 is just a pro. He's an amazing guy to have in the locker room. We're in this to win. We're not about individual accolades.'' Andrew Wiggins added 25 points and the Minnesota Timberwolves rode three big offensive quarters.Trae Young scored 37 points for the Hawks, who outscored the Timberwolves 34-16 in the second quarter. But Minnesota had 38 points in the first quarter, 39 in the third and 32 in the fourth against one of the NBA's weakest defensive teams and snapped a two-game skid.Jabari Parker pitched in 22 points for the Hawks and rookie center Bruno Fernando scored a career-high 13.The Timberwolves shot 63.6% in the first quarter and opened a 40-30 lead early in the second, but missed 15-of-19 shots over the rest of the period.Young scored 14 points in the quarter while Hawks attacked the basket frequently and had 21 points and seven assists - several on alley-oop lob passes - by halftime, leading Atlanta to a 64-54 lead.Towns heated up after halftime to pull the Timberwolves back into the game. In the third quarter alone, he had 15 points, eight rebounds and three assists to help Minnesota take a 93-90 lead to the fourth quarter.Other than in that second quarter, the youngish Atlanta squad frequently busted defensive assignments, such as when they were double-teaming Anthony in the third quarter.''We had a lot of undisciplined play,'' said Hawks coach Lloyd Pierce. ''We were leaving strong-side shooters (open), we were double-teaming in the post when we weren't in that coverage. It was the lack of discipline on a lot of our defensive possessions that got us in trouble . . .''Blitzing KAT in the second half wasn't the plan and because there were some cross matches, guys just overacted to the situation and we got caught with him hitting the cutter a couple times . . . At this stage, every game has a different personality.'' TIP-INSTIMBERWOLVES: Rookie Jarrett Culver started at guard rather than former Hawk Jeff Teague. They played together at times. ... Frequent starter Noah Vonleh did play, and was not listed on the pregame injury report. ... Guard Shabazz Napier (hamstring) and forward Jake Layman (toe sprain) remain sidelined.HAWKS: Guard Cam Reddish returned after missing two games with a sprained left wrist and started to bump DeAndre' Bembry back to the bench. They've been tag-teaming in place of Kevin Huerter, who remains sidelined with a sprained rotator cuff in his left shoulder. The rookie from Duke continues to struggle to find his shot. Reddish scored seven points on 2-of-10 shooting, one of them a fast-break alley-oop dunk off a pass from Young. ... Parker has scored at least 10 points in 16-of-17 games. His minutes have risen with the absence of John Collins, who is suspended. ... Atlanta Braves shortstop Dansby Swanson sat courtside.UP NEXTTIMBERWOLVES: Play at San Antonio Wednesday.HAWKS: Play at Milwaukee Wednesday.---More NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/-Sports)
Nov 24, 2019The Atlanta Hawks aim to end a six-game losing skid on Monday when they host the injury-ravaged Minnesota Timberwolves at State Farm Arena.Both sides dropped close decisions on Saturday. Minnesota's 100-98 loss at home to Phoenix marked the Timberwolves' second consecutive defeat and fourth in the last five.They played without guards Shabazz Napier, Josh Okogie and Treveon Graham, as well as forward Jake Layman, all of whom were sidelined due to injury. Minnesota also missed forward Robert Covington, scratched for personal reasons.Covington's absence loomed on the defensive end against Phoenix, Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns said to the Star Tribune."He has great hands where he's swiping it or he's stealing it from them or he's making it very hard for them to even get the ball up. They had too many clean looks and they touched the paint too many times," Towns said. "It put us in a situation where we all had to collapse, and they were able to make those kick-out plays to the corner or to the wing and they put us in a bad spot." Covington averages a team-leading 1.5 steals per game. He has also been one of Minnesota's more reliable complementary scorers at 12.9 points per game.He is listed as day-to-day ahead of Monday's matchup.Atlanta dropped its sixth straight on Saturday, 119-116, against reigning NBA champion Toronto. Second-year guard Trae Young scored 30 points, and rookie swingman De'Andre Hunter made six 3-pointers en route to 26 points.Hunter, averaging 12.5 points per game, is on a three-game run with point totals of 27 and 18 in addition to his 26 on Saturday.Following a 135-127 loss to Milwaukee on Nov. 20 in which Hunter scored a career-high 27, Hawks coach Lloyd Pierce in his postgame press conference said it was positive "to see De'Andre Hunter really involved in that first half, ... just getting rhythm looks. That was really the reason why we were up in the first half." Pierce also praised fellow rookie guard Cam Reddish, who missed Saturday's game with a wrist injury. His 17 points against Milwaukee were a career-high, and the outing was his third straight double-figure-scoring performance after a slow start.As Atlanta's offense has found some more options behind Young's 25.9 points and 8.7 assists per game, the Hawks defense has struggled.The 119 points that Atlanta allowed to Toronto marked the fewest an opponent has scored during the Hawks' six-game losing skid. At 117.7 points per game allowed on the season, Atlanta ranks 26th in the NBA in scoring defense.Saturday's game was the second leg of a back-to-back. The 128 points that Atlanta allowed in a 25-point loss to Detroit on Friday were the Pistons' most on the season.Behind Towns and Andrew Wiggins, who are averaging 26.4 and 25.2 points per game respectively, Minnesota entered Sunday ninth in the NBA in scoring offense at 113.4 per game. Wiggins is on an early career-high scoring pace, shooting 46.9 percent from the floor -- 2.5 percent above his career average.--Field Level Media
Looking for More Picks?
You can browse all the individual handicapper picks below.
Minnesota Timberwolves
Atlanta Hawks
Pick Center
NBA
FINAL (11/25/2019)
DeanSports
