The Summer Pacers wrap up their four-game Las Vegas slate on Wednesday against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Both teams come in at 1-2, both are out of realistic contention for the Summer League tournament's top-four seeding, and both are treating this exactly as what it is: one last look at a few players who need the reps.

Where Indiana stands

I wrote quite a bit about the Pacers Summer League thus far in the last post so I won't recap everything, but here is what I'm looking for against Minnesota.

Braden Smith has been uneven thus far. He's demonstrated that he can contribute even when his shot isn't falling, but finishing Summer League with an efficient game from the floor would be nice to see.

Rienk Mast is the surprise of the trip. Two double-doubles in three games and elite offensive rebounding. He's played himself squarely into the roster conversation. Let's see if he can close out strong.

Jalen Slawson dropped a team-high 26 on Philadelphia, which is the loudest kind of argument a restricted free agent can make. They already have an older two-way guy in Brown, but I have a hard time imagining the organization lets Slawson walk for nothing.

Taleon Peter, that means you better step up.

Yuki Kawamura remains the most entertaining man on the roster. A 5-foot-7 spark plug who's fueled Indiana's best stretches – what's not to love?

The Minnesota matchup

Minnesota has a few interesting players. Seven-foot-three Rocco Zikarsky is their frontcourt focal point (at least as long as Joan Beringer is injured). Zikarsky's summer has been a struggle — he shot 27% from the field across the first two games and looked every bit the raw project he was drafted as — but he finally broke through Monday with 18 points and six rebounds against Portland. For a Pacers team that goes small, how they handle his length around the rim is the most interesting on-court chess of the game. Mast has out-competed bigger players all week on effort and positioning; this is a good final test of that.

The Wolves' best player in Vegas has been Zyon Pullin, an undrafted guard fighting for a roster spot who's posted lines like 24 points and a 16-point, 10-assist night. He and Donovan Williams (21 against Portland) are Minnesota's scoring engine. The Smith-vs-Pullin point guard matchup is a fun one to track (at least in terms of the final day of Summer League).

How to Watch

Tipoff is at 3:30 PM ET.

TV: Prime Video

See ya in the comments!

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