As the 2024-2025 NBA season marches towards its conclusion, each remaining game offers teams an opportunity to get mentally stronger for the playoffs. The Pacers did just that one night ago when they edged out the red-hot Timberwolves 132-130. The loss was a tough pill to swallow for the Wolves considering Indiana was missing four of its top stars, including Tyrese Haliburton, while they were at full strength. Does this spell trouble for Minnesota? Lou Williams doesn’t think so.
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‘Lemon Pepper Lou’ broke down the game during a recent edition of the Run It Back program. He explained that the Pacers bench had the energy to play more freely since they were down so many men.
Obi Toppin in particular had a career day for the Pacers. He dropped 34 points, including seven made three-pointers. Williams suggested that Minnesota “clap their hands” for Obi’s performance, and not let it live rent-free in their heads.
“They didn’t know that Obi Toppin was going to have a career night from three,” stated Williams. “So you don’t go into the next time you play this game gameplanning for Obi Toppin making seven threes. You gameplan for everything else that’s around that.”
To drive his point home, the three-time Sixth Man of the Year winner used a casino analogy. “If you go to the casino with $100K of somebody else’s money, how freely are you going to play?” asked Lou.
Danny Green agreed with Williams, and added that playing those types of teams is the “worst” because the players have “nothing to lose.”
. @TeamLou23 on the Timberwolves losing to a Pacers team missing 4 starters:
“People don’t realize those are the worst games to play in. If you go to the casino with $100K of somebody else’s money, how freely are you going to play?”@MichelleDBeadle | @DGreen_14 pic.twitter.com/yFOmcGK05s
— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) March 18, 2025
Lou Will is right. The Wolves had been on a dominant run, and shouldn’t become complicit. Their performance against the Pacers has shined a bright light on the chinks in their armor.
Before the loss, the Timberwolves were on an eight-game winning streak
The Wolves, led by Anthony Edwards and Rudy Gobert, had rattled off eight straight wins before dropping the nail-biter to the starless Pacers.
While some of those matchups were against poorer teams like the Hornets or the Jazz, they did put a pounding on the Denver Nuggets, a team they’ve owned ever since last year’s playoffs.
Julius Randle has also finally found his role for the team. Over this eight-game stretch, the former Knick dropped 17, 11, 22, 25, 14, 13, 25, and 16 points. He’s provided a nice spark when Ant was on the bench and could be the key ingredient that helps the Wolves make a deep playoff run this postseason.
That is assuming the Timberwolves win their Play-In games. The squad currently sits at the #7 spot in the West, with the Clippers, Kings, and Mavericks right behind them. The depth in the West means no one gets free meals and even a play-in spot will be fiercely contested.
