Hawks use historic long range shooting to down Timberwolves 121-110

The Atlanta Hawks and the Minnesota Timberwolves matched up in the Land of 10,000 Lakes on Monday night for what was sure to be an exciting contest. The Hawks came in on tilt a bit after losing two straight games by a combined six points. They were also missing the services of many of their wing players and would have to rely on the sparingly used Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot to begin the game.

Minnesota, on the other hand, is looking to put together a winning campaign for only the second time in 17 seasons. They were without the services of D’Angelo Russell and Patrick Beverley tonight, instead inserting rookie Leandro Bolmaro in the starting lineup at point guard.

The Hawks began the game on fire from deep, hitting 9-of-15 (60%) from three point land. Trae Young added his contribution to that total early on, with eight points and five assist in the first quarter alone, including this deep bomb.

Luwawu-Cabarrot made the most of his starting nod in the first quarter, hitting three big triples. Kevin Huerter jumped in on the fun as well, with a long bomb of his own.

The nine made threes in a period represented a season high. And it was an egalitarian effort, with no Hawk reaching double digits until well into the second quarter.

The second quarter was more of the same, with a hot Atlanta jumping out to a 18-point lead at one point behind continued ball sharing and finding the open man.

Atlanta also turned up the intensity on the defensive end, holding the Timberwolves to just 48 points on 17-of-49 (35%) shooting from the field in the first half. The Hawks were doing a good job of recovering near the rim and not giving up easy points. Young starlet and Georgia native Anthony Edwards was held to 11 points on 3-for-10 (30%) shooting in the first half.

Young was the high scorer at the half with 16 points, bolstered by a 8-for-9 (89%) start from the line. He continued to scorch with a deep bomb to open the scoring in the third quarter. But a quick Minnesota 6-0 run forced head coach Nate McMillan to call a timeