Why did the Indiana Pacers lose to the Minnesota Timberwolves?

Why did the Indiana Pacers lose to the Minnesota Timberwolves?

This is tyres hurn and you’re listening to setting the pace Pacer Nation what is going on welcome back to your goto Pacers podcast setting the pace the Indiana Pacers fall 113 111 in heartbreaking fashion to Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves here to talk with me about this game is Michael

J Fi Fi tough loss for the Pacers tonight really tough loss I mean I found myself kind of in the awe of greatness it looked like for Anthony Edwards down the stretch I mean you got to tip your hat massive nighte for Anthony Edwards 44 points eight points in the final

Minute and 11 and the game saving block uh it was tough the Pacers really managed to claw back from 17 down but they came up just short just short in the end yeah I I think you know a lot of people were upset about a lot of different things that happened there you

Know why don’t you call a timeout after the Miss free throw we could talk about that because you could go both ways on it you could I I just feel like with how much length Minnesota has that’s a tough thing to do is like oh let’s call

Timeout and set up our offense to try to score on this set defense that you know we just saw the previous play halberton get stripped by nil Alexander Walker trying to go one-on-one people were frustrated there was no screen there well it’s like that’s not Rick carlile’s

Decision to call the screen he lets Halbert make that play halberton didn’t want to screen halberton want to go isolation and he over dribbled so yeah there’s a lot of different things you know we get we’re kind of all over the place in terms of like where we want to

Start with this but a lot of people frustrated with Rick Carlile in the fourth quarter some of the decisions there but Rick Carlile said it and I know fans didn’t want to hear this but it is true and I’m not just being a Carlile Defender the Pacers got off to a

Terrible start once again oh horrific first quarter yeah I I mean look at it like they gave up 48 a couple of nights ago to New Orleans they absolutely got outplayed in the first quarter by San Antonio when they lost they they had a a really good first quarter against Dallas

And guess what happened y they won the game so you know I I think that they did a great job CLA back into this game but like if they just have a much better approach to start the game out with I I think there’s a good chance they take

Advantage of when Anthony Edwards was out of this game with that ankle injury before he returned to the game and and kind of put on a show it’s just you know this this team cannot always turn it up in the third quarter when their backs are against the wall they got to learn

How to punch people first in the mouth instead of being the guy that gets punched and then trying to punch back it’s true that that first quarter really doomed the Pacers tonight and uh it was upsetting because I I do think that the Pacers played a really good game the

Rest of the way but yeah they were lucky to be down by 10 at the end of the first quarter I thought Minnesota was going to run away with it so the Pacers was similar at going in a halftime the Pacers were down 11 I I I just felt like

You know look you never want to wish an injury upon anybody but the the Timberwolves were already playing without Carl Anthony towns so this is not a Timberwolves team at 100% Anthony Edwards like you mentioned you know he has the ankle injury and just very early on the game and the Pacers were

Absolutely not able to capitalize during that time which proved to be critical because an ends up dropping 44 in this game I mean each quarter from the second quarter to third third quarter and on it was like he was getting better as time was going on the Pacers just didn’t have

An answer for him at all in this game but I I thought that uh it was respectful to see them claw all the way back and even be able to take a two-point lead at times but yeah the the deficit they faced early on really put

The Pacers in a hole that was just um it’s not what you want to set yourself up going into each game against the League’s top defense yeah I mean Minnesota’s a really good basketball team and they’ve been playing great all year long and they’re deep and they’ve

Got a lot of length and we know how length has bothered the Pacers and and we were playing the the Minnesota Timberwolves Pace this whole game I mean 113 to 111 that’s not Indiana Pacers basketball they started to play a little bit more of Indiana Pacers basketball in

That third quarter and that’s when you saw them kind of go on those runs and get out and cut into that lead and eventually Take the Lead like you said but Indiana only ever had a two-point lead in this game fing Minnesota got all

The way up to 17 points uh in terms of you know how much they led by so that to me is a big bummer here but one key thing to me I felt like every 5050 ball went to Minnesota in this game all the 50-50 foul calls I felt like went to

Minnesota they had a lot they had a very uh friendly whistle in this game tonight and then just like how many offensive rebounds did Minnesota have where they six more than us yeah and they had nice putbacks on those offensive rebounds where Indiana would play in you know

