The Atlanta Hawks took on the Minnesota Timberwolves at the worst possible time. However, what transpired was a beautiful thing for the Hawks. Their European connection led the way with some tremendous play.
The Hawks bench was also huge in their success over the Timberwolves with everyone putting in and doing their job. Coach Nate McMillan decided to insert big man Gorgui Dieng into the rotation and the former member of the Timberwolves did not let his coach down.
It is fitting that Dieng had his best game as a member of the Hawks franchise at the Target Center. Dieng has played the second-most games for the franchise with 498. He is also near the top of the Timberwolves lists in a number of statistical categories.
The Atlanta Hawks utilized Gorgui Dieng’s inside knowledge
Dieng has tremendous knowledge of the Timberwolves franchise and also how their superstar players Towns tends to get his buckets. The beauty of having Dieng on the Hawks when they play against the Timberwolves is that he would have gone up against Towns every practice when they were teammates.
There was one play where Towns was making his way to the hoop and against most players he would have made the easy bucket. Dieng went toe to toe with Towns and knew where he was going to go next. As a result he was able to block the shot cleanly, snuffing out the offensive possession.
Dieng was also active on the boards, collecting five in just 13 minutes of game time. However, it was his shooting which showed how impactful Dieng could be. He went 3-of-4 from deep, good for nine points on the night and spaced the floor beautifully with Danilo Gallinari also shooting the ball well.
With the injury crisis being suffered by the Hawks, there is a good chance that Dieng’s disappearing playing time may come back. If he can continue to play like this then he will help the Hawks moving forward, even when they get their injured players back.