David West delivers as Indiana Pacers rout the Minnesota Timberwolves 111-88 - NBA Recap
On Monday night at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN, the Indiana Pacers ran riot over the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves 111-88.
The Pacers who seem to have found an extra gear in the month of April have now won 9 of their 10 games this month. While on the other hand, Wolves have now lost their 10th straight game making this a win-less April so
far for Minnesota for the first time since 2009.
The Pacers who currently occupy the third spot in the Eastern Conference standings seems to be sending out a warning to all other playoff contenders. With their recent run of spectacular form, they are closing out the regular season
in splendid fashion while gearing up for the playoffs all the while. After this win, they have secured home court advantage for the first round of the post season.
David West led the way with a double-double performance of 22 points and 10 rebounds. Danny Granger was not far behind as finished the game with 19 points, 15 of which came from beyond the arc. He also had 7 rebounds and 5 assists.
Roy Hibbert, accompanied West with double-double statistics as he finished the game with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Paul George added 18 points and George Hill added 11 points, with all of their 5 starters scoring in double figures.
Pacers shot the ball 44.3% from the field.
Jose Juan Barea was the leading scorer for the Wolves with 14 points and 9 dimes. Nikola Pekovic added 10 points while Michael Beasley and Derrick Williams both came off the bench to contribute 13 points each.
Pacers crashed the boards throughout the night, out-rebounding the visitors 58-45 on the night. They also made a meal of the Wolves defence, outscoring them 42-34 from inside the key.
Indiana looked to stomp their authority on this one from the get go as they raced to an 18-2 lead. This advantage was further extended by the end of the first quarter, Indiana leading 32-13. During the first quarter, Wolves missed
10 shots out of their first 11.
The similar script was played out in the second quarter as the Pacers continued their onslaught. Their lead got to as big as 37, 64-27, with 8.4 seconds remaining. On the next possession, Barea hit from long range to cut lead but
only by a small margin, 64-30.
In the third quarter, Wolves did show some signs of life on offense as they outscored the hosts 33-29. However the ample advantage the Pacers had achieved remained at 30, going into the fourth.
In the last quarter, Pacers did not need much from their starters as they rested almost the entire last period. Wolves managed to pick up the slack in their starters absence as they started the final period on an 18-0 run. The
Pacers missed 8 shots and committed four turnovers during that stretch.
Price put an end to that run by responding with a 3 pointer for the Pacers and they were never really troubled throughout the night. In the end, Pacers took this one by a huge margin of 23 points.
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