It's a good night for the G2 Zone

The Pacers improved to 13-1 on the season with an 98-84 win over the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves Monday night.
The Big Picture
This is one of those games a team like the Pacers should win, but with Minnesota on the upswing a bit it was by no means an easy game on the schedule. The Pacers used a 14-2 run to start the fourth quarter to expand their five-point lead. The Pacers also held the Timberwolves scoreless for the first 4:30 of the fourth quarter and that was pretty much the game.
The Ups

George Hill was ready to score when called upon Monday night
and finished with 26 points and also had seven assists and five steals.

1) The first G2 Zone member we'll mention is point guard George Hill. His counterpart in this game, Minnesota's Ricky Rubio, receives a lot of attention for his passing ability and it's not uncommon to see him pass the ball between the legs of opponents to a teammate for baskets. And that's great and all, but what Hill and the Pacers knew coming into this game was that Rubio is without question defensively challenged and they went right at him. Hill responded with 26 points on 9 of 13 shooting from the floor with seven assists and five steals. Meanwhile Rubio was just 3 of 9 from the floor with seven points, though he did have seven assists. When Hill plays like this, the Pacers are nearly impossible to beat. When the team seemed a bit flat at times late in the second and for much of the third quarters, it was Hill who kept coming up with big plays. Just another case of a veteran player sensing that his team needed him to take control for a bit. He did and wasn't long thereafter that others followed.
2) One of those others, in this case at least, was the other half of the G2 Zone, Paul George. He too finished with 26 points, but his timing for making big plays early this season is certainly noteworthy. This time he made two free throws to put the Pacers ahead 67-66 with three minutes left in the third quarter and then came right back with a steal and thunderous windmill dunk to put the Pacers up by three and the Pacers were never challenged again the rest of the game. The Pacers, too, are 12-0 when George scores 20 or more points in a game. We know he's good and we know he's an all-star and an MVP candidate who makes big plays. But one of my favorite plays he made in this game came when he made a nice post pass into David West, leading West toward the basket and away from the defense, which led to a basket. No, not a highlight reel type play, but another of example of a winning play that scores the same amount points as the windmill dunk.
3) Ian Mahinmi has maybe been a bit of a disappointment this season as a backup center. I think we were all looking for some type of progress from last year, and while I'm not suggesting he hasn't worked hard, the results have rarely shown up on the court this season. But finally there were some good results Monday night. With starting center Roy Hibbert in foul trouble, Mahinmi played 20 minutes and responded with seven points, four rebounds and two blocked shots, including one in the second half that led to a Paul George basket that fired up the crowd. It was good too see him help the team and the Pacer bench up and cheering him after he made a layup and was fouled. It's always good to see a team pull for a teammate who has had some struggles this season.
4) Whether you are an Indiana University or Purdue University fan, you had to like seeing Purdue graduate Robbie Hummel on the floor for the Timberwolves Monday night. After losing two seasons to knee surgery at Purdue, you know he's put in the work to get back on the court and into the NBA.
The Downs
1) One of the dangers of playing such a good offensive team like Minnesota is that it's easy to lose your own offensive identity a bit. That happened, especially in the first 21/2 quarters for the Pacers as they were careless with the ball at times and eventually ended up with 20 turnovers on the night. Sometimes it's just a matter of not wanting to get shown up by a guy like Rubio, or to show the other team, hey we can make a fancy pass on occasion, too. But if it's at the expense of wasting possessions and risking the ability to make good solid basketball plays. Hopefully, this is just a one-time recurrence and it won't return anytime soon.
2) The allowance of offensive rebounds was a bit better tonight, but it was still an issue for the first three quarters. The Timberwolves finished with 15 offensive rebounds, that's down from the 23 the Pacers allowed against the Sixers Saturday, but it's still too many. The Timberwolves outrebounded the Pacers 47-45 and while they do have guys like Kevin Love, who had 17 rebounds, and Nikola Pekovic, who had 11, the Pacers still shouldn't be beat on the boards by Minnesota.
Afterthoughts
This was the first of four games this week so it was important to get off to a good start. The Pacers need these wins now because the schedule will toughen up in the next couple of weeks with a five-game road trip that includes games at the Clippers, Trail Blazers, Spurs and Thunder then a return home with the Heat. So, yes, win now and get ready for real test of a road trip that begins Sunday at the Clippers.
Next Up
While yes, we looked ahead a bit, first things first. The Pacers are at Charlotte Wednesday in a 7 p.m. game. Like the Timberwolves, they aren't great, but they are certainly better with a 7-8 record led by Kemba Walker, Gerald Henderson and Al Jefferson. They Bobcats did lose at home to the Celtics Monday night, so they won't want to lose two straight at home either. Expect them to be ready to battle and ready to try and make a statement
against one of the league's best teams.