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The Atlanta Hawks improved to an impressive 16-7 at home with a 120-113 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night at Philips Arena.
The Hawks began the game on a 14-3 run, and in short order, flashbacks to the dominant, 26-point drubbing from Friday night came to mind. However, this one wasn't quite so easy, as the T-Wolves mounted a furious charge, and even took as much as an 11-point lead prior to the halftime break.
From there, though, the Hawks absolutely exploded, as they went on a 20-4 run midway through the 3rd quarter, and in total, Atlanta outscored Minnesota by a 38-21 margin in the period. That was enough to provide a solid cushion to work with, and the home team held on for the 7-point victory despite a couple of threatening runs by Minnesota.
Kyle Korver led the way for Atlanta with his most prolific night in recent memory. In addition to extending his NBA-record streak of consecutive games with a 3-pointer (now at 115 in a row), Korver finished with 24 points on just 9 field goal attempts, including 3-for-5 from three-point distance. All-Star Paul Millsap also got into the action, scoring 10 points in the 1st quarter and finishing with a 20-point, 13-rebound double-double to go along with 3 steals before fouling out with just over 4 minutes to play.
In addition, DeMarre Carroll had yet another big night offensively, scoring 19 points (despite taking an unexpected 15 field goal attempts) and adding 3 steals. Jeff Teague, in his second game back from an ankle injury, finished with 19 points and 8 assists despite facing off with one of the best defensive point guards in the league in Ricky Rubio, and his 4th-quarter play (11 points in the period) was huge in hanging on to the lead. The bench was pulsed, once again, by Mike Scott (14 points, 5 rebounds) and Elton Brand (8 points, 7 rebounds) who provided much-needed energy in order to quell some momentum gained by the T-Wolves.
The Hawks will now rest for two days before hosting the East-leading Indiana Pacers on Tuesday night at Philips Arena.
