came off the bench to lead all scorers with 28 for
Indiana, which was playing the second of back-to-back road games
after a loss in Denver on Saturday night. The Pacers swingman hit
four free throws in the final 11.7 seconds to seal the win.
"Guys have been sharing the basketball well and a lot of times not
getting the payoff with a high level of shot-making," Pacers coach
Frank Vogel said. "But the guys were really moving it well tonight
and were able to create shots for each other."
Minnesota got 24 points from guard Mo Williams and another 21 from
guard Shabazz Muhammad but could not overcome a cold start. The
Wolves (5-21) trailed by 14 at halftime and by as many as 19 in the
third before mounting a furious comeback, but they still took their
fifth consecutive loss.
"I told our guys what I was most disappointed in, and it was pointed
at our young players, was I thought they had no energy to start the
game," Wolves coach Flip Saunders said. "When you're playing your
young players and they're playing that much and you have that many
wasted minutes, you're going to struggle."
When West hit a spinning shot with 5:26 to play in the fourth, it
gave Indiana an 87-81 lead, but the Wolves scored the next six
points, forging an 87-87 tie with 3:37 left when Williams hit a
pull-up jumper. He hit a 3-pointer less than a minute later for a
90-89 Wolves lead, but Miles answered with a 3-pointer at the 2:00
mark, and the Pacers would not trail again.
Indiana (9-19) led 52-38 at halftime thanks in large part to forward
Luis Scola, who was averaging nine points per game but had 10 in the
second quarter alone. Scola didn't score in the other three
quarters.
Williams came off the bench to lead all scorers with 13 first-half
points for Minnesota. Indiana hit nearly 55 percent of its
first-half shots and finished at 50 percent from the floor for the
game.
Vogel made sure to manage his team's minutes, cognizant that fatigue
could be a factor with the Pacers playing for the second time in 24
hours.
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"We just tried to show our fortitude somehow, try to win games under
difficult circumstances," said Indiana center Roy Hibbert, who had
15 points, eight rebounds and four blocked shots. "They're a good
team, they're the future of the NBA, they have a lot of young,
talented players. I was just happy to get a win."
West added 14 points for the Pacers, and reserve guard Donald Sloan
scored 10.
Trailing 61-42, the Wolves made it interesting in the third, going
on a 17-1 run and to pull within three points.
"You play any game, you want to kind of turn it on," Williams said.
"I thought we came out with the sense of urgency we needed in the
second half. Those guys did a good job of coming out with some
energy."
NOTES: Pacers assistant coach Popeye Jones just missed an in-person
opportunity to see his son play a hockey game in Minnesota by a
matter of hours Saturday. While the Pacers were losing 76-73 in
Denver, then traveling to the Minneapolis, D Seth Jones and the
Nashville Predators were in St. Paul getting a 6-5 overtime win over
the Minnesota Wild. ... Meeting with the Twin Cities media for the
first time before the game, newest Timberwolves G Troy Daniels said
the three-team trade that brought him to Minnesota was unexpected.
Daniels, who came to Minnesota from Houston in a Friday deal, said
he was shocked but looking forward to the opportunity to play more.
The Wolves got Daniels and a pair of second-round draft picks from
the Rockets in exchange for G/F Corey Brewer, while Philadelphia got
F/C Ronny Turiaf from Minnesota, and sent G Alexey Shved to the
76ers.
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