Game Thread: Hawks at T-Wolves -- 12/28

[Jamaaliver]

Read on Twitter

Peachtree Hoops:

The Hawks have an interesting test on Friday evening, as the squad travels to the Twin Cities to take on the Minnesota Timberwolves.

After a stretch in which the Wolves dropped six of seven games, Minnesota has rebounded to win two in a row, with both victories coming away from Target Center. As such, it does not come as an overwhelming surprise to see the good folks in Las Vegas installing the home team as the favorite here, as the Hawks are currently 9.5-point underdogs in this match-up.

Atlanta could certainly keep this game competitive, but they will be forced to operate without Alex Len for the second straight game. Dewayne Dedmon and John Collins are available and expected to start but, after that, the Hawks will deploy only Omari Spellman, Alex Poythress, Vince Carter and Justin Anderson as potential options, leaving the team with a relative lack of size against Karl-Anthony Towns and company.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Minnesota's Media Page:

The last time these two teams faced off was on March 28 at Target Center last season. The Wolves won 126-114. It was a big win for Minnesota’s playoff chances of course, but the story was Karl-Anthony Towns. Big KAT finished with a franchise-record 56 points to go with 15 rebounds and four assists. The big man was unstoppable on the offensive end, shooting 19-for-32 from the field, 6-for-8 from the 3-point line and 12-for-15 from the free-throw line.

It looks like Towns is well on his way to another All-Star game. He’s coming off a 20-point, 20-rebound game against the Bulls and after a slow start to the season, his numbers continue to inch towards where they were last season. On the 2018-19 season, he’s averaging 20.9 points and 11.6 rebounds per game.

[Jamaaliver]

Read on Twitter

[Jamaaliver]

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

[hawkmanreturns]

Getting the heavily armored all terrain vehicle rolling tonight will help further our overall objective(s) in the Eastern and Western conferences. I only care about player development tonight.

[lethalweapon3]

We’ve got the Ex-Hawx Jinx still in effect! This time, the oft-rubbery ankles of our old friend Jeff Teague will keep him out of commission, as his Minnesota Timberwolves face the visiting Atlanta Hawks this evening (8:00 PM Eastern, Fox Sports Southeast and 92.9 FM in ATL, Fox Sports North in MSP) at Target Center. Teague was joined on the sideline by Derrick Rose at the start of this holiday week, too. But a huge win by the undermanned T’Wolves has Minnesota feeling a little momentum coming on.

Coach Tom Thibodeau’s troopers had run into a bad 1-6 stretch ahead of their December 23 visit to Oklahoma City, and up until then the Wolves were 0-for-12 in road games within their own conference. But without Rose, whose career has resurged in the aftermath of Butlergate (18.7 PPG, 4.7 APG, career-highs of 45.5 3FG% and 57.4 TS%), and without Teague, Thibs relied upon Andrew Wiggins (30 points, 5 assists in a Thibodeauean 42 minutes), Tyus Jones and the recently-returning Jerryd Bayless to move the rock.

It was enough of a collective effort for the T’Wolves to catch the Thunder flat-footed, and to escape OKC with a 114-112 victory, their first Western road win of the season. Along the way home, Minnesota stopped by Rose’s hometown of Chicago on Wednesday, making quick work out of Lauri Markkanen [ATTN MEDIA: wanna build up a lather about a team passing up on a Euro in the draft? How ‘bout you start there?] and the discombobulated Bulls. Rose’s 24 points and Karl-Anthony “Gameboy” Towns’ visionary boxscore line (20-20 points ‘n rebounds) paced the Wolves in a 119-94 win.

Minnesota (16-18) is still on the outside looking in when it comes to the playoff chase in the cutthroat NBA West. But the upcoming slate ought to bring the Wolves a few wins and an opportunity to climb as the calendar turns to 2019. A day after visiting Miami on Sunday, they’ll have the chance to double their Western road-win tally in backsliding New Orleans, not the worst place to be on New Year’s Eve.

A couple days after they return from Boston on Wednesday, the Wolves get a visit from the free-falling Magic. With only 3.5 games separating their 13th-seeded position in the conference from 5-seed Portland, a renascent run could have the Wolves looking big, and not-so-bad, soon. But first, job-one is putting away the pesky Hawks, and Gameboy may get caught looking past them.

You will recall, the eve before these teams last met in April, Towns was encouraged by Ben Simmons to stay up late for a few more rounds of Fortnite. KAT scratched the tanktastic Hawks the next night, with a career night of 56 points (6-for-8 3FGs) and 15 rebounds, fed early and often by guards Teague and Jones (17 combined dimes).

