Hawks at Timberwolves
The Minnesota Timberwolves did just enough with a small tweak to their starting lineup Monday to earn their first home victory of the season, and interim coach Sam Mitchell hopes that sparks an offense which has struggled despite the brilliance of Andrew Wiggins. Minnesota hosts the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday and likely will deploy the same look it did in Monday’s victory over winless Philadelphia, with Kevin Martin starting at shooting guard and Wiggins moving to small forward.
The position change did not slow Wiggins’ recent offensive excellence, the second-year player scoring 32 points Monday to raise his average to 26.1 points in his past nine games. “He’s turning into an unbelievable player right before our eyes every night,” Mitchell told reporters after Wiggins surpassed 30 points for the third time this season. Wednesday’s contest marks a rematch of one of the most intriguing games of the season’s first month, a Nov. 9 matchup in Atlanta during which the Timberwolves led by 34 points before the Hawks rallied to tie the game before eventually losing 117-107. The Hawks, who were 7-1 entering that game, have lost five of their past eight while point guard Jeff Teague and small forward Kent Bazemore have battled ankle injuries.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FSN Southeast (Atlanta), FSN North (Minneapolis)
ABOUT THE HAWKS (10-6): The Hawks got Teague back in the lineup last weekend after he missed three games with a left ankle sprain, but Bazemore’s sprained right ankle sidelined him for the fourth straight contest in Tuesday’s 121-97 victory over Boston. Atlanta shot under 44 percent in its past three games but hit 56.2 percent of its attempts Tuesday while matching its season high for points. Forward Paul Millsap scored 25 points Tuesday and is averaging 21.4 points and 9.6 rebounds in his past five games.
ABOUT THE TIMBERWOLVES (6-8): Wiggins scored a career-high 33 points on 15-of-22 shooting against the Hawks and has raised his scoring average to 22.3 points. Martin scored 11 points on 4-of-11 shooting Monday, after hitting just 10-of-36 attempts in his previous four contests. Rookie center Karl-Anthony Towns posted season lows in points (six) and rebounds (two) Monday, but is averaging 15.3 points and 9.8 rebounds while shooting 51.8 percent from the field.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Teague scored 16 points with nine assists Tuesday after returning to action with 13 points and four assists in Saturday’s loss at Cleveland.
2. The Timberwolves are in the bottom five of the NBA in 3-point shooting (30.7 percent) and have hit only 21.9 percent from beyond the arc in their past four contests.
3. Atlanta G Tim Hardaway Jr. made his season debut Tuesday, scoring three points in 12 minutes.