Post-Game Grades: Indiana Pacers Weren’t Hungry Like the Minnesota Timberwolves

The Indiana Pacers ended up losing to the Minnesota Timberwolves on a trio of Ricky Rubio free throws.

The Good: Paul George got cooking early as he dropped 25 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals, and an assist in the first half. He ended the game on 12 of 21 shooting for 37 points, including a perfect 9 of 9 on free throws.

Normally, this is exciting and fun to talk about, but with his frustrations spilling over after the game, it just is hard to see it as anything but a possible reason why Paul George will leave.

He isn’t happy when he pushed himself this hard and doesn’t get that in return from his teammates.

The Bad: Not having three of your bench players. With Al Jefferson, Glenn Robinson III, and Rodney Stuckey out, the Pacers bench struggled to keep pace. This forced Indiana to rely more on their starters to do the work. It wasn’t pretty for the most part when the bench was in action.

McMillan was forced to play the starters more than usual and blend the two groups to make things work. Tried legs couldn’t have helped as the Pacers have up a 12-4 run in the final 3:46 of play.

MVP: Karl-Anthony Towns mirrored Paul George with 37 points, but went 12 of 22 from the field while grabbing 12 rebounds.

LVP: Aaron Brooks scored zero points and turned the ball over three times. He also had one assist. Hooray.

X-Factor: Ricky Rubio either earning a trip to the foul line to win the game, or the officials making the wrong call. Judge for yourself.