Loss to the Timberwolves exposes one big flaw with the Indiana Pacers
By Ryan Stano
The Indiana Pacers lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday night. What's even worse is that it was at home without Karl Anthony-Towns playing in the game. He was out with a torn meniscus. Yet, the Pacers still weren't able to take advantage of that and win the game.
Despite making a comeback in the second half, they ultimately fell short. It didn't help that the Pacers were without Bennedict Mathurin. He could have helped in the first half when things were starting to slip away. But not having him is not the Pacers' biggest issue.
Quite frankly, the Timberwolves exposed Indiana's biggest flaw. It's a flaw we've seen before, mainly in the In-Season Tournament Finals. The Lakers were the first team to show that the Pacers are just too small to be true contenders. The Wolves showed that again on Thursday night.
The Indiana Pacers are too small to beat the best teams consistently
Indiana has never been a good rebounding team. They are the third-worst rebounding team in the league in terms of total rebounds. and are 22nd in rebound differential. That showed up against Minnesota when they were -9 on the boards.
Myles Turner had no answer for Rudy Gobert inside. Gobert gobbled up 6 offensive rebounds and had 18 points, mostly on lobs. Indiana gets killed with bigs who can rim-run. They aren't big enough in the frontcourt to deter it, either in length or girth. Both Turner and Siakam are skinny and so are Jalen Smith and Isaiah Jackson.
It's clear that unless the Pacers' three-pointers are falling at a high clip, they can't beat these bigger teams. Making a bunch of threes is how they beat the Bucks four times this season. While they made 10 against the Wolves, they shot just 38% from beyond the arc.
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That's not a bad percentage, but they have to hit at an elite clip. That's how big of a size disadvantage they are at against some of the better teams. Minnesota, Boston, Milwaukee, Denver, and Cleveland all have significant size advantages over them. Haliburton better start making those deep threes again.