Good defense initially but then a jayen Smith or or someone else would miss a box out and then here’s NJ Reed or Rudy goar cleaning up the glass and it was just killer like you play good defense for like 20 seconds in your shot clock and you just don’t finish it

Out once the shots up in the air because you’re scrambling so you know there’s a lot of different things in this game and I’m not really mad about this loss because Minnesota is a better team than Indiana yes even without towns like they’re a very very solid basketball

Team but I I I think that Indiana they needed this win clearly more than Minnesota did I’m just disappointed with the way they started the game out I I I think that they’ve got to find a way to get Tyreek Pascal those guys going early like those are the leaders of your team

That’s your starting five you know it can’t just be on N Smith and NIMH hard to bring the energy for those guys to do it now this is on Tai Pascal and Miles your veterans and your star player to get this team going it shouldn’t take TJ

McConnell coming in in the second you know quarter to really give this team some some of a some type of spark no it shouldn’t and uh yeah I mean this this would have been a good win for the Pacers even without talents in this but there’s this game was winnable it really

Was even despite that first quarter if we go by a couple of different you know metrics we already talked about hey Minnesota out rebounds the Pacers on the offensive side of things by six that’s huge uh they actually had nine more rebounds overall um and this was a this

Was a Pacers team that committed 15 turnovers yeah in this game six more than Minnesota so there and then also Indiana missed six free throws in this game when you lose by two and it comes down to you know that layup getting blocked at the end of the game by n

Smith everything is just well you know what if they had been able to control that a little bit more and and that’s how close of a game this proved to be but Minnesota yeah they are a they’re an elite defensive team I think that hey if this is what they showed without towns

Then uh this this was an opportunity for Indiana that it would have been great to seiz but one thing the bench that was amazing last game you know obviously no Benedict mathine tonight and mathine expected to miss a couple of games the next four I believe the next four is

What I did hear well it’ be three now after this game sorry yes yes yes exactly so four games is what was expected outside of Jaylen Smith having 10 points by halftime there was no one on the bench that really showed up that was sustainable you had a couple moments

Here and there but this was a Pacers team that just had nine players score in double figures against the Mavericks tonight just four yeah that’s a good point there wasn’t a lot of balance scoring and I know that you know without Ty or excuse me without Benedict maen

They’re going to have to figure out a way to kind of stagger the lineup a little bit more to get some additional scoring with that second unit and we saw that with Pascal SE yakum and what he did in the second quarter was really kept this team within the game because

He was the only one scoring at one point and it was bad it was like what is happening here and I think this is where TJ McConnell can be kind of frustrating to watch a little bit in these moments because you do need him to kind of of

Initiate a lot of the offense with who he’s playing with when you have Obie out there and Shep and jerus and Jaylen there’s no secondary guy out there that can kind of help create any offense off the dribble maybe jarus could do a little bit but I don’t think they trust

Him enough at this point so like not having that mathine type of player out there to get to the rim so when they go that all bench lineup I think they even were semide decent in that stint that they had there they didn’t give up the

Lead maybe they were like a minus two or whatever like they they stayed pretty solid during that but they got cold there for a little bit in that fourth quarter before we saw some a timely three by Ben Shepard and things like that so I I just feel like with the

Second unit the way it is I I do like the Staggering to get Pascal back with that group but it also like McConnell’s got to pick and choose and be smart about when he’s going to try to force the offense because there can be times

When he does try to force a little bit too much instead of actually running on offense and he gets kind of caught with the ball in tough situations trying to make plays and he is still about six foot tall so when you’re going out against an ni kill Alexander Walker or

Jen McDaniels or even a Kyle Anderson these are all guys that are you know six seven eight inches taller than him that can really make those shots difficult so yeah I think that the bench was fine it wasn’t good it was even right it was it was an okay bench performance tonight

Like not great but they’re going to need more help from the bench if they want to be able to kind of be more balanced without mathine yeah exactly if we’re getting a quote okay performance from the bench then obviously you know it wasn’t what we needed because the Pacers

Rely on their bench to be you know one of one of the better units in the NBA and I think that tonight you know you just saw a little bit inconsistent like someone like obit toop and with just two points not able to contribute much but

You look at you know last game against Dallas I mean 14 points on five of six shooting so it’s like you there was those performances obviously we’re not at that point yet where we could trust or or r on Ben Shepard to give you double digit scoring yet he just not at

