Timberwolves at Hawks
The Atlanta Hawks can't seem to decide what kind of team they want to be on a nightly basis but can look like a contender when everything comes together. The Minnesota Timberwolves, who visit the Hawks on Wednesday, rarely look like contenders but the talent is on clear display every time they take the court.
Atlanta got used to playing with a center that could step out and shoot the last few seasons with Al Horford and Pero Antic in the middle but are adjusting to a more traditional center with the addition of Dwight Howard this season. The Hawks did not show any rust going back to the old form on Monday, when Howard was a late scratch and Paul Millsap slid over to the center spot to spread out an offense that ended up shooting 54.7 percent from the floor to pull out a 110-108 road win at the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Timberwolves have a center that can step out a bit in Karl-Anthony Towns, who buried a 3-pointer and went 11-of-18 from the field en route to 28 points and 15 rebounds in a 115-108 win over the Phoenix Suns on Monday. Minnesota picked up wins in two of its last three games, sandwiched around an encouraging performance in a 111-109 loss to the Houston Rockets.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FSN North (Minnesota), FSN Southeast (Atlanta)
ABOUT THE TIMBERWOLVES (8-19): Minnesota is building around Towns, Andrew Wiggins and Zach LaVine, and the three combined for 77 points on 29-of-54 shooting in Monday's win. "When we all play together and we're all in the game contributing - scoring, defending - I feel like we're unstoppable," Wiggins told reporters. Towns leads the team in scoring at an average of 22.3 points but Wiggins (22 points) and LaVine (20.8) are not far behind.
ABOUT THE HAWKS (14-14): Towns will likely have Howard to battle on Wednesday, with the veteran dealing with only a minor ailment. "It's nowhere near anything long term," Howard told reporters. "In the Toronto game (on Friday), it's been bothering me since then. It started flaring up after the last game. Instead of allowing it to keep going and playing through it, rest it and I should be ready to go Wednesday." Millsap ended up with 30 points on 12-of-18 shooting and 11 rebounds while manning the middle and buried the go-ahead jumper with 12.7 seconds left.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Timberwolves PG Ricky Rubio is averaging 11.3 assists in three wins this month and 5.7 in six losses.
2. Hawks PG Dennis Schroder is averaging 23.8 points on 57.3 percent shooting in the last five contests.
3. Minnesota took both meetings last season after Atlanta swept the series the previous campaign.