MINNEAPOLIS — The took the floor in Minnesota without four starters, including stars Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam.
The final member of their usual starting five was ejected in the third quarter, when Andrew Nembhard got his second technical foul of the game.
And when Bennedict Mathurin fouled out late in the fourth quarter, the Pacers were down their six top scorers.
But the subs wouldn’t stop, and Obi Toppin finished off with an improbable Monday that pulled the Pacers even with Milwaukee for fourth place in the Eastern Conference.
Toppin hit all four of his 3-point attempts in overtime, including the winner with 3.5 seconds lift to finish with a season-high 34 points and beat a Timberwolves team that hadn’t lost all month.
“I didn’t feel like I had to be the one to score,” said Toppin, who made a career-high seven 3-pointers in 10 attempts. “We’ve got great guys on this team. We go out there and do our job to the best that we can, even if we have guys out. Everybody on the team is a good NBA player.”
T.J. McConnell drove to the basket along the baseline and whipped a pass into the corner that the 6-foot-9 Toppin caught before launching his rainbow shot with Nickeil Alexander-Walker tightly guarding him.
The 3-pointer that Toppin banked in earlier in overtime gave him belief this one would go in, too.
“He’s stepping into his shots really well,” Nembhard said of the eighth overall pick in the 2020 draft, who is in his second season with the Pacers after being traded by the New York Knicks. “His confidence is just pouring into all of his game.”
Toppin’s timing was impeccable, with such a depleted lineup.
Indiana forward Aaron Nesmith was scratched for management of his left ankle injury that kept him out for 35 games earlier this season. Pacers center Myles Turner was out with a bruised left hip.
Siakam’s first absence as a member of the Pacers, who acquired him 14 months ago in a trade with Toronto, was due to personal reasons. The three-time All-Star forward leads the team with an average of 20.9 points per game.
Haliburton sat out with lower back soreness. An All-Star in each of the previous two seasons, Haliburton missed three games earlier this month because of a left hip flexor strain. The Pacers lost all three of those without their point guard.
Toppin joined Nembhard and Mathurin in the starting lineup along with Jarace Walker and Thomas Bryant, who hit a 3-pointer with a minute left in overtime to cut Minnesota’s lead to two.
“Guys are coming in with nothing to lose, almost,” Nembhard said. “Just trying to feed off each other and bring the competitiveness into the game.”
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