That point came and hits some big shots I thought it was great you know some momentum shifts it was nice to see jarus Walker play Early in this game I think that without Maan that was something that was interesting to see him out there and just obviously there’s still

Mcder out there but jarus Walker had uh you know a couple moments I thought there was that cool rookie to rookie moment where Ben Shepard kind of stripped it a little bit and jarus Walker was able to get that put back I think that was nice to see we saw a

Three-pointer from jarus Walker as well but um just overall I think that uh it was a tall task trying to battle back from that deficit the Pacers dug themselves in and I feel like we saw some moments for halberton like how Burton I think now there there was the

Turnovers tonight but we’re starting to see him he was nine of 15 23 points 13 assists the five turnovers not like tyres halber in the game where I mentioned that uh you know it’s a two-point loss if halberton gives you vintage how Burton maybe it’s just two

Turnovers maybe that is a difference you can’t pinpoint it to that because there was many different factors that could have went our way that didn’t whether it’s fouls that were not called missed free throws the rebounds we talked about but that’s just what it takes to play

You have to play not to say a perfect game but you got to be more careful against a top-notch defense like Minnesota yeah there’s no doubt about it and I forget where where it happened at it might have been in the third quarter FY but there was a stretch there where

The bench like three or four just like terrible plays might have even been the second quarter I I like Obi TOA made a jump pass McConnell did the same thing and it was just like oh no when it rains the pores right it was like a consistency of just in you know bad

Basketball and I was a little frustrated with it but I feel like overall in this game Halbert and you mentioned it like the shooting numbers are much better Nine of 15 looks really good but how does eight of nine sound from inside the three-point line much better right like

It does that’s an elite number in so while the three-point shot is still kind of Hit or Miss he hit two big ones in that third quarter FY but he did some of those shots were just looking way off like he did not look good shooting that

Three so I’m I’m not sure what’s going to happen but I do think we’re we’re we’re very close to that lid just being opened up and the floodgates just coming down for Tyrese going on a barrage of three-point shots made I I feel like it’s coming soon but at this point it’s

Just been like I don’t know maybe it’s a mental thing for him I don’t know what it is but through the last four games he’s five of 29 from three I mean yeah there was there was that deep three that he hit tonight that was great to see but I just

Feel that 5 29 I mean and if we we dat it back a little bit further I mean it it’s it’s rough I mean against the Pelicans when he when he um when the Pacers did get a win he was three of eight from three just before that

Against Toronto one of six just before that against Dallas one of five so it’s just that he has not had you know even a you know even like a 40 to 50% night in quite some time from three I know 50% it’s a lot to count on but a lot of

These performances L three of 10 two of seven 0 of six 0 of six it has not been good the Pacers need halberton to be more of that 40% three-point shooter that he has been in his career and yeah I don’t know if it’s mental I don’t know

What it may be but I do think that he could only snap out of this he’s not just going to become some 25% three-point shooter and it’s and it’s going to be hard because the next three games you’ve got Orlando who’s done a great job on him defensively then you go

To OKC who’s got great defensive players out there and sgaa and Lou Dort and uh Williams so like it’s it’s not going to be easy there then Wednesday you’re back home against Alex kuso and the Bulls someone that has shut Tyrus down before too so it’s not going to get any easier

And he just had to go up against J McDaniels and N kill Alexander Walker who were both very good on him just giving a lot of length there and making it more difficult so this is good for Tyrese I’m glad that he’s seeing all these different things thrown at him as

He can continue to get better I think tonight you saw how maybe he isn’t there on that same tier yet as an Anthony Edwards because we have yet to see Tyrese kind of take over in a game the way an just did in that game right there

On both sides of the basketball and I think that tyres has had moments where he’s like you know really been able to hit big shots but like ant took over I mean he was three of three in that final minute and 11 stretch you got to the

Free throw line one of two but it was like that and then to do it on the defensive side of things I mean this was like that was a true moment for Anthony Edwards where it’s like how Burton is all NBA talent I think that Anthony Edwards this year is MVP like Talent

Where I feel like you know he’s probably not going to win it but I think that he’s probably going to finish he could finish perhaps top three where I feel like with halberton you know you could see a a star Rising but there’s a reason why Anthony Edwards was the number one

