Behind 31 points from Julius Randle, the Minnesota Timberwolves weathered the early exit of star Anthony Edwards to send the visiting Indiana Pacers to their third straight season-opening loss in a 114-110 decision on Sunday.
Edwards, Minnesota’s two-time All-NBA guard, sustained what was announced as a hamstring injury just three minutes into Sunday’s contest in Minneapolis. Edwards attacked the basket and took contact, then was taken to the locker room after being subbed out.
With the explosive scorer Edwards out of the lineup, Randle picked up the slack with a season-high on 11-of-18 shooting from the floor. He led five Timberwolves scoring in double-figures, joined by Donte DiVincenzo with 17, Rudy Gobert with 14 and Jaden McDaniels with 11.
Naz Reid came off the bench to score 16 points and grab 10 rebounds. He and Gobert, who had 18 rebounds, each recorded double-doubles for Minnesota, helping counter a sensational effort from Indiana’s Pascal Siakam.
Siakam led all scorers with 33 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and dished eight assists. He added three steals to his near-triple-double stat line, stepping up for a Pacers lineup facing its own injury issues.
Indiana came into the season already down Tyrese Haliburton, the result of an Achilles’ injury sustained in Game 7 of June’s NBA Finals. Bennedict Mathurin, the Pacers’ leading scorer in its first two games against Oklahoma City and Memphis, suffered a foot injury on Saturday against the Grizzlies that sidelined him for Sunday’s second leg of the back-to-back.
Aaron Nesmith shot 5-of-12 from 3-point range en route to 18 points, Tony Bradley scored 12 points off the bench, and RayJ Dennis scored in double-figures for the third time in his last four regular-season appearances dating back to last season with 12 points.
However, Indiana’s 16 turnovers, which Minnesota converted into 26 points, were too much for the Pacers to endure.
The game, dead even through the first quarter and featuring a mere bucket separation at half (Indiana led 60-58), turned toward the Timberwolves in the third quarter, when they outscored the Pacers 28-17 to take control.
Indiana got the margin down to 108-105 with 1:31 left on a Sheppard free throw. Less than a minute later, the Pacers again got the margin down to a single basket when Siakam’s 3-pointer cut the lead to 110-108.
McDaniels answered with a finger roll layup and then Conley sank two free throws for a 6-point margin with 9.3 seconds left.
