Anthony Edwards Carries Timberwolves to 113-111 Win Over Pacers

1. First Quarter

Entering tonight’s game, the Minnesota Timberwolves were already without Karl-Anthony Towns after suffering a knee injury in their last game against the Portland Trail Blazers. They would briefly lose their best player in Anthony Edwards just twenty-six seconds into the game after rolling his ankle. Indiana then scored on its first possession with Tyrese Haliburton on a floater. Minnesota scored ten straight points with Rudy Gobert scoring five of them. Edwards would return with 8:11 left in the quarter. He helped push Minnesota ahead 20-8 with 4:50 left in the quarter with a dunk. The Timberwolves would lead by as much as 14 points but led 33-23 after the first. Naz Reid came off the bench to lead all scorers with nine points. Haliburton and Gobert each had seven points.

2. Second Quarter

Indiana’s second unit was able to narrow the deficit to five points following a Jalen Smith layup, but Minnesota responded. The Timberwolves went on a 12-4 surge to go ahead 45-32 following Edwards’s first three-pointer. He’d later give Minnesota their largest lead of the game with a layup, making it 54-37 with 4:46 left in the half. Rick Carlisle called a timeout to regroup and get some starters back on the floor. Indiana was only able to shave four points off the deficit to go into the locker room down 60-49 after two quarters. Edwards led all scorers with 15 points after eleven in the second. Indiana’s leading scorer was Siakam with 14 points. Both teams struggled from distance. Indiana was 3/10 and Minnesota was 4/15 (26.7%).

3. Third Quarter

After going back to the drawing board at halftime, Indiana outscored Minnesota 34-23 in the third quarter. Edwards scored 13 of Minnesota’s 23 points. Coming out of the locker room, the Pacers outscored the Timberwolves 10-2 after a Myles Turner free throw to make it 62-59. Minnesota got two buckets to push its lead back to seven points. Indiana was able to respond with a 9-0 run to go ahead 68-66 after a Turner dunk. It was only the second time the Pacers went ahead since the 2-0 advantage early in the game. From that point on in the quarter, the two teams exchanged the lead. After thirty-six minutes, Indiana and Minnesota were tied at 83. In the third quarter alone, there were nine lead changes and five ties. Edwards continued to lead all scorers with 28 points followed by Siakam and Haliburton with 18 points.

4. Fourth Quarter

Minnesota started the quarter with a couple field goals to claim a four-point lead with 10:39 left in the game. Pacers did a solid job in responding to tie it up at 89 with a Jarace Walker layup. Fellow rookie Ben Sheppard later gave Indiana a two-point advantage with a triple. From this point forward, Edwards put the team on his back. He scored 16 of their final 22 points. Indiana went down 110-105 with forty-six seconds left after he made a free-throw line jump shot. Turner made a three after the Indiana timeout that took 4.3 seconds off the clock. Edwards responded with a floater to push Minnesota ahead 112-108. Aaron Nesmith was fouled by Kyle Anderson on a three-point attempt on Indiana’s possession. Nesmith made all three free-throws to make it 112-111 with 16.3 seconds left. Edwards went to the free-throw line and split the pair. He missed the second free-throw with 7.2 seconds left, and then hustled down the floor and sealed the game with a block where his head hit the backboard. Minnesota defeats Indiana 113-111.

5. Top Performers

Anthony Edwards (44p, 6r, 2s, 2b), Rudy Gobert (18p, 14r, 3b, 2s), Naz Reid (13p, 8r), and Jaden McDaniels (11p, 8r, 6a). For Indiana, Tyrese Haliburton (23p, 13a), Pascal Siakam (24p, 4r), Jalen Smith (14p, 4a, 2r), and Myles Turner (12p, 7r, 4b). For tonight’s full box score, click here.

6. Notes

• Anthony Edwards recorded his 24th game with 30+ points
  • 44 points tie a season high
  • 3rd game with 40+ points this season
  • Edwards 18 field goals is a career high for made field goals in a game
  • Edwards 35 field goal attempts is a career high for attempts in a game
  • 29 of his 44 points were scored in the second half (would have led all scorers for the entire game)
• Rudy Gobert recorded 4th straight double-double
• Tyrese Haliburton recorded his 36th double-double of the season
  • Haliburton’s 38th game with 10+ assists
  • Pacers are 24-12 when Haliburton records a double-double
  • Pacers are 17-9 when Haliburton scores 20+ points
  • Pacers are 16-7 when Haliburton scores 20+ points & records 10+ assists
• T.J. McConnell recorded season low 1 assist
• Pacers are 4-13 when making 10 or fewer threes
• Pacers are 1-4 against teams above .500 without Bennedict Mathurin (3/16/23 at Milwaukee Bucks)
• Pacers are 4-5 with Tyrese Haliburton, Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, Pascal Siakam, and Myles Turner starting

7. Next Up

The Indiana Pacers go back on the road with a brief two-game road trip starting Sunday when they take on the Orlando Magic. Indiana is 0-2 this season against the Magic. The Kroger Pregame Show starts at 5:30pm with Pat Boylan. At 6pm, Mark Boyle and Pat Boylan will have all the play-by-play coverage on 93.5/107.5 The Fan.