Timberwolves 100, Hawks 92: The Sky isn’t Falling, but the Jumbotron Might Be

The Timberwolves avoided both a terrible loss and falling debris from the scoreboard in an ugly win

Coming off their most impressive win of the season, a dominant 133-104 win over the Denver Nuggets, the Minnesota Timberwolves took on the Atlanta Hawks, looking to get four games above .500 for the first time this season.

The Wolves have lost all six previous attempts to get four games above .500 this season. This game presented their best opportunity for a win, as the Hawks were without multiple starting players, including Trae Young, Dyson Daniels, Jalen Johnson, Bogdan Bogdanović, and Larry Nance Jr.

The Wolves came out of the gates strong, going on a 13-2 run to start the game. Julius Randle scored seven points and had an assist.

For the remainder of the first quarter, the Wolves defense locked down the short-handed Hawks, limiting them to just 20 points on 8-27 shooting. This gave Minnesota an eight-point lead heading into the second quarter.

Heading into the quarter break, a piece of the jumbotron fell to the floor, nearly hitting Rudy Gobert.

To start the second quarter the Timberwolves offense remained largely ineffective while the Minnesota defense continued to hold the injured Atlanta lineup down.

The Wolves found an offensive surge midway through the second quarter, when they scored on five straight possessions, capitalized on by a Gobert dunk in the face of Onyeka Okongwu, who did not take too kindly to the subsequent mean mugging.

Gobert and Okongwu would each receive technical fouls, but nothing further came of the incident. The Wolves would cruise through the rest of the quarter, building their lead to 60-43 at the end of the first half.

As has been the case so often against lesser teams, the Timberwolves played with their food a bit to start the second half, keeping the Hawks in the game. Altlanta started the quarter on a 15-6 run, cutting the once 17-point lead to just eight. The Wolves quickly built the lead back to 17 before finishing the third quarter making only one of their six shots along with five turnovers.

They finished the third quarter making only five field goals while totaling nine turnovers. In a quarter where they could have put the game away with solid play, the Wolves allowed the Hawks back into the game, taking only an 80-74 lead into the fourth quarter.

The Timberwolves stepped up their play early in the fourth quarter, starting the quarter on a 12-2 run to put the Wolves back up by 16 points. The run included an and-1 layup from Randle followed by some high-fives for his son and his friends.

Again, the Wolves would fail to put the game away early with the Hawks slowly chipping away at the Timberwolves lead, getting it down to as low as seven points with five minutes left. The Timberwolves’ offense would fall silent the next few minutes, going without a made field goal over a four-and-a-half-minute stretch late in the game, again allowing the Hawks back in the game.

Atlanta would have similar offensive issues as they missed six of their last seven shots down the stretch of the game. The lone make for either team was a 3-pointer by De’Andre Hunter with a minute and a half left to cut the Minnesota lead to just six points, but that would be as close as they would get as the Wolves closed out a 100-92 win.

Gobert was dominant on both ends, scoring 18 points along with ten rebounds and two blocks. Anthony Edwards led the Wolves in scoring with 23 points, adding five rebounds and four assists. Hunter was fantastic for the Hawks, scoring 35 points on 12-21 shooting including four 3-pointers.

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Key Takeaways

Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images

Another Lacksidasical Game Against a Lesser Opponent

The Timberwolves this season have so often fallen into the trap of playing down to the level of their competition. They let teams that have no business competing with them on the court hang around and often win games that the Wolves should blow out by wide margins.

Tonight was another example of that against a severely undermined Atlanta team playing without five of their better players, Minnesota failed to put the game away in either the third or fourth quarter, giving Atlanta life to potentially come in and steal the game.

Timberwolves coach Chris Finch didn’t hold back what he thought of the Wolves’ effort as he opened his press conference by calling the second half “a totally unacceptable second half of basketball.” Finch continued with why he feels the Wolves so often struggle against shorthanded teams.

“I thought we played really well to start the game, collectively. There were some guys who struggled to make shots or whatever. We do see it from time to time against shorthanded teams. We come out here and we bullshit and it starts with our top guys.”

Finch also said that the poor performance had been addressed in the locker room immediately after the game as he challenged his team to do better.

Gobert echoed those statements from Finch in his availability with the media as he spoke about what went wrong in the second half compared to the first.

