The Atlanta Hawks came into this game after a tough loss to the Charlotte Hornets at home and were looking to bounce back against a formidable Minnesota Timberwolves team. Unfortunately, the Hawks would be undermanned in this one and would fall short, losing in ugly fashion.
From the start, the Hawks looked uninspired, allowing 81 points in the first half, and effectively, the game was over at halftime as they trailed by as many as 25 points. However, in the third quarter, the Hawks made their usual run, outscoring the Wolves 22-6 to cut the lead to 20-plus, but that proved not to be enough, as the fourth quarter got out of hand. Ayo Dosunmu, however, was the main killer for the Hawks tonight, as he dominated by getting to the basket and consistently securing defensive stops, accounting for most of his 21 points.
2. Offense goes cold
While things picked up in the second half, the Hawks’ issue in this game was sloppy offense, as they disappeared in the second quarter. To break things down, the Hawks shot 6-24 from the field and 0-8 from three-point range in the second quarter, and from there, things never really got back in order until it was too late. The Hawks finished the game shooting 40% from the field, 31% from three-point range, and committing 19 turnovers, which helped Minnesota, which scored 26 points off the Hawks’ turnovers.
3. CJ McCollum
The main bright spot for the Hawks tonight was none other than McCollum, who put on an offensive clinic as he scored nearly 20 points in both halves. In the first half, he scored 21 points, and the second half, he followed that up with 17 points to finish with 38 points on the night. This was a huge bounce-back performance for him after a 12-point performance against the Hornets in the last game, where he didn’t shoot much.
4. The homecoming
Tonight, the other person of interest was Nickeil Alexander-Walker, as he had a dominant performance in his first game back in the Target Center since the playoffs last year. Tonight, he finished with 23 points, 12 rebounds, five assists, and two steals, which is something that the Hawks clearly needed after being undermanned in this one.
5. The fight
One of the big moments from this game was the fight that ensued between Gueye and Naz Reid as a result of a hard foul. Tonight has been a night for fights in terms of the NBA, as the Hornets and Pistons had an even worse situation go down, but as for Atlanta, this somewhat changed how things went for them, as both Reid and Gueye were ejected, and the Wolves go back to dominating in the fourth quarter.