The set-up: The Timberwolves have 'woken up' and their young core of talent, in particular Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins, have led the team team to three straight wins and six of their last eight. The 17-28 Timberwolves will host the 22-22 Indiana Pacers tonight at Target Center.

Indiana: The Pacers put together seven wins in eight games from to climb three games over .500 but are back at the break-even mark after three straight losses. Head coach Nate McMillan is experimenting with different lineups in an effort to jump-start an offense which ranks a middle-of-the-pack 15th in scoring on the season (105.4 PPG), including just 99.7 PPG during the team's current slide. Paul George (22.2-6.0-3.2) was moved to the shooting guard spot for a stretch in Monday's 109-103 loss to the New York Knicks, with swingman C.J. Miles (10.6 slotting into the small forward spot on the opposite wing. The Pacers' latest loss, at the hands of the New York Knicks, drew boos from the Pacers fans in Indianapolis. "They pay their money, their hard-earned money to watch us play. They got the right to do whatever they want," Pacers star Paul George told The Indianapolis Star on Tuesday. "It doesn't hurt me. It doesn't hurt my feelings. Just know we work harder off of cheers than boos."

Minnesota: The Timberwolves are finally beginning to hear some cheers. The season got off to a disappointing start under new head coach Tom Thibodeau but Minnesota is beginning to figure things out on both sides of the ball. It's great news that after going 0-10 in games decided by four or fewer points, the T-wolves have won each game in their three-game streak by three points or less! Tuesday's 112-111 win over Phoenix that was capped by an Andrew Wiggins buzzer-beater. That shot put the finishing touches on his 31-point night, which elevated Minnesota to just 2 1/2 games out of the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. "In the fourth quarter, you have to have the courage to take and make, and he does," Thibodeau told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune about Wiggins (22.0 & 4.3), now in his third season with the Timberwolves. "So the more he does it, the more comfortable he's going to get. We all have a lot of confidence in him." Wiggins is averaging 27.3 points on 50 percent shooting in the three games while Towns (22.4 & 11.9), who battled foul trouble in Tuesday's triumph but still managed a double-double, is averaging 29 points on 67.3 percent shooting in that span.

The pick: The Timberwolves were also benefited from the return on Tuesday of PG Ricky Rubio (7.9 & 8.0 APG), who missed Sunday's game following a death in the family and shook off trade rumors to produce 14 points and 10 assists in Phoenix. It seems obvious that Thibodeau has finally made some inroads on improving Minnesota's defense but expect the Pacers to score some here plus the suddenly-jelling T-wolves should have little trouble scoring on an Indiana team playing at its seventh different venue in a row since Jan. 12th. The Pacers are allowing just barely under 110 PPG on the road. The Over is a 10* play.