A preview of the game between the Atlanta Hawks and Minnesota Timberwolves tonight.
The Atlanta Hawks face off against the Minnesota Timberwolves tonight for the second and final time.
Last time these two teams met, the Atlanta Hawks eked out an overtime win by a final margin of 123 to 120. John Collins led the team in minutes with 39 and was extremely impactful with 21 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists, and Kent Bazemore was also a stabilizing force with 23 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals.
Despite 31 points, 19 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 blocks from Karl-Anthony Towns in 42 minutes, the Wolves were unable to take care of the Hawks in overtime thanks to some key missed free throws from max-salary beneficiary Andrew Wiggins.
This win marked only the 10th victory of the season for the Hawks, who have since gone 10-16. The Wolves, who have sent away one of their best players (Jimmy Butler) and their coach (Tom Thibodeau) have a far different feel now that Ryan Saunders is in the coach’s chair.
Minnesota currently has a record of 28-31, which is 11th in the Western Conference. If they truly want to make the playoffs with this core this season, they must step up the intensity and beat a Hawks team that they should, in all likelihood, defeat.
The Wolves are 4½ games out of the 8 seed right now, which is held by the Clippers – who have an identical record to the 7th-seeded San Antonio Spurs. Ahead of the Wolves are the Lakers (29-30) and Kings (31-28), so they’ll need to start banking wins while also hoping that the teams above them starting to put together a timely losing streak.
The Hawks, for their part, will be looking to continue their recent stretch of strong play, which includes a recent close win against the Phoenix Suns, who definitely out-tanked Atlanta down the stretch of the 4th quarter.
Tip-off for this game is 7:30 p.m. from State Farm Arena.