Timberwolves at Hawks
The Minnesota Timberwolves are a different team with Jimmy Butler in the lineup, and the All-Star guard's return helped them avoid a three-game slide. Butler will continue to shake off the rust and try to lead the Timberwolves to back-to-back victories when they visit the NBA-worst Atlanta Hawks on Monday.
Butler sat out four games with right knee soreness and watched his team fall to fellow Western Conference playoff contenders Portland and Golden State on the road before returning on Saturday and helping Minnesota to a 111-97 home win over the Brooklyn Nets. "Just the intensity is so much different," Timberwolves coach Tom Thibodeau told reporters of the difference with Butler in the lineup. "His first game back, I thought he made a lot of big plays. When the game was in the balance he made big play after big play." The Hawks could use someone with Butler's intensity on the defensive end after allowing the Washington Wizards to shoot 57.6 percent from the floor in a 129-104 loss on Saturday. The setback was the third straight in the latest slide for Atlanta, which is surrendering an average of 119.3 points in the three games.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FS North (Minnesota), FS Southeast (Atlanta)
ABOUT THE TIMBERWOLVES (32-20): Minnesota surrendered an average of 119 points in the four games that Butler missed but locked in on that end Saturday and forced 16 turnovers in the easy win. "Defense is what wins this game," All-Star center Karl-Anthony Towns, who added three blocks and a steal to his 16 points and 19 rebounds, told the Minneapolis Star Tribune. "We did a good job playing defense." The double-double was the NBA-leading 43rd for the 22-year-old Towns, who is averaging 20.1 points and 12.2 boards.
ABOUT THE HAWKS (14-35): Atlanta leans heavily on point guard Dennis Schroder on the offensive end and could use more consistency from the supporting players. Shooting guard Kent Bazemore scored a season-high 26 points on 9-of-16 shooting in a loss at Charlotte on Friday but slumped to three points on 1-of-9 in Saturday's setback, ending a string of three straight games scoring in double figures. Power forward Ersan Ilyasova averaged 14.2 points and shot 46.8 percent from 3-point range in December but is down to 10.7 points while shooting 30.4 percent from beyond the arc, including 1-of-14 over the last five games, in January.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Hawks rookie SG Tyler Dorsey scored a season-high 14 points on Saturday.
2. Timberwolves SF Andrew Wiggins is averaging 24.8 points over his last five games.
3. Minnesota swept the two-game series in each of the last two seasons.