The Indiana Pacers squandered a 24-point lead and were dragged into an overtime thriller by the Minnesota Timberwolves during the NBA preseason.
It may be the offseason, but things felt high stakes as the Indiana Pacers survived the Minnesota Timberwolves in an overtime thriller, 135-134, at the Target Center in Minneapolis on Tuesday night (Wednesday morning, Manila time).
The Pacers were ahead for most of the game, dominating by as much as 24 points midway through the third quarter, before Minnesota went on a blistering 29-7 run abridging the third and fourth cantos to chip away at the lead.
With 8:47 ticks remaining in the ballgame, the Wolves were within one, 96-97, after a Johnny Juzang triple.
While the Pacers were able to restore some distance by as much as 13 points with 3:02 left, another scoring burst — a 16-3 run flurry — ended regulation at 124-all and forced the Pacers into an extra five minutes of play.
It was even Minnesota who had the chance to win the game in regulation with an 8-footer from Alize Johnson pulling up with three ticks remaining. However, Johnson missed.
During the extra period, the Pacers led by four early, 128-124, after a flagrant foul was called on Enrique Freeman at the 4:41 mark.
But it was a nip-and-tuck affair by the end of it, with multiple lead changes and two deadlocks in the last few minutes of overtime. In the end, it was a split from the free throw line courtesy of Jarace Walker that helped Indiana reach the final score.
Freeman missed on the potential game-winning shot at the horn when he missed from the beyond the arc.
Six different Pacers finished in double digit scoring with Ray J Dennis leading the way with 16 points and five assists.
Pascal Siakam added 14 markers, three boards, three dimes, and two steals while Johnny Furphy also chipped in 12 points, three rebounds, one assist, and one steal.
Juzang led the way in the losing effort for the Wolves with 20 points on 6-of-9 shooting.
Anthony Edwards also had 17 markers in the botched comeback try for Minnesota.
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Luisa Morales is a sports writer with a special interest in promoting women’s sports.
Her coverage highlights include the UAAP, PVL, Southeast Asian Games, and the FIBA World Cup. She also follows Alex Eala, the Philippine women’s national football team, and mixed martial arts.