Indianapolis, IN – Roy Hibbert recorded a double-double with 27 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Indiana Pacers to a 107-91 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday.
Hibbert shot 10-of-15 from the field for the Pacers, who came into the game off a 105-91 loss at Miami on Sunday. Paul George scored 17 points, George Hill had 16 points and six assists and David West registered 13 points and 10 rebounds.
"When we play hard things are fun out there," said Hibbert. "Everybody's eating -- that's what we say when everybody's scoring and getting stops and stuff like that -- we relish that and we like to see our teammates succeed."
Ricky Rubio, fresh off a triple-double against San Antonio on Tuesday, scored 21 points and dished out 10 assists. He also had six rebounds for the Timberwolves, who have lost three of their last four games. Luke Ridnour had 17 points in the setback.
"We fight all the way through," said Rubio. "We are not going to give up even if we're down seven, eight or nine points. I think their play inside hurt us a lot, especially Hibbert."
Both teams were offensively efficient in the first quarter. Minnesota shot 56.3 percent from the field. However, Indiana was even better, shooting 71.4 percent and ended the period with a 35-28 lead.
The Timberwolves started to come back in the second, though, as they continued to shoot above 50 percent and limited the Pacers to 38.1 percent.
Minnesota tied the game twice in the closing minutes. The first was when Derrick Williams sank a 3-pointer to make it 50-50. The second time was after a jumper by Ridnour to make it 54-54.
However, the Pacers went on a 8-0 run in the final 1:20 to give them a 62-54 advantage at halftime.
In the third quarter, Minnesota appeared to have run out of gas. Rubio scored eight points, but the team scored just 15 points on 5-of-21 shooting in the frame.
The Pacers extended their lead by as much as 16 points, 82-66, with just over two minutes to go before a free throw by Greg Stiemsma and a shot by Dante Cunningham made it an 82-69 game entering the fourth.
By then, the Timberwolves gave playing time to their bench players. They opened the period with a 7-0 spurt to bring them within six, 82-76, with less than ten minutes remaining in regulation, but it was not enough.
Game Notes
Indiana's Orlando Johnson scored 10 points in the fourth quarter ... The Pacers shot 50.0 percent from the field ... Minnesota and Indiana have split the season-series for the fifth time in six seasons.
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