Paul George Guides Pacers Past Timberwolves, NBA Scores

By ESPN

On a night when he was picked for his fourth All-Star game, Paul George looked every bit the part.

Karl-Anthony Towns was right there with him, but the young Minnesota Timberwolves star will not be joining George in New Orleans next month.

George scored 32 points after being picked for his fourth All-Star game to lead the Indiana Pacers to a 109-103 victory over the Timberwolves on Thursday night.

"I've got to bring it," George said. "I've got to be ready at all times, always got to have the mindset to be aggressive."

Myles Turner added 23 points, and Jeff Teague had 20 points, 13 assists and eight rebounds to help the Pacers snap a three-game losing streak. Indiana outrebounded Minnesota 44-34 and shot 52 percent.

Towns had 33 points and 10 rebounds, Zach LaVine scored 23 points, and Andrew Wiggins had 21 for Minnesota. But the Timberwolves missed a chance for their first four-game winning streak since 2012.

"It felt like we were a step slow all night," Wolves coach Tom Thibodeau said.

The Pacers had lost three in a row and four of six since a trip to London snapped a five-game winning streak.

"Ever since we got back from London we haven't been the same team since before we left," Teague said. "We had to come out tonight and play with a lot of energy, played hard, and just got to continue to keep going."

George was named a reserve for the Eastern Conference about an hour before tipoff, and he came out firing with the 21-year-old Wiggins checking him. George hit 3 of 4 3-pointers and got Wiggins to foul him on a 3-pointer with seven minutes to play. Thibodeau picked up a technical foul for arguing the call and George, the leading free throw shooter in the league, made all four foul shots for an 86-81 lead.

Towns hit a pair of 3-pointers to try to jumpstart a Wolves charge and LaVine hit another to cut the deficit to 96-90. But Teague and C.J. Miles each hit 3-pointers late in the shot clock down the stretch to turn back the Wolves.

"We almost pulled it off," Towns said, "but almost isn't good enough."

Thursday, January 26 Scoreboard

Oklahoma City 109, Dallas 98

Indiana 109, Minnesota 103

Denver 127, Phoenix 120

Utah 96, Los Angeles Lakers 88

Friday, January 27 Schedule (All Times Central)

Sacramento at Indiana, 6 p.m.

Brooklyn at Cleveland, 6:30 p.m.

Orlando at Boston, 6:30 p.m.

Milwaukee at Toronto, 6:30 p.m.

Charlotte at New York, 6:30 p.m.

Houston at Philadelphia, 7 p.m.

Miami at Chicago, 7 p.m.

San Antonio at New Orleans, 7 p.m.

Washington at Atlanta, 7 p.m.

Memphis at Portland, 9 p.m.

Saturday, January 28 Schedule (All Times Central)

Sacramento at Charlotte, 6 p.m.

Detroit at Miami, 6:30 p.m.

Boston at Milwaukee, 7 p.m.

Los Angeles Clippers at Golden State, 7:30 p.m.

Memphis at Utah, 8 p.m.

Denver at Phoenix, 8 p.m.

Brooklyn at Minnesota, 8 p.m.

Sunday, January 29 Schedule (All Times Central)

New York at Atlanta, 2 p.m.

Oklahoma City at Cleveland, 2:30 p.m.

Houston at Indiana, 5 p.m.

Washington at New Orleans, 5 p.m.

Orlando at Toronto, 5 p.m.

Philadelphia at Chicago, 6 p.m.

Dallas at San Antonio, 6 p.m.

Golden State at Portland, 8 p.m.