Overall pick you know and uh I think that he is a you know he’s gonna be a star in this league you could already see it right now but I think that Anthony Edwards is the type of player that could be the face of this league one day

Some say Tyrese could be as well but for right now Anthony Edwards dropping 44 points on a hurt ankle making plays on both sides you just got to respect it unfortunately yeah same draft class for sure and I think the um Dereck Cramer from my Pacers blog tweeted out the last

Couple of games the Pacers have had obviously Anthony Edwards a number one pick Luca donic should have really been the number one pick but still top three pick for Dallas amazing play Victor wanyama number one overall pick Zion Williamson number one overall pick so you can kind of see how like having that

Level of player can really make a difference and I understand Zion wasn’t like the main reason why New Orleans won but still just saying like not having a number one overall pick on your roster is kind of difficult sometimes and you know we’re not complaining about that

But just throwing it out there so thought that was interesting and this was just a a really tough game I love the fight that we saw from this Pacers team in the third to get back into it to make it a game to take the lead and

Continue to claw back into it even in the fourth when Edwards was hitting those big shots like great play on an out of bounds call after a timeout where they got Turner an open look in the corner right in front of the bench he drilled that n Smith you know big balls

Right there knocking three free throws in a row like that takes a lot of guts a lot of pressure on you to make that a game and he drilled them all I thought that was great even though he only shot two of 10 tonight he was really bad from

The field he’s he’s been struggling he’s been bad since injury yeah yeah so but let me let me ask you this two situations maybe three but they they end up challenging the original offensive foul call Miles Turner when he ran into goar go doesn’t get overturned

Goar hit him with that arm and I feel like Turner was kind of deflecting his arm off so I feel like goar had the first Contact on that so I wasn’t getting the TV angle so that’s why I wanted to ask you I saw it on TV yeah

Two two more question questions here I I think the big one for me was the no look at the flagrant foul when Tyrese got hit in the face yeah after they just went in the first half and looked at two separate plays where someone got I think

Actually less contact to the face the Conley elbow right on uh I forget who hit him in the face with the elbow but then there was another one too where they looked at it and it was like two seconds and like okay it was Jaylen

Smith I think got hit in the face and they were like okay you know no no flagrant foul just a common foul but for them not to even review that one on HTT I thought that was a little bit interesting it was interesting and obviously you know that’s another thing

You could look back and say well the pat lose by two and you know you don’t get that call I mean I think they totally should have at least reviewed that call and I think that it’s a it’s frustrating when when you look back at just how

Close of a game this was and how how much of a difference maybe that could have made but there was a few sketchy calls that we talked about throughout this game that it wasn’t the best officiating that anyone’s seen but um I I I definitely think that you were right

In terms of those situations the Pacers were on the wrong end of those calls or lack thereof but I have a question for you in terms of his situation obviously you know say we’re not debating if the Pacers should have called a timeout at the end of the game when how’s passing

The ball up to nice Smith the only only other player that really has a chance is Andrew neard by three-point land or he’s in the corner do you still stand with the I would rather have Aaron n Smith in a fast break compared to Andrew

N hard more wide open but it is Andrew nard from three i’ rather have tyres halber with the ball in his hands when the game’s on the line and not Aaron n Smith sure yeah that’s where I stand first just to be honest with you yes I I

Think you have your onetwo punch with him and SE yakum for a reason so I understand why they didn’t called time out I think it was you know the right basketball play but like Aaron neith has been struggling all game long to make baskets and Minnesota has a lot of

Length so to get the ball up the court like not a bad idea because there wasn’t a lot of time left but that’s a really tough spot to put n Smith in I think there was really about three Defenders right there in the paint by the time he

Ended up getting the shot up even though Edwards hit his back you know his head against the backboard like yeah like that’s just a tough spot and if you’re asking n Smith to make that pass to NIMH hard in the corner like okay but have we seen n Smith like really showcase how

Good of a passer he can be like we’ve seen flashes of it but like do you really trust him with that pass no I’m with you I stand by the like I think that you have a better chance at a layup or getting fouled or anything of the

Sort it’s like when I looked at it and I just watched it back and I was just like I still stand with I think ni Smith goes up for it then Andrew nard right hey look n hard’s hit a massive game-winning three-pointer against the Lakers it was

An absolute perfect pass and all of that situation but I still feel that n Smith had a good chance a good shot at it in that moment when the Pacers are electing to push the ball I think the other alternative you could say is yeah the Pacers should have called timeout I

