Pacers erase 23-point deficit, come up short in Minnesota to complete road trip: Running Thoughts

In the final game of their road trip, the Pacers scored 44 points in the 2Q after just 17 in the 1Q. They were in it until the final seconds, but lost to the Timberwolves.

Rudy Gobert swats Buddy Hield’s go-ahead layup attempt with 11.4 seconds left. (Photo: BSI)

Here are my running thoughts from the Pacers’ 121-115 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves Wednesday night at the Target Center.

• Tyrese Haliburton (groin) and T.J. McConnell (non-Covid illness) both will play after missing the past two games. Myles Turner and James Johnson were both questionable, but they are available.

• Jalen Smith has a sore right knee and will miss his first game of the season.

• Timberwolves are without Karl-Anthony Towns for the third consecutive game.

• As the Pacers are completing a daunting stretch of seven games in 11 days, the Timberwolves had three days between games.

• Former Pacers executive Larry Bird turned 66 on Wednesday. As of last July, he’s no longer on the team’s payroll as an advisor.

• That reminds me of a great Lance Stephenson note. When he was re-signed by the team last last January, I asked him if he had talked with Bird lately. (He drafted Stephenson and was a big believer.) Lance said only on Bird’s birthday. “I told him happy birthday. I always do.”

Scott Agness @ScottAgness

Seeing so many wish Larry Bird happy birthday on here makes me smile … because there’s a 0% chance he sees any of it. Even though the Twitter bird is named “Larry” after him — seriously — no way he’s on social media.

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• Pacers give up three straight buckets in the lane to begin the game, including a dunk off a turnover, so Rick Carlisle calls a timeout 1:26 in…

• Playing their third game in three cities in four nights, the Pacers got off to an awful start: 1 for 7 shooting with three turnovers and are in a 12-3 hole.

• 4:32: McConnell checks in after not playing in the last two games.

• 2:52: McConnell issued a technical foul. Huh? Didn’t look like much other than signaling to Ed Malloy for a travel. If so, that’s weak. … And rare. He was called for one in each of the last two seasons.

• Two nights after the Pacers outscored the Warriors by 13 points in the first quarter, the Pacers produced a more typical first 12 minutes. Nothing going well; they had twice as many turnovers (8) as field goals. Trailing 35-17, it’s their biggest deficit to begin a game.

• They’ve lost the first quarter in 19 of 25 games.

• They were outscored 24-2 in the paint and Rudy Gobert has more rebounds (9) than the 10 Pacers who played (6). Big red flag.