But Thibodeau needed Towns to “Rush” (is that the right lingo, Karl?) the Hawks, who were like a bad penny for four quarters before Minnesota could pull away with a 12-point victory. Towns and Thibs had no answer for Mike Muscala off the bench, as a Moose triple brought the Hawks within six with four-and-a-half minutes to play. Without Towns’ 13 points in the closing minutes, there could have been a very different outcome. Further, it’s likely that Kevin Huerter would be in a very different NBA jersey.

When was the last time you thought of Adreian Payne? The forward’s pro career is likely set for overseas play in the years ahead, as he currently toils for Nanjing Monkey King in China. While his inability to develop his game quickly in Atlanta was disappointing, the Hawks were able to use his still-existent upside in a trade that made Minnesota’s lottery-protected first rounder beneficial.

Pressed into higher levels of play with the injury to Taurean Prince, Kevin Huerter (team-best 39.5 3FG%) has struggled with his red-velvety smooth shot recently (5-for-18 FGs last two games). Yet unlike Payne, Kevin has surprised as a slasher in the paint and remains a functional secondary passer, his five assists during Wednesday’s 129-121 home loss to Indiana tying the best mark in his young career. Huerter is catching off-guards off-guard, as well, with the energy he expends getting out of the paint to properly contest perimeter shooters.

Huerter joins increasingly marketable Hawks Kent Bazemore (career-high-tying 32 points, 4-for-9 3FGs vs. IND) and Dewayne Dedmon (2-for-5 3FGs, 18 points and season-high 15 rebounds vs. IND) among a growing array of options for Atlanta’s distributor of distinction.

Trae Young (38.4 assist%, 6th in NBA) can expect to be hounded at turns by Robert Covington, and by fellow rookie and ex-Georgia Tech star Josh Okogie, when he sheds himself of Rose and/or Bayless. The extra attention, and the lackadaisical defensive effort brought forth by Wiggins and Towns, could produce a heaping of helpers for Young if he times his passes well off screens and drives.

Pressing the Wolves’ leading scorers (Towns, Rose, and Wiggins) into defending beyond the paint might lead to the trio pressing on the other end of the floor to compensate, leading to some spells of inefficiency on offense for the hosts (50.7 team eFG%, 24th in NBA).

Fending off Towns and Taj Gibson (5.8 combined O-Rebs per game) from the offensive glass, the Hawks (14.8 opponent second-chance PPG, 3rd-worst in NBA) will miss the extra depth that Alex Len and Miles Plumlee provide behind Dedmon. But if John Collins (9 double-doubles in past 10 games), Vince Carter and the short-stinted Omari Spellman can rebound and inbound effectively, they can key the transition (+1.8 fastbreak points per-48) and interior scoring attacks (+3.4 paint points per-48) that help Atlanta build runs throughout the contest.

The Hawks aren’t done as tank-ticians with the Wolves – a Minnesota win could help momentarily drive Dallas’ protected pick back down to Single-Digit Land – but they are also aiming for their third consecutive road victory, something a Hawks team hasn’t done since rattling off five straight in January 2017. Will Towns and the Wolves figure out, this time too late, that Atlanta isn’t here to play games?

Let’s Go Hawks!
~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

Starbury: "Ain't He working?"

Read on Twitter

~lw3

[ducler]

Read on Twitter

[DirtybirdGA]

Bigs in foul trouble, Hawks can't make them a perimeter team... Trae with 4 early assists.

[hawkmanreturns]

These refs are terrible. Did they bet on this game???

[lethalweapon3]

When The Whole Squad NOT Ready...

Read on Twitter

~lw3

[EazyRoc]

Is it too late to vote ?

Pierce got these guys in attack mode early. He’s out the doghouse lol

Foul trouble is something that JC gotta work on.

[lethalweapon3]

"ooooh no, Dario!"
((seconds later))
"ooooh no, Vince!"
lol

~lw3

[hawkmanreturns]

Wow. I was not expecting a 40pt 1st quarter from the Hawks at all. The Wolves look disinterested.

[EazyRoc]

As well as this team is playing without him, Prince better come back focused on making an impact defensively like Bembry.

[DirtybirdGA]

Bazemore is still bazeless.

[Jamaaliver]

Read on Twitter

[EazyRoc]

Wiggins needed a guy like Jimmy Butler in his ear since Day 1. He checks all boxes physically and skill wise. Hes just too laid back.

[HMFFL]

We have a niceead so far before the half.
I hope we play just as well during the second half.

Sent from my SM-N920P using RealGM mobile app

[bws94]

Great first half. Really, put up a lot of points and the ball-movement was solid. Need to cut down on TOs and some guys have to watch their fouls.

[graymule]

Would BE EASY TO LOSE this one yet. Red Pepper = HOT Nice, three point shooting!

GO HAWKS !!