Think it’s easy to say after the fact when things don’t go you know your way why wouldn’t you call a timeout but in that moment the Pacers wanted to to push it Anthony Edward said he’s never jumped that high in his life yeah I’ve never seen anybody jump that high before that

Wasn’t like an alleyoop or anything like that like on a defensive play I I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone get up that high no no there’s no doubt about it and I think Rick Carlile mentioned it too and I went back and watched a replay n

Smith could have actually taken a pull up three there too he had a lot of space yeah to pull up and take a three obviously hadn’t been hitting the three all night and you know he’s the thing is like and I’m not trying to be mean to n

Smith I hate that I’m saying it like this but it’s like it’s really tough to put him in that spot with the game on the line to make that big of a play like he did the best that he could and like he even kind of threw the ball up a

Little bit higher on that shot on the layup I don’t even know if that layup goes in if Anthony doesn’t you know we’ll never know that’s the big if you know and and then the other question I was going to ask you too because we talked about some other questionable

Foul calls a lot of fans were upset there was no foul call on that drive attempt by n Smith did you feel like there was a foul there I I don’t know I mean I’m sure if you like rewound Ed a bunch and you looked cuz there was like three bodies

There but I thought maybe a blocked it first and then maybe when he was coming down maybe there could have been some contact uh in my opinion I I don’t know I guess I just when I watched it in real time on TV I I thought it was just a

Block kind of how I felt that’s kind of how everybody else felt on the media row too nobody was like oh that should have been a foul everybody was like no I think he got him clean like that’s just heck of play and it stinks it stinks

Like I I told you I sat there and I was like I’m impressed but I’m mad I don’t know what to feel like I like that was I I wish the Pacers weren’t on the end of that so I could really appreciate just how like wow Anthony ER is really in my

Mind just like he took a big step forward but I thought it was clean and I’m sure there’s always going to be the the more biased approach that you know some Indiana fans might say hey he got fouled I’m sure the common NBA fan is probably like that’s a clean play but

Over the last three games we talking about n Smith struggles he’s four of 20 from shooting uh yeah it it’s been rough he’s uh two of 10 from three it’s just that there’s there’s not much that’s been there offensively and this is someone that for a while was really I

Mean Rock Solid for the Pacers putting up double Figures it’s been a little bit of a tough stretch I think that nce Smith will get back to who he was but obviously this was someone that was having you know beyond a career year this year but also you got to remember

At one point this man was top two in the NBA in three-point percentage Yeah you the threo percentage has now come down a bit it’s just below 45% which is still incredible but at one point n Smith was shooting you know about 48% from three and uh that was really impressive I mean

He’s he’s been really good all year long so I’m not going to be mad at him for being a little bit slow coming back from that leg injury but it just it just takes time to get your legs back and get back in a rhythm and figure things out

And I think he’ll be okay you know in a couple of weeks but I think patience is key here even though it does feel like the clock is ticking faster because the season only has 18 games left in it now and the Pacers are trying to make a push

For the standings based on everything I’ve seen with Orlando’s schedule coming up like I would almost just try to ignore what their schedule looks like and maybe focus on the teams you have the tiebreakers with Miami New York um and Philadelphia because that’s where it

Could be really key here so that makes a lot of sense to me but what if I told you tonight fi oh what do you got that TJ Warren his seven points would have been the second it was the second most if if he was on the Pacers because he

Outscored everybody on the Pacers bench besides Jaylen Smith there was this moment where I was just like I heard I heard christiner talking about TJ Warren and I was watching TV and I was like wait a minute hold on and I looked and I

Was like that is is TJ Warren and I was like oh my God like I had heard that he had signed a 10-day contract recently but like it just wasn’t like top of the mind that oh wow TJ Warren’s coming back in like he looked a lot Slimmer um you

Know it was nice to just see him out there be able to you know he had one really nice like off the backboard basket that I remember that I was like wow like TJ okay you know he still he still got it but it’s just um you can’t

Not root for TJ Warren because then when you just go through his stats and you just see like how good of a player he was and then when once that injury sets in it’s just there’s such a big chunk of his career that’s missing that I really

Do hope that he’s able to stick around and it would be cool to see TJ Warren being able to contribute something for a really good Minnesota Timberwolves team and uh I’m always going to root for him tonight 16 minutes this was his first game action of the year yeah so that was

