Pooh
12-21-2003, 04:50 AM
By Johnnie Clay - Pacers Insider.
December 21, 2003 - 1:00 a.m.
Feeling good about themselves after last nights' win over the Detroit Pistons, the Indiana Pacers walked into a buzzsaw this evening at the Target Center. Waiting for them was Kevin Garnett and the Minnesota Timberwolves, who dismantled the Pacers this evening 102-80.
The loss snapped the Pacers 26 game streak of holding opponents to under 100 points, just four games shy of the NBA record. However, it was how the Pacers were defeated that was the most embarassing.
The Pacers spend the entire first half wonder where their shot had gone. In the first quarter alone, the Pacers shot 29%, but that was just the beginning. In a second quarter that saw both teams score a combine 4 points midway through the quarter, the Pacers shot just 27%, hitting only three field goals that quarter, the remainder of their points, came from the free-throw line.
On the opposite end, the T-Wolves came out firing, hitting 62% in the first quarter before cooling off to 57% for the first half. Kevin Garnett, whose making a serious case for MVP this season had 17 points by halftime. His counterpart, the Pacers Jermaine O'Neal had 10 points, but that was the only bright spot in an otherwise dismal half, as the Pacers limped into halftime trailing 54-31.
The thrid quarter began like the first, with the Pacers still searching for some kind of offense, while the T-Wolves kept charging along, extending their lead to nearly 30 points during the second half. The Pacers played catch up the entire evening. The final score wasn't an indication of how truly bad this game really was. The Pacers were completely dominated in all phases this evening.
Garnett led all scorers with a dominating performance, scoring 28 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists and 7 block shots. Every time a Pacer would drive inside, their shot was either blocked or knocked out of bounds by the overpowering Garnett.
The Pacers had four players in double-figures, most of it came during "garbage time", with the outcome already determined.
Jermaine O'Neal finished with 16 points and 5 rebounds.
Jonathan Brewer, who started his first game tonight, scored 12 points, while his teammate in last nights Pistons' victory, Austin Croshere, scored 15 points. Ron Artest had a horrible evening scoring just 8 points and 7 rebounds.
The loss had the Pacers reverting to their old ways, as they had four technical fouls, two by O'Neal, and one by Artest and Al Harrington. In all, seven technicals were handed out for the night.
For the game the Pacers shot 35% (29-82) and 62% (18-29) from the free-throw line. Another glaring statistic was the 19 turnovers for the Pacers, something very uncharacteristic, but something that needs to be fixed, otherwise there will be more losses like this.
The Pacers are now off until Tuesday, when they travel to the Lonestar State to take on the Houston Rockets, who like the Pacers are coming off a lop-sided defeat and will be looking to extract some revenge.
Gametime Tuesday is at 8:30 pm (EST)
December 21, 2003 - 1:00 a.m.
Feeling good about themselves after last nights' win over the Detroit Pistons, the Indiana Pacers walked into a buzzsaw this evening at the Target Center. Waiting for them was Kevin Garnett and the Minnesota Timberwolves, who dismantled the Pacers this evening 102-80.
The loss snapped the Pacers 26 game streak of holding opponents to under 100 points, just four games shy of the NBA record. However, it was how the Pacers were defeated that was the most embarassing.
The Pacers spend the entire first half wonder where their shot had gone. In the first quarter alone, the Pacers shot 29%, but that was just the beginning. In a second quarter that saw both teams score a combine 4 points midway through the quarter, the Pacers shot just 27%, hitting only three field goals that quarter, the remainder of their points, came from the free-throw line.
On the opposite end, the T-Wolves came out firing, hitting 62% in the first quarter before cooling off to 57% for the first half. Kevin Garnett, whose making a serious case for MVP this season had 17 points by halftime. His counterpart, the Pacers Jermaine O'Neal had 10 points, but that was the only bright spot in an otherwise dismal half, as the Pacers limped into halftime trailing 54-31.
The thrid quarter began like the first, with the Pacers still searching for some kind of offense, while the T-Wolves kept charging along, extending their lead to nearly 30 points during the second half. The Pacers played catch up the entire evening. The final score wasn't an indication of how truly bad this game really was. The Pacers were completely dominated in all phases this evening.
Garnett led all scorers with a dominating performance, scoring 28 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists and 7 block shots. Every time a Pacer would drive inside, their shot was either blocked or knocked out of bounds by the overpowering Garnett.
The Pacers had four players in double-figures, most of it came during "garbage time", with the outcome already determined.
Jermaine O'Neal finished with 16 points and 5 rebounds.
Jonathan Brewer, who started his first game tonight, scored 12 points, while his teammate in last nights Pistons' victory, Austin Croshere, scored 15 points. Ron Artest had a horrible evening scoring just 8 points and 7 rebounds.
The loss had the Pacers reverting to their old ways, as they had four technical fouls, two by O'Neal, and one by Artest and Al Harrington. In all, seven technicals were handed out for the night.
For the game the Pacers shot 35% (29-82) and 62% (18-29) from the free-throw line. Another glaring statistic was the 19 turnovers for the Pacers, something very uncharacteristic, but something that needs to be fixed, otherwise there will be more losses like this.
The Pacers are now off until Tuesday, when they travel to the Lonestar State to take on the Houston Rockets, who like the Pacers are coming off a lop-sided defeat and will be looking to extract some revenge.
Gametime Tuesday is at 8:30 pm (EST)