The Minnesota Timberwolves defeated a Trae Young-less Atlanta Hawks at home, but their 100-92 win felt more like a loss rather than a victorious night.
The Timberwolves weren’t doing much work in the first half, but after halftime, things got even worse against an injury-depleted Hawks, who are without Trae Young, Dyson Daniels, Jalen Johnson, and Bogdan Bogdanovic.
Through 48 minutes, Minnesota allowed 16 turnovers, nine of which came in a sloppy third quarter. Moreover, they only shot below 40% as a team and played terribly on both ends of the floor against an undermanned Hawks. Their lackluster performance allowed Atlanta to keep playing intensely, enabling them to hang around until the end of regulation. A top-tier defensive team allowing De’Andre Hunter to core a career-high 35 points really tells a lot.
Despite the dub, head coach Chris Finch slams the whole team’s underwhelming performance against a weaker team, especially since the Hawks’ key players are out. From an amazing playoff run to a mediocre season, something is definitely missing with the Timberwolves.
Although they hand the Hawks their fifth loss, it’s technically not a victory worth celebrating.
This is fairly similar to the Boston Celtics’ almost choking against a short-staffed Los Angeles Clippers (without Kawhi, Harden, Zubac, and Powell) last week, which brings us to the question – what’s going on with these championship contenders?