Fun to see first game action and he did that I was kind of like what the heck man like how did this happen and I and I thought to myself hm would you rather sign TJ Warren to a 10-day contract or converted Kendall Brown’s two-way to a

Standard contract so he can never see the floor I’m gonna go with TJ Warren I think that’s very unfortunate uh I think that for Kendall it’s a that’s a that’s a nice like uh send a good message to the team type of thing but like TJ

Warren one I think would have been you know a fan favorite of hey that’s just a really good story bring him back and then next if he’s given us seven points and what he gave tonight uh the Patriot really could have used it because there there wasn’t much happening Off the

Bench and I think that uh you know TJ War hey look I I hope it’s more than just one game like this I would love if he could do this nightly but a night like tonight yeah I think the Pacers would have rathered TJ Warren’s minutes than uh the lack thereof for Kendall

Brown yeah and and I think that you know there’s so much pressure on that bench to get scoring from Matan now that he’s going to be gone the next three games there’s just a big vacancy right there at that position in terms of who’s going

To get your points and you know I’m not going to say the Pacers win this game if matan’s healthy tonight but but he you do realize how big of an impact he has on this team and I know yeah I’ve been getting some direct messages you know responding to our mailbag podcast and

The frustrations people are are having with Rick Carlile and the kind of leash that he’s got mathine on being a little bit shorter than that of a NIMH har or other guys like that but you know I I feel like based on everything we’ve seen so far like you cannot say that mathine

Was not given an opportunity because he was a starter at the beginning of the year Y and he was just too inconsistent defensively and so he still is too inconsistent defensively uh too inconsistent defensively but I but I think that he’s slowly starting to figure things out a

Little bit more I’ve been more impressed with him as of late than I had been earlier in the season when I was kind of like what is his what is his problem with being so inconsistent I think he’s slowly starting to figure things out and

It’s a bit of a bummer that he’s going through this injury that he’s going through now because once again it puts the Pacers behind the eightball with not having everybody healthy trying to make this last run to you know get ahead in the standings but I think they have

Enough Talent on this roster that they can win games without him but they are a worse Team without him yeah now they’re definitely worst team without him I mean one player Off the Bench had more than six it was Jaylen Smith he had 10 of those points in the first half that

Means in the second half you didn’t really get much out of the bench um so I think that that was definitely uh very unfortunate and I think that even if Matan can can give you 10 tonight I think it would have made a big difference and I think that that you

Know there was just no one that you felt really confident in tonight coming off the bench to say hey this guy can go out there and really get us buckets and I think that right now the problem with the TJ McConnell is like the last two games he was really good if you’re

Asking TJ McConnell to be your go-to player Off the Bench I think you’re asking for a lot and I I think that uh he’s able to do it in in certain uh spurts and and it’s awesome but I think that you can’t just rely on McConnell to

Be going out there to get you 15 plus points and you know seven eight assists on a nightly basis it’s just it’s asking a little bit too much this would have been a great win to be able to pick up you uh we did see that the

Miami Heat lost tonight um so I I I think there was an opportunity for the Pacers to you know gain some ground but I know we’re in that crossroads of just like you don’t want to pay attention to too many others but at the same point it’s just there’s a big difference

Between right now the Pacers are four games up on Chicago it feels like as time goes on the play is feeling just a lot more real and I’m just not ready to accept that yet yeah I mean like like we talked about like you can get caught up

In it you know they’re only a game back of Philly for seven right now Chicago’s four games behind them I think they played a night against the Warriors playing right now at 77 all with six minutes left in the third so that game could go anyway but you know they’ve got

A tough stretch ahead here too they’re not playing the easiest at schedule they’ve got some winnable games for sure but they’ve got some tough ones too and two against Indiana so Indiana is going to really need to take care of business and win those games and they got to win

That one against Orlando they just got to they got to take care of business little by little and there’s no room for error that’s kind of where it’s at now so on paper the Pacers I think were like predicted by ESPN’s predictor like it was like a 69.1% chance that Minnesota

Would win this game so the Pacers were already not the favorite to win they made it a game they had an opportunity they had some good moments but they just cannot put together a complete game and if they can do that fi moving forward and Lily like learn from this yes but

