This season the Timberwolves entered a fourth quarter ahead or tied 13 times, a number that included Wednesday's game against the Pacers.
Before Wednesday, the Wolves won six of those and lost six, which isn't a great track record.
The Wolves have had a knack for making you feel like they might lose from ahead multiple times throughout the season, and that was in play again Wednesday when the Wolves led by six entering the fourth.
The Wolves relinquished a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter Wednesday night -- only to get it back again, then lose it again, only drawing out the anguish in a 134-128 overtime loss to Indiana.
Malcolm Brodgdon's top of the key three-pointer with 9.1 seconds left in the extra session clinched the win for Indiana as he and Domantas Sabonis feasted on the Wolves for 32 and 36 points respectively.
Karl-Anthony Towns had 30 for the Wolves but couldn't score in overtime, while Malik Beasley had 32.
The Wolves' bench helped them build a 98-88 in the fourth quarter but the Pacers retook it after a Brogdon three gave them a 100-98 lead with 6 minutes, 42 seconds to play. That capped a 14-2 Indiana run. Then the game took multiple turns from there. The Wolves fought back, with threes from Beasley and Jaden McDaniels giving them the lead multiple times.
Towns provided some breathing room with a three and a layup to put the Wolves up five, 121-116 twice in the final minutes of the fourth, but a Jeremy Lamb three and free throws from Sabonis tied the game 121-121 with 11.1 seconds remaining.
The Wolves had a chance to win, and rookie Anthony Edwards had the ball in his hands, but his three over Myles Turner went in and out.
Indiana scored the first five of overtime as Brogdon hit a three and Sabonis scored in the paint over Towns.
Beasley, who didn't start after he was late for an afternoon walkthrough, hit a three to cut the Wolves' deficit to 126-124 as the Wolves struggled to score in the overtime. A layup from Beasley followed by a shot-clock violation on the Pacers gave the Wolves the ball back with a chance to tie down 129-126, but Beasley turned it over, and Brogdon sealed the game with a three.
A constant bugaboo plagued the Wolves early -- transition defense. Indiana scored 39 in the first quarter thanks in part to nine fast-break points, a lot for one quarter. The defense wasn't much better in the halfcourt either.
A strong start from Towns, which included seven first-quarter points kept the Wolves close early despite their slagging defense. When the bench unit hit the floor late in the quarter. Indiana led 30-22 after a three-point play from Malcolm Brogdon. The Wolves caught a little momentum when they scored five straight to close the quarter down 39-33 and then an explosive second quarter from Naz Reid allowed them to surge ahead.
Reid had seven points during a 10-2 Wolves run, which included a rim-shaking dunk from Reid off a no-look pass from Beasley. The Wolves led by as much as seven, 58-51, after Towns hit three free throws at the line, three of eight he hit in the half.
The Pacers ran their offense through Sabonis and Brogdon, and the Wolves had little answer for them, as they scored 20 and 14 respectively in the first half, but the Wolves lead 73-69 headed into halftime.
In the third both teams had trouble picking up offensively from where they were in the first half. The Wolves won the quarter 19-17. The Pacers shot just 8-for-25, but the Wolves were 6 of 22. The bench unit that helped the Wolves get the lead in the second quarter recaptured some of its magic early in the fourth as it pushed the lead to 98-88.
Indiana, however, came charging back. Then so did the Wolves. But Indiana had the final say.
