The Europen connection of the Atlanta Hawks combine to sink the Timberwolves

The Atlanta Hawks had their first road win when they played a back-to-back game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. In fact, it was their first back-to-back win where they have changed venues which is another step on their journey towards getting a home playoff seed.

The Hawks are equal first in the league in back-to-back games and have the unfortunate record of 2-4 in these games. The fact that the Timberwolves were coming off a two-day break makes this win even more impressive. They were without their two main point guards but take nothing away from the Hawks.

Trae Young had his usual almost triple-double with 29 points, 11 assists, and seven rebounds. Kevin Huerter and John Collins were also influential with their contributions but it was the European connection that allowed the Hawks to get away from the home team and secure the win.

The Atlanta Hawks got tremendous production from their European players

The best-performed player of the night not named Trae Young was none other than Frenchman Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot. He was the last player to make the roster and has been pressed into service as a starter. He was looking like he was getting comfortable with the Hawks system last game

He then exploded with a 23 point performance against the Timberwolves. He was on fire from deep, going 7-of-14 for the game. He performed his role as a 3-and-D player to perfection, keeping Taurean Prince to five points in 18 minutes.

Next in line was the sharp-shooting Italian big man Danilo Gallinari who went off for 20 points to go along with six rebounds. He put on an offensive clinic, showing how crafty he is close to the basket and how lethal he is if given space on the perimeter, going 4-of-6 from beyond the arc.

The third member of the European fraternity that had a tremendous night was Clint Capela. We expect him to collect every rebound but if you look at his stat line you see a tremendous performance. He only had nine points but had 16 rebounds, four assists, four blocks, and a steal. He even went 3-of-4 from the free-throw line.

What could be a scary proposition for the rest of the NBA is that the best European shooter on the team, Bogdan Bogdanovic did not play. He is still out with an ankle injury and we are all aware that the impact of his shooting cannot be underestimated for this team.