Like I’m tired of hearing like we got to learn from this you’re in March it is March 7th I’m tired of hearing that excuse I completely agree I think by now it’s like we’ve seen that it’s just like the Pacers have the same problems now

For the most part that they’ve had for a large chunk of this year all year long did they give up 130 or 140 tonight no but Minnesota’s not also that team and they were without one of their best players so I I feel that you know yeah

They kept it very close they could have won but it’s another one of those games that has just kind of slipped by the Pacers on this year and there there’s quite a few of those I think that was an opportunity winning on the road is not

Going to be any easier and the Pacers have a a big stretch on the road coming up it’s actually uh seven of their next 10 are on the road so that’s not going to be buckle up baby I want to be extra buckled because this

Is the Big Stretch right now I want to be extra buckled with the airbags everything because it’s going to get a little scary from here and I think that this is that pivotal stretch for the Pacers to be able to take care of business because once that road trip’s

Done those seven of those 10 games on the road it it takes you to basically about you know the start of April it’s from there every game’s going to feel like a playoff game because you’re going to be fighting for seating on a on a on

A daily basis you could be sliding up and down the standings you don’t want to run into if it would be so deflating to run into like a Boston in the first round and just after everything the Pacers have done you’re facing now a Boston team that that’s first in the NBA

In offense or you know right around there they’re one of the top offensive teams but they’re also one of the top defensive teams and it’s just Boston’s having a special season I really want the Patriots to be able to draw just about anybody but the Celtics so you

Could feel like you have a good shot in the playoffs but for now uh that’s going to change on a DayDay basis yeah no doubt about it vaji so I think overall everybody like I’m not going to rip the team too much for this loss I thought it

Was a very competitive game much better performance what you saw against New Orleans and San Antonio like there was a lot of fight there especially in the second half I thought the crowd was great it was really interesting to kind of be there in the arena to hear the

Crowd react because it was a pretty Pro Pacers crowd but every time Edwards made a shot the oo and the AZ that came out were just like everybody was impressed and I and I I’ll just say this like I’m not trying to like gawk over what Anthony Edwards did tonight but it it

Was special and I’m kind of interested to see what he does this next month with Carl Anthony towns down like he’s gonna have to step up and be more of the guy than he has been before and so maybe we’re kind of seeing like this could be

Like a career changing game for him kind of putting him into that mvp conversation like you talked about because I don’t think he’s there yet but like he’s got the talent to be like maybe become an MVP of the league at some point definitely like he’s he’s to

Me he’s kind of got that Mamba mentality that you know somebody asked me like man you know who do you think he look like and I said well in some of those moments he look like MJ like I’m not just saying that to say that but like the the way he

Closed that game out the way that he got the block after the Miss free throw like that just kind of shows you like how special he is and that’s not me just being over the top and dramatic about how good it was like no like you’ve seen

The pictures the side by side of him next to Michel Jordan a picture there are some similarities there are he was he was just unbelievable in this game especially in the close and Indiana really just could not match what he brought and I think that just kind of

Shows you where they are at in terms of like missing just that I I don’t want to say they’re missing that number one guy but it sure feels like it yeah because I I feel like halber while he’s our number one he’s not gonna get you 40 like he’s

Not really going out there and getting you 30 to 40 points could could he do that yes he could but he’s more influencing the game in many different ways when Minnesota needed buckets Anthony Edwards stepped up over the if he misses even one of those baskets all

Towards the end when he went three of three final minute I mean it’s a it’s a totally different game it’s completely up in the air of who wins and I think that tonight this really was like a h true like star in the making moment for Anthony Edwards that everybody on social

Media is talking about it but the one thing I got to say if we’re talking about a glass half full uh there what was it like in the crowd when Pascal shakum was down because I had a quick moment where I was like oh no and Luckily everything seemed to be

All right we’ll see what happens if there’s any other news reported but what was it like in the crowd seeing that yeah I I think there was I didn’t hear a lot of murmuring I just kind of heard like uh everybody was just kind of

Waiting to see if he got up or not before they made a reaction to it but yeah you’re right I think there was a little bit of concern like please just get up please just get up and you know I was sitting next to Bob Kravitz at the

Game the night fch and I leaned over to him because SE yakum had some big buckets in that fourth quarter too and I looked at him and he had that little 18 foot you know fadeaway over the shoulder shot that he made and I said that reminds me of David West so

