Unbeaten on the road, Wolves hold off Hawks in Atlanta

The Hawks beat the Wizards 114-99 on Saturday.

The Wolves wasted no time, as they scored 72 points in the first half to take a 30-point lead into halftime over the heavily favored Hawks.

Al Horford, Teague and Millsap have scored in double figures in all nine games. Atlanta has been steady from the free throw line, shooting a stellar.815. Few teams in the league have a higher assist-to-turnover ratio than Atlanta, which ranks fifth at 1.86. Yes, 30. It was a matter of everybody playing well and everything going right, as both the starters and the bench unit played fantastic basketball, moving the ball, getting and making good shots, playing terrific defense in forcing the Hawks into congested situations, and dominating the glass. Atlanta’s defense capitalized on Minnesota mistakes converting 19 turnovers into 35 points. With this victory, the Warriors pull their record to 8-0. They would eventually rally to take a one-point lead before Andrew Wiggins slammed the door shut with seven straight points in the game’s final moments.

The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Atlanta’s last 6 games.

Jeff Teague of the Atlanta Hawks reacts to the officials after committing a foul against Ricky Rubio of the Minnesota Timberwolves at Philips Arena.

Atlanta is 2-5 ATS in its last 7 games at home. “We’re a team that has to play with a lot of energy, and we finally responded in the second half”. Fortunately, the Wolves would steady the ship just in time and close the game with an 11-0 run.

Atlanta has not lost a game this season when giving up under 100 points (5-0). Minnesota’s worst overall losing streak was a 14-game victory drought that bridged two seasons from 1994-95. First, Mirotic has been great for the Bulls offense, which is 9 points per 100 possessions better when he is on the floor.

The Hawks never led until going up 107-106 with 3:26 remaining, but Wiggins scored the next seven points to help Minnesota avoid what would have been the franchise’s biggest blown lead in a loss.

On the season, the Minnesota Timberwolves average 98.8 points, 46.2 rebounds and 21.2 assists.

Tonight’s resilience speaks volumes, given that this was the seventh game in ten days for the Atlanta Hawks.