Gameday Primer: Wolves - Pacers

By: Dan Slaubaugh

Good afternoon, Wolves fans. I hope your Christmas was as joyous as you expected spending time with family, eating lots of food, and watching NBA basketball. One of these days, we will have the privilege of being entertained with Wolves basketball on Christmas day. Until then, #Development.

Tonight, the Wolves (11-18) are in Minneapolis to take on the Indiana Pacers (16-12), who currently sit at the 7 spot in the much improved Eastern Conference. Paul George has been spectacular this season, averaging 25 points, 7.0 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and 1.7 steals. The Wolves will need Andrew Wiggins at his best (defensively) if they want to slow him down and perhaps take him out of his game.

Here's what you need to know for tonight's game.

What: Wolves - Pacers
Where: Target Center. Minneapolis, Minnesota.
When: 7:00pm CST
Where to watch: Fox Sports North Plus
Where to listen: 830 WCCO Radio

What to watch for:

Pacers defense: Indiana is 8th in the league in points allowed per game giving up 99.1ppg. They have a lot of strong, athletic players that are able to use their physiques to their advantage on that side of the floor, which is reason why they let up less than 100ppg. Minnesota has struggled with their spacing as of late, and they'll need to space the floor well tonight in order to open up easy looks on offense.

Minute distribution: In Wednesday's matchup against San Antonio, Sam Mitchell chose to sit Kevin Martin for the entire game, and give Tyus Jones 20 minutes of court time. Tyus played surprisingly alright, as he finished with 6 points (3/7fg), 2 assists, and 2 steals. Of course, he still needs work on the defensive side; but who doesn't. Anyway, you have to wonder if the organization would rather just sit Kmart and not showcase him for a potential trade because of his disastrous play this season, and give his minutes to Tyus and move Lavine over to the 2. Of course, they were playing the Spurs, so they had no chance of winning, but still have to wonder. I just hope they find a deal sooner or later.

Dieng from midrange: A couple of things I have noticed from Gorgui this season. He is a really good shooter, especially from mid-range, where he's shooting 56% on the season. Hence, when he catches the ball in mid-range and is open, he just needs to take the shot. There's really no need for the pump fake he uses so often because he gets whistled for traveling half the time anyway. Hopefully the coaching staff will instill that into him. We will see.

Team leaders

Minnesota
Points: Andrew Wiggins (20.9)
Rebounds: Karl-Anthony Towns (9.4)
Assists: Ricky Rubio (8.6)
Steals: Ricky Rubio (2.1)
Blocks: Karl-Anthony Towns (2)

Indiana
Points: Paul George (25)
Rebounds: Jordan Hill (7.9)
Assists: Monta Ellis (4.9)
Steals: Monta Ellis (1.8)
Blocks: Ian Mahinmi (1.1)

​Projected Starters

Minnesota
PG: Ricky Rubio
SG: Andrew Wiggins
SF: Tayshaun Prince
PF: Kevin Garnett
C: Karl-Anthony Towns

Indiana
PG: George Hill
SG: Monta Ellis
SF: CJ Miles
PF: Paul George
C: Ian Mahinmi

Injury Report

Minnesota

OUT: Nikola Pekovic (achilles)

Indiana

Has not yet been reported

That's all I have for this one. Thanks for reading and enjoy the game tonight! Go Wolves.

Prediction: Wolves lose 103-94. Towns and Rubio both finish with double-doubles. Paul George and Monta Ellis pace Indiana combining for 40+ points.