Tonight at 7:00 p.m. ET at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indiana, the Pacers (12-1) will host the high-powered Minnesota Timberwolves (8-7) in NBA inter-conference action that can be live streamed here. Wolves fans can listen to the game on 1500 ESPN Twin Cities, while Pacers fans can hear the game on 1070 The Fan.
Despite their 12-1 start to the season, Indiana Pacers head coach Frank Vogel is still searching for ways for his team to improve. One way to do that is to reward center Roy Hibbert's stellar efforts on defense and on the glass with more offensive touches.
"We've been struggling to get Roy the ball," Vogel said. "He's doing all the dirty work for us, protecting the rim, rebounding, offensive rebounding. We haven't been sharp in our post game the last couple games.
"He's been dominant defensively all year, and when we need him to step up on the offensive end, he does."
Hibbert and his frontcourt mate David West will have their hands full tonight against Minnesota's formidable front consisting of Kevin Love and Nikola Pekovic. Love leads the Wolves with 13.6 per game, while Pekovic is pulling down a little more than eight a night.
Love is also leading the Wolves with 25 points per game, many of them coming off Ricky Rubio assists. The Wolves can also present the problem of making Vogel decide who Paul George will guard; Rubio is a maestro of a creator (8.2 assists per game), but shooting guard Kevin Martin is averaging 23 a game while knocking down 46 percent of his 3-pointers on nearly six attempts per game.
Minnesota has been brutal away from their home floor, going 2-5 so far this year on the road. The Pacers only loss of the year came in front of their own fans, but they've amassed a 5-1 home record overall.
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