Minnesota @ Indiana preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 15, 2020 ) Indiana 104, Minnesota 99

Domantas Sabonis and Malcolm Brogdon aren't leading the Eastern Conference in All-Star votes, but the duo is certainly putting as much pressure on opposing defenses as any in the league. Sabonis and Brogdon will try to lead the Indiana Pacers to a home-and-home sweep when they host the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday.

Sabonis scored 25 of his 29 points in the first half on Wednesday and Brogdon scored 16 of his 21 after the break to keep the Timberwolves off balance and lead the Pacers to a 105-99 victory in Minnesota. "I told him they stopped collapsing on the pick-and-roll, and to stop passing me the ball - I'm going to get you open, just knock it down," Sabonis told reporters of Brogdon taking charge in the second half. "He has done that two games in a row now, so that was great." The Timberwolves took a five-point lead into the half on Wednesday but could not match Indiana after the break and suffered their third consecutive loss. "We didn't have the same intensity as we did when we came out in the first half," Minnesota small forward Robert Covington told reporters. "They kind of switched roles a little bit. They came out with the energy that we were supposed to come out with, and that's how the game started to go."

TIME: 7 p.m. ET. TV: FS North, FS Indiana

ABOUT THE TIMBERWOLVES (15-25): Minnesota played its 15th straight game without All-Star center Karl-Anthony Towns (knee, illness) on Wednesday and Andrew Wiggins struggled to carry the load, going scoreless after the break and finishing with 10 points. "We want him to be aggressive," Timberwolves coach Ryan Saunders told reporters of Wiggins. "We'll continue to stress that, and we want everybody on this team to be aggressive, get in the paint, and try and create. If the defense commits, that's where we're able to generate open looks." Gorgui Dieng collected 15 points and 11 rebounds against Indiana while starting in place of Towns, who remains day-to-day.

ABOUT THE PACERS (26-15): Brogdon was playing his second game back on Wednesday after missing nearly two weeks with a back injury and an illness and he has not missed a beat while totaling 42 points, 15 assists and 13 rebounds in the two contests. "He establishes us on both ends of the floor," Indiana coach Nate McMillan told reporters of Brogdon. "Late in games he's the guy who's playing with the ball and making decisions. This just his second game back, it seemed they had better chemistry down the stretch tonight out on the floor and I though they executed well." Brogdon (9-of-18) and Sabonis (13-of-17) combined to go 22-of-35 from the floor.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Pacers PG Aaron Holiday totaled three points on 1-of-8 shooting over the last two games.

2. Timberwolves SG Jarrett Culver is averaging 15.2 points during a streak of nine straight games in double figures.

3. Indiana and Minnesota split the two-game season series in each of the last three seasons.

PREDICTION: Pacers 116, Timberwolves 103