“We played a pretty good first half, and in the third quarter we lost our intensity and we got a little bit comfortable and gave them a chance. I think the whole game they thought they had a chance to come back and win, so we’ve definitely got to be better.”

One of the main culprits for the Wolves poor play in games like tonight has been Edwards who often floats in and out of games mentally, which becomes especially apparent on the defensive end of the floor when his defensive assignment often blows by him for easy shots near the rim.

Tonight was another example of that as Edwards struggled all night defensively and seldom ran good offense on the other end, a stark difference from two nights ago when the Wolves had their best offensive nights of the season against the rival Nuggets.

The third quarter was possibly the worst stretch of play as the Timberwolves shot 5-17 from the floor while turning the ball over nine times. Ant talked after the game about what went wrong in the game and didn’t see a bigger issue with how the Wolves played in the game or that quarter.

“I feel like we just missed a bunch of shots. I don’t think it was … we were up 16 coming out. I couldn’t make no open shots. None of us could make any shots. If we would’ve made shots when we were up 19, we would’ve been up 30. When we went up 16 again, if we woulda made shots we’d have been up 25. I don’t think it was like we wasn’t taking them serious. We just couldn’t make nothing.”

While shot-making certainly played a role in the poor performance, it doesn’t explain why defense and turnovers were also such an issue in the third quarter. Many players and coaches noted that if this team wants to get where they think they are capable of, they need to play with much higher execution and purpose than a game like tonight.

That type of mindset needs to start with their best player and at least for one night, Ant was a lot way away from playing like the Timberwolves need him to.

Resurgent Rudy Gobert

In what has felt like a recent stretch of throwback performances, Gobert again was the lockdown defender the Wolves have been looking for all season. Rudy was able to shut down the Atlanta offense, giving the Wolves the chance to win the game with just the mediocre offensive performance they had.

It wasn’t just the offensive side of the ball for Gobert as Rudy scored 18 points of 7-9 shooting to go along with his stellar defensive night.

In the locker room, Mike Conley talked about what it was like to perform well with Rudy in front of their former coach Quinn Snyder including the two-man game he had with Gobert that ended with the and-1 slam.

“Yeah, that was a Quinn play, so he’s super familiar with it. And I can hear him yelling, know, some coverage as we’re getting ready to get to it. I can’t do nothing but smile. He’s a great coach and we thank him for allowing us to have that opportunity to have that play.”

Gobert has not played nearly as well this season as he did a season ago. The defensive dominance that won him his fourth Defensive Player of the Year award has not been there as consistently this year. His offensive connection with Conley has also been an area

Both of those areas of Gobert’s game were on full display tonight as Rudy was the Wolves best player in a game they desperately needed against a team begging to take a loss given their injuries.

Similar to their mentality as a team in games like this, if the Wolves hope to reach their full potential, it will be reached by Gobert finding his defensive dominance from a season ago. If tonight and his recent stretch of games are any indication, the second half of the season could see a resurgent Gobert.

Four Games Above .500 for the First Time This Season

For the first time in the 2024-25 NBA season, the Timberwolves are four games above .500. After losing their previous six chances to reach that mark, they finally broke through getting the win in ugly fashion.

It is a bit of an arbitrary mark, but the Wolves coaches and players may feel like this is their window to go on a winning streak and climb up the NBA standings. That was likely a large reason why Finch was so frustrated with their performance. The Wolves could view this upcoming stretch of games before the deadline as their make-it-or-break point of the season and starting that off with a lackadaisical performance does not inspire confidence.

The Wolves have gotten through the hardest part of their travel schedule and now have the easiest remaining schedule in terms of opponent win percentage along with two more home games than on the road.

The schedule has finally opened up for the Wolves, allowing them to get closer to the part of the standings they thought they could get to when the season started. If they play like they did on Saturday against the Nuggets, Wolves fans are in store for a fun stretch. If they play like they did tonight, it will be another stretch of missed opportunities.

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Up Next

Following their first two-game homestand in over a month, the Wolves head back on the road for a back-to-back against the Phoenix Suns and Utah Jazz on Wednesday and Thursday. Both games start at 8:00 PM CT, airing on FanDuel Sports Network North.

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Game Highlights