Mitchell HansenWeb Editorial AssociateTwitter
Paul George and the Indiana Pacers cooled down the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday night at the Target Center, ending the Wolves’ three-game winning streak.
George finished with 32 points, five assists and four rebounds to lead the Pacers to a 109-103 win over the Wolves.
Minnesota, which was able to climb its way back from an 11-point deficit late in the game to cut the Indiana lead to three in the fourth quarter, couldn’t quite complete the comeback in the end.
The Big Three of Karl-Anthony Towns, Zach LaVine and Andrew Wiggins led the way for Minnesota, combining to score 77 of the teams 103 points.
Towns finished with 33 points, 10 rebounds and four assists, LaVine got back on track with 23 points, five assists and three rebounds, and Wiggins tallied 21 points and five rebounds. Along with the Big Three, Gorgui Dieng had eight points and nine rebounds and Shabazz Muhammad added eight points in the game.
For Indiana, Myles Turner had 23 points and six rebounds, Jeff Teague had 20 points, 13 assists and eight rebounds, and Al Jefferson had eight points and six rebounds.
Minnesota finished shooting 36-for-81 (44.4 percent) from the field in the game, including 10-for-27 (37 percent) from behind the arc.
Indiana shot 42-for-81 (51.9 percent) from the field and went 10-for-18 (55.6 percent) from behind the arc.
The Wolves fall to 17-29 on the season, while the Pacers improve to 23-22 overall.
Highlight Of The Game
With 8:27 left in the second quarter, Kris Dunn found Muhammad on a half-court alley-oop pass that put the Pacers up 31-26.
The Numbers Game
Player Of The Game
Thursday night’s Wolves Player of the Game is Karl-Anthony Towns.
Towns shot 13-for-23 from the field, 4-for-6 from three and 3-for-4 from the free throw line to tally a game-best 33 points.
His double-double was the 35th of his season, ranking third-best in the NBA.
Up Next
The Wolves play the second game of their three-game homestand when they host the Brooklyn Nets at 8 p.m. Saturday night at Target Center. The game will be aired on Fox Sports North and 830 WCCO.
