No Tyrese Haliburton, Pascal Siakam, Myles Turner or Aaron Nesmith… No problem for pacers! Without almost all of her usual departure five, Indiana is strong by winning on the Wolves prosecution (130-132). Minnesota remained on eight wins in a row, but gave up on overtime in a tense match.
The Pacers strike first in this match after a very balanced first quarter (30-30). Visitors compensate for the “spacing” usually offered by Myles Turner by the activity near the arch of the two Thomas Bryant and Tony Bradley pivots. The first allows itself to crush Julius Randle on the counter, then put Rudy Gobert on the poster and on the ground in transition. More incisive and in rhythm like an interesting Obi Toppin aligned at Post 3, Indiana digs a first gap of an 11-0. Minnesota is in (very) hard, without the slightest address to the exterior shooting like the duo Anthony Edwards-Nickeil Alexander-Walker at 4/16 including 0/7 at 3-point at the break. The gap is substantial, +14 for the pacers at halftime (46-60).
Rudy Gobert excluded for a blatant fault
Wolves coach assistant Pablo Prigioni then perfectly sums up the Wolves diffuser the situation: ” We have to make a decision, do we want to play basketball tonight or not? It's as simple as that. The message is received 5/5 by its players. Anthony Edwards and Jalen McDaniels launch the rebellion on the return from the locker room. Then the spirits warm up. Rudy Gobert comes to avenge an elbow from Andrew Nembhard to Mike Conley wanting to go to the circle. The French pivot stops its vis-à-vis shoulder pad and is logically excluded. Bad news for Indiana, Nembhard also leaves the meeting by collecting his second technical fault for having swung the ball on the Habs. The Pacers have just lost the last member of what constitutes his usual five major.
The scuffle has the merit of shaking the Target Center. The duo Anthony Edwards – Donte Divincenzo makes the temperature go up a little more by taking care of everything in attack (26 points in the third quarter) and the Wolves are backwards by scoring almost as many points in 12 minutes as in the first period! The Wolves go so far as to take eight points ahead of the fourth quarter on two distant shots in the counterattack which exploded the room. But the second knives of the pacers hold on. And they find themselves an improbable first providential man: Quenton Jackson. The leader signed on Two-Way contract is in all the right shots.
A breathtaking end of the match
The last minutes are burning. McDaniels equalizes by far 49 seconds from the end, then Edwards scored two throws. Toppin is missing the 3-point shoot to pass in front but the Pacers recover the rebound and TJ McConnell sends the match in extension 4.6 seconds from the buzzer. A small feat already, but with Bennedeict Mathurin released on six faults in the fourth quarter, Indiana must play these five additional minutes played without the six best scorers of her workforce!
The hero is then called Obi Toppin. Minnesota is up four points three minutes away from the end? The former Knick responds twice behind the arc in 30 seconds. Are the Wolves five points ahead with a minute to play? Thomas Bryant, 0/6 from a distance until then, strikes a first time behind the arc, then Obi Toppin sends a 3-point prayer with the board. Edwards responds with two free throws, +1 for the wolves but the man of the evening is well called Obi Toppin, author of the winning in the corner and in icing 3.5 seconds from the term.
What to remember
– Indiana, what a character! Everything was against the Pacers, between absences, the expulsion of Andrew Nembhard, then the release of Bennedcit Mathurin. But Rick Carlisle's men have never panicked, finding solutions to all their problems. Obi Toppin finishes 34 points and seven successful outdoor shots, a career record, in the middle of the eight players to reach the ten -point mark.
– Wolves spoil a golden opportunity. Launched in their mission to get out of the “Play-in” area, Minnesota may well regret having let a similar match spin, by their lack of envy in the first period, then by their inability to kill the match and control the opposing shooters (17/37 for Indiana 3-point against 13/42 for the Wolves). Anthony Edwards may have dismented in the second period with 29 of his 38 points and a 19/20 launches, the team of Chris Finch must show more consistency to hope to last at the end of the season.
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How to read the stats? Min = minutes; Shots = successful shots / tempted shots; 3pts = 3-point / 3-point attempted; LF = Successful free throws / tempted free throws; O = offensive rebound; D = defensive rebound; T = total rebounds; PD = assists; FTE: Personal faults; Int = interceptions; BP = lost bullets; CT: against; +/- = Differential points when the player is on the field; Pts = points; EVAL: evaluation of the player calculated from positive actions – negative actions.
