Hawks at Timberwolves
The top team in the East will face the bottom team in the West when the Atlanta Hawks visit the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday, but neither team’s recent play has matched their place in the standings. After posting an NBA-record 17-0 mark in the month of January, the Hawks have lost two of four in February but still maintain a comfortable seven-game lead over the Toronto Raptors. The Timberwolves have won three straight for their longest winning streak in nearly a year.
Atlanta will need a bounce-back game from their post tandem of Al Horford and Paul Millsap, who combined for 10 points on 4-for-21 shooting in Sunday’s loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. On the other end of the floor, Minnesota center Nikola Pekovic is coming off a season-high 29 points in Sunday’s win against the Detroit Pistons and should be brimming with confidence. Timberwolves point guard Ricky Rubio sat out the victory against the Pistons as the team is still being cautious with his left ankle, which he severely sprained in November, causing him to miss three months, but he should be rested and ready for his matchup with Jeff Teague.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, SportSouth (Atlanta), FSN North (Minnesota)
ABOUT THE HAWKS (42-10): Teague has started February the same way he began January, scoring at least 20 points in the first four games. He scored 22 on 9-for-13 from the floor in Sunday’s loss to the Grizzlies, the second time in the last three games he shot 9-for-13. He had 15 points and seven assists when the Hawks beat Minnesota last month, but that was when Rubio was out of the lineup and he’s not a typical defender, finishing second in the league in steals last season.
ABOUT THE TIMBERWOLVES (11-40): Shabazz Muhammad also missed the last meeting against the Hawks but he’s probable to return from a 16-game absence due to a strained oblique. Muhammad is fourth on the team in scoring at 13.7 and was enjoying one of the best stretches of his career just before he went down, averaging 18.1 points and 5.2 rebounds in December, which dwarfs his career averages of 8.7 and 2.7. Kevin Martin is another key player for Minnesota who recently returned from injury and he’s averaging 19.7 points in the seven games since his return from a fractured wrist.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Atlanta has lost two of its last three against Western Conference teams after winning 12 straight against the West.
2. The Hawks lost Sunday for only the second time in 32 games this season when holding opponents under 100 points.
3. Minnesota is looking for its first four-game winning streak since December 2012.