{"id":703393,"date":"2026-04-07T14:06:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T14:06:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/703393\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T14:06:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T14:06:17","slug":"pacers-vs-timberwolves-prediction-preview-injury-report-advantages-x-factors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/703393\/","title":{"rendered":"Pacers vs. Timberwolves Prediction: Preview, Injury Report, Advantages, X-Factors"},"content":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0Indiana Pacers<\/a> host the Minnesota Timberwolves<\/a> at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Wednesday, April 7, at 7:00 p.m. ET.<\/p>\n

The Pacers are 18-60 and 15th in the East with an 11-27 home record, while the Timberwolves are 46-32 and sixth in the West with a 21-17 road record.<\/p>\n

The Pacers are coming off a 117-108 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers<\/a> on Sunday, while the Timberwolves lost their third game in a row with a 122-108 loss against the Charlotte Hornets<\/a> on Sunday. The last meeting between these teams came at the start of the season on October 26, 2025, with the Timberwolves picking up a 114-110 win. This game will be the final encounter this season for this inter-conference matchup.<\/p>\n

The Pacers\u2019 two stars, Pascal Siakam<\/a> and Tyrese Haliburton<\/a>, will both be out, alongside multiple other key rotational players. Their best player listed as available is center Jay Huff, who\u2019s averaging 9.4 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks this season.<\/p>\n

The Timberwolves are led by Anthony Edwards<\/a>, who is currently out with a concerning knee injury, but is averaging 28.9 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 3.7 assists this season. Julius Randle<\/a> will have a big load on his shoulders in Edwards\u2019 absence, but it\u2019s one he can carry, averaging 21.1 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 5.1 assists this season.<\/p>\n

Even without Edwards, the Timberwolves should win this game comfortably, given that Indiana has the worst record in the NBA this season and is likely going to rest all their core rotational players outside Obi Toppin, but even he\u2019s still on the injury report.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Injury Report<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Pacers<\/p>\n

Jarace Walker: Questionable (back)<\/p>\n

Ben Sheppard: Questionable (hip)<\/p>\n

Obi Toppin: Probable (foot)<\/p>\n

Pascal Siakam: Out (ankle)<\/p>\n

Andrew Nembhard: Out (back)<\/p>\n

Aaron Nesmith: Probable (ankle)<\/p>\n

Aaron Nesmith: Out (neck)<\/p>\n

T.J. McConnell: Out (hamstring)<\/p>\n

Ivica Zubac: Out (rib)<\/p>\n

Johnny Furphy: Out (knee)<\/p>\n

Tyrese Haliburton: Out (Achilles)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Timberwolves<\/p>\n

Anthony Edwards: Out (knee)<\/p>\n

Jaden McDaniels: Out (knee)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Why The Pacers Have The Advantage<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to illustrate what the worst team in the NBA might have in the way of advantages against a playoff-caliber Western Conference team. The best that the Pacers can hope for is holding the Timberwolves to a rough offensive night without Edwards. The Timberwolves\u2019 season offensive rating of 115.1 becomes 113.8 when Edwards is unavailable, so the Pacers will have this one arena to try to make a difference in.<\/p>\n

Due to most of the core players being ruled out, the Pacers\u2019 end-of-bench players could be hard to game-plan for. The Timberwolves will have to be cautious and avoid any surprises because even if the franchise is tanking, the players on the floor will be doing everything they can to win, since a majority of them have to secure their future as NBA players. Most of the active rotation is players on expiring contracts or two-way deals.<\/p>\n

The Pacers are a competent shooting team, attempting 37.5 threes per game and making 13.4 of them for a 35.7 3P%. While these are middling numbers, it indicates that the Pacers are capable of catching fire for a hot shooting night. That\u2019s what they\u2019ll need if they think they can win a game against a motivated Timberwolves squad.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Why The Timberwolves Have The Advantage<\/p>\n

The advantages for the Timberwolves are visible across the board here. They score more (117.5 PPG), rebound more (44.5 RPG), while also generating more steals (8.7 SPG), and blocks (5.7 BPG). Outside all these core statistical categories, the Timberwolves also shoot 47.9% from the field and 36.9% from three, both marks being much better than the Pacers.<\/p>\n

Even with Edwards unavailable, the Timberwolves have a very strong defense to rely on. They have a 108.2 defensive rating without Edwards compared to 114.7 with him, so they\u2019ll hope that they can shut the Pacers\u2019 unremarkable offense down entirely. Even the potential outside shooting chance that Indiana has looks bleak against the Timberwolves, who let opponents score only 35.7% of their threes this season.<\/p>\n

Indiana won\u2019t get any easy chances in the paint, with the Timberwolves holding opponents to 42.5 FG% on attempts in the paint and giving up 50.4 points in the paint per game this season.<\/p>\n

The biggest advantage for teams in late-season matchups comes with incentive. The Pacers are incentivized to lose so that they can have the worst record in the NBA, while the Timberwolves are still fighting to jump to the No. 4 seed in the West. This battle is harder without Edwards, so the Timberwolves will be extra-motivated to ensure they don\u2019t let a game against the worst team in the NBA slip into a loss.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

X-Factors<\/p>\n

Jarace Walker\u2019s<\/a> participation in this game is unconfirmed, but the 22-year-old forward is averaging 11.5 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game this season. While he likely won\u2019t get the minutes to have the kind of production to steal a win due to injury management, he\u2019s one of the most versatile weapons in the Pacers\u2019 roster. This might be a tanking year, but Walker has done his best to highlight his development to earn a rotational spot for next season when Indiana looks to contend again.<\/p>\n

Micah Potter isn\u2019t a star in the NBA but is averaging 9.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 1.5 assists this season. The Pacers have relied on him for extensive minutes in recent games, so if the big man can hold his own against the Timberwolves frontcourt, the Pacers could pull off an unlikely result.<\/p>\n

Naz Reid<\/a> plays a huge role for the Timberwolves as their sixth man. With Edwards absent, Reid will be looked upon to increase his scoring to help carry the offensive load alongside Randle. He\u2019s averaging 13.5 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 2.2 assists this season on 26.1% shooting from three, and could have a big night against Indiana\u2019s unimpressive frontcourt.<\/p>\n

Donte DiVincenzo<\/a> has been excelling in his role as a three-and-D guard for the Timberwolves. He\u2019s capable of slowing the offense down with the ball in his hands or running up and down the court to be a corner shooter when players like Edwards are pushing the tempo. He\u2019s fitting like a glove and averaging 12.3 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 3.9 assists on 37.9% shooting from three this season. <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Prediction<\/p>\n

The Timberwolves will be looking forward to picking up a much-needed win in this game. The mood around the franchise has been low, given there\u2019s no clear timeline on when Edwards will be available to play. Despite that, the Pacers don\u2019t seem to be a major challenge that the franchise can\u2019t overcome. Indiana has picked up some double-digit wins over the last week, but it\u2019s unlikely they\u2019ll get a chance to pull something like that off against a focused and motivated defensive unit like the Timberwolves.<\/p>\n

Prediction: Pacers 107, Timberwolves 121<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The\u00a0Indiana Pacers host the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Wednesday, April 7, at 7:00 p.m. ET.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":703394,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3774],"tags":[7,113,126,3866,6,114],"class_list":{"0":"post-703393","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-indiana-pacers","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-indiana","10":"tag-indiana-pacers","11":"tag-indianapacers","12":"tag-nba","13":"tag-pacers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116363813387684911","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/703393","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=703393"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/703393\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/703394"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=703393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=703393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=703393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}