There were still a few boo birds for Jimmy Butler perched at Target Center on Monday night, the first time the Timberwolves played at home since Friday's consternation-filled home debut.
Perhaps there were fewer of them because there were fewer people in the building. Some booed and some cheered, but they lacked the passion shown in the home opener.
It felt more like a regular regular-season game in the Wolves' 101-91 victory over the Indiana Pacers, like the fans have begrudgingly eased into this uneasy truce between Butler and the organization — and as a result, a decent amount decided to stay away.
Playing in front of an announced crowd of only 10,371, a little more than half capacity, the Wolves had Butler back in the lineup after he didn't travel to Dallas for Saturday's game so that he could get "precautionary rest."
"I'm just hooping. I don't really pay attention to the crowd," Butler said, a game after he said he didn't understand why the crowd booed him Friday. "That's my brothers and my guys sitting right there. I interact with them the majority of the game. … Other than that I'm out there just hooping."
There was some decent hooping on the part of Butler and his teammates.
Butler's 20 points and dogged defense on the Pacers' Victor Oladipo loomed large Monday, but it was a fourth-quarter spurt from Wolves reserves that helped them secure the victory.
"I feel like we're just supposed to do our job, pick up for the guys or whoever is missing the game, our job is to give the game what it's missing," veteran guard Derrick Rose said. "At this time, it was pushing the ball and rebounding. We're not worried about scoring. We're going to score. But if we don't have any defense, that's when we're in trouble."