The Atlanta Hawks beat the Western Conference's best teams, but then failed against another as they come off a loss to the Memphis Grizzlies where they had a season-low 17 assists while shooting just 41.3 percent overall. Now they must bounce back on the road as they prepare to face one of the conference's bottom teams in the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Hawks simply failed to execute on Sunday as they managed just 88 points. The team currently ranks fourth in the league shooting 47.1 percent from the field, but only put up 41.3 against the Grizzlies. It was their worst in a 20-game stretch. Paul Millsap and Al Horford struggled heavily combining to make just 4 of 21 shots as the team was outscored in the paint 52-34. The last time these two were on the court against the Timberwolves, they combined to make 16 of 21 shots for 39 points. They need Kyle Korver back on his game after a struggle against the Grizzlies. HE leads the league shooting 53.1 percent from beyond the arc and made 4 of 8 3-point shots in the last game against Minnesota.
The Timberwolves are slowly putting something together before the All-Star break despite the number of injuries hitting the team. Minnesota is on a season-high three-game win streak and things could be looking up as both Ricky Rubio and Shabazz Muhammad are expected to return from injury. The team has been managing without them. Nikola Pekovic had 29 points against the Detroit Pistons on Sunday while Kevin Martin added 24.
Getting Rubio back will be crucial for the Timberwolves. He has been dealing with an ankle injury that has kept him off the court for most of the season. However, without him, the Timberwolves have shot 51.3 percent while finishing with 26 assists against the Pistons. They hope to repeat that success and more against the Hawks and hand Atlanta their first pair of back-to-back losses in two months.
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