As the Minnesota Timberwolves have experienced far too often this season, playing a lesser opponent on the road has been a struggle.
That was the case once again Monday night against the Atlanta Hawks, who entered the game with the NBA’s worst record.
The Wolves struggled late against the Hawks and ultimately fell 105-100 in one of their most disappointing losses of the season.
Minnesota looked comfortable early on in the game at Philips Arena. Despite allowing the Hawks to put together a late second-quarter run and hit seven threes in the opening half, the Wolves still managed to carry a three-point lead into the half.
Minnesota built off that momentum to start the second half, opening the third quarter on a 13-5 run to hold an 11-point lead, which would end up being the largest of the night.
And then, the Wolves’ collapse began.
After Minnesota went on its early third-quarter run, the Hawks went on to outscore the Wolves 45-29 to pull off the comeback.
Minnesota did have a chance to take the game late in the fourth quarter, however. After a Taj Gibson layup and a nice defensive stop, the Wolves had the ball down 101-100 with 14.5 seconds left. Until Jeff Teague, who struggled mightily in the game, called for a timeout when the Wolves had none remaining, resulting in a turnover.
Ballgame.
When things have gotten tough for the Wolves this season, they’ve turned to Jimmy Butler to save the day. Throughout Monday’s game, he did that multiple times, including halting an Atlanta run in the second quarter to keep Minnesota in the lead heading into the half and once again midway through the fourth quarter.
But Butler, who finished with 24 points, seven rebounds and three assists, couldn’t pull it off one final time for the Wolves in Atlanta.
Despite getting nice nights out of Andrew Wiggins, who had 18 points, Gibson, who tallied 17 points and four rebounds and Karl-Anthony Towns, who finished with 15 points and 13 rebounds, the story of the night was the struggles from the point guard position.
Teague, who also had two fast break lay-ups blocked from behind in the game, went 1 for 12 from the field to finish with two points. Tyus Jones, Teague’s backup, struggled as well, being held scoreless while shooting 0 of 4 in 13 minutes.
Along with some offensive struggles, Minnesota was outrebounded 44-35 and allowed Atlanta to make 13 3-pointers in the game.
Playing down to a lesser opponent has been an area Minnesota has struggled in for a majority of the season, but Monday night’s loss might be the worst example yet.
And the Wolves certainly didn’t do themselves any favors late with the game on the line.
The loss drops Minnesota to 32-21 on the season, now holding a half-game lead over Oklahoma City for the fourth seed in the West. The Wolves will have to try and fix things quickly, as they return to action at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday against the Toronto Raptors.
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