Much good old D Man the good old days I kind of feel like not the same player but they’re kind of in the same role right like David West came to a younger team trying to ascend you know halton’s here matan’s really young like Turner is

Probably more in like that Hibert era at this point of his career like you know so I kind of could see the similarities a little bit there but just that way that he was kind of cooking I felt like he like they didn’t really have a good

Answer for Pascal seak in this game tonight so he was big I mean you could kind of feel like how important he was and that’s why I said like at the end of the game I would rather him or halberton have the shot over ni Smith or Nimar no

Offense you know just have the ball in Tyrese’s hands with the game on the line like that’s what you want even if he does get stripped like we seen a couple different times this year maybe you don’t just let him isolate because he’s a little bit too predictable his little

Move that he does he does the same thing almost every time so I think really smart Defenders are going to be able to get into that but you’re right that that little scare there for Pascal was a bit worrisome but I don’t think it was like

Like over the top exaggerated I I think everybody was just kind of like get up get up get up and thankfully he did I just think us Pacer fans have just been through a lot and just when someone hits the ground like that you know it is it

Has not been good between you know countless players but the one thing I would say as good as shakum was you know offensively the one thing that I pointed out last episode was like I loved or maybe not last maybe two episodes ago whatever was when he had 13 rebounds

Against Dallas i’ pointed out how he’s had I mean that was that was tied for the most most rebounds he’s had as a Pacer but he’s had numerous double digit rebounds for the Pacers but on a night like tonight just four rebounds that’ll come against a Rudy goar where just goar

Is hey he’s he’s a lead at what he does and goar on his side of things pulled down 14 boards but then also you think about Turner and the foul trouble that Turner was in this game it really did make a big difference Turner had five

Fouls felt like he was he was only able to play 21 minutes by far the fewest at of any of the starters and uh you know Rudy goar he found himself in a couple couple tussles tonight between it was you know Aaron n Smith and goar and then

I think it was actually goar that stepped on cakam or or got involved in that situation so you know I I don’t I don’t think that that that one was intentional but it was just the Pacers have had a little bit of a history with goar between Turner and Rudy going at it

In the past so um there there was definitely some moments but but uh I’m glad that everybody’s all right I am too and you’re right Rudy goar is just not a fun player to root for he’s a fun player to root against but um I think that’s G

To wrap it up for the postgame show F obviously a big game on Sunday you know we might uh have a I might have a pregame show for that one just because I think it’s big and we’ve got some friends in Orlando that do some great

Work down there maybe we can get one of them on the show do a pregame podcast for that but um we’ll definitely be back to recap that game well you actually won’t be here you’ll be out of town so I actually already have a guest Derrick

Schultz is going to be joining me to recap that game on on Sunday night so you guys will get a game recap there with uh me and derck Schultz and I might try to do like I said a preview before that just to get you guys all set up for

That game and maybe look a little bit deeper at this upcoming schedule for the Pacers and just how challenging it’s going to be but with that being said fi go ahead and let everybody know where they can find us at on social media absolutely so you can find us on Twitter

At PP pod STP you can find Alex on Twitter at Alex golden NBA I can be found on Twitter _ FCI you can find us on Instagram at Pacers pod STP you can find us on Facebook at setting the pace you can find us on Tik Tok at setting

The pce Alex tell them where they can check us out on YouTube ladies and Gentlemen please go to youtube.com/ setting the Pacer Pacers podcast And subscribe to that channel like the video let us know what you think in the comment section below about the game obviously a lot of questionable calls a

Lot of bit of you know what if or could have should have would stuff and very frustr very frustrated fan base after this loss because of the opportunities that were there to win this game and we understand that so if you disagree with what we said that’s fine you’re you’re

Allowed to have your own opinions you know it’s just an opinion there’s no right or wrong answer to it so uh we’re just going to stick with what we think and and listen to your opinions but we would love to hear from you whether it’s on social media or in the YouTube

Comment section below but fi if you’re excited that jerus Walker got an opportunity tonight and played pretty well didn’t hit me with those three words let’s go Pacers

Alex Golden is joined by Michael J. Facci to recap the Pacer 113-111 loss to Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves. Indiana clawed their way back into the game after a sluggish start in the 1st quarter, but their comeback efforts weren’t enough, as ANT and his teammates closed out a tightly contested ball game in the final few minutes of the game.

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