Indiana Pacers vs Minnesota Timberwolves Prediction, 12/16/2023 Preview and Pick

Game: Indiana Pacers vs Minnesota Timberwolves

Date: Saturday, December 16, 2023

Location: Target Center in Minneapolis, MN

TV: Bally Sports North

Target Center is the location where the Minnesota Timberwolves (18-5) will take on the Indiana Pacers (13-9) on Saturday.

The Pacers took the court against the Bucks and went home with a loss by a final score of 140-126 in their last game. In reference to personal fouls, the Pacers ended up finishing with 32 while the Bucks recorded 24 personal fouls. They knocked down 7 of 27 shots from downtown. Milwaukee ended up going 77.1% at the charity stripe by converting 37 of 48 attempts. In addition, Milwaukee collected 43 rebounds (12 offensive, 31 defensive) and added 6 blocked shots. Milwaukee recorded 27 assists and had 8 steals in the game. In regard to the defense, Indiana allowed the other team to shoot 53.9% from the floor on 48 of 89 shooting. They also distributed 30 assists for the game in addition to forcing the other team into 15 turnovers and having 7 steals. Pertaining to getting rebounds, they compiled 45 with 16 of them being offensive. From the charity stripe, the Pacers knocked down 25 of their 32 attempts for a rate of 78.1%. Indiana ended having earned a 45.0% field goal percentage (45 out of 100) and converted 11 out of their 36 three-point shots.

Tyrese Haliburton is someone who was a contributor in the game. He ended up finishing with 22 points on 8 out of 16 shooting. He saw the court for 31 mins and also pulled down 5 rebounds. Haliburton shot 50.0% from the floor and also earned 7 dimes.

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Indiana will enter this contest with a record of 13-9 so far this year. They cough up possession 13.0 times per game and as a group they commit 22.6 fouls per contest. As a team, Indiana is grabbing 40.4 boards per contest and is sitting with 667 dimes so far this year, which has them ranked 5th in the league in terms of passing the rock. The Pacers are connecting on 37.9% on shots from 3-point land (320 of 844) and 78.9% from the charity stripe. They are averaging 128.4 pts per game (1st in basketball) while shooting 50.7% from the floor.

On the defensive end of the court, the Pacers are forcing their opponents into 14.3 turnovers every game and they draw 19.2 fouls. They are currently ranked 4th in the NBA in giving up assists to their opponents with 546 relinquished for the campaign. The Pacers defensively are giving up an opponent shooting percentage of 50.3% (1,008 of 2,002) and they relinquish 43.1 boards per game as a squad. They surrender 38.1% on shots from beyond the perimeter and they rank 29th in the league in points per game from their opponents (125.5).

When they last stepped on the court, the Timberwolves went home victorious with a score of 119-101 when they played the Mavericks. With respect to how they cleaned up the glass, Minnesota allowed Dallas to collect 34 overall (4 on the offensive side). They finished 21.9% from distance by going 7 of 32 and walked away from this one shooting 16 out of 18 from the free throw line (88.9%). The Timberwolves permitted the Mavericks to convert 39 of their 83 tries from the field which gave them a percentage of 47.0% for this game. When the final whistle was blown, the Timberwolves finished the game shooting 44 out of 88 from the floor which gave them a percentage of 50.0%. With respect to three-point shots, Minnesota converted 14 of 31 attempts (45.2%). They were able to bury 17 of the free throw attempts for a clip of 68.0%. The Mavericks committed 19 fouls in this game which took the Timberwolves to the free throw line for 25 attempts. They also coughed up the ball 15 times, while earning 9 steals in the game. The Timberwolves collected 33 defensive rebounds and 12 offensive boards totaling 45 for the contest.

Naz Reid ended up being important for the Timberwolves in this game. Reid racked up 27 points in his 31 minutes on the court and tallied 3 assists in this game. He knocked down 8 of 14 in this game for a rate of 57.1%, and had 6 rebounds.

Minnesota has a mark of 18-5 for the year. On the offensive side of the ball, the Timberwolves are hitting on 48.0% from the field, which ranks 8th in basketball. Minnesota has 2,599 pts on the season (113.0 per contest) and they collect 45.9 rebounds per game. They are earning an assist 25.6 times per game (19th in the league) and they lose possession by turning the ball over 15.0 times per game. The Timberwolves are committing 19.4 personal fouls per game and they connect on 78.9% from the free throw line.

The Minnesota defense gives up 33.2% on three-point shots (260 of 783) and their opponents are connecting on 79.9% of their free throw attempts. They have conceded 24.3 dimes and 41.7 total rebounds per game, which is 4th and 4th in the NBA. The Timberwolves defensively are ranked 2nd in the league in points allowed per contest with 105.7. They are able to force 14.2 turnovers on a nightly basis and allow teams to shoot 43.2% from the field (1st in basketball).

Who will win tonight's NBA game against the spread?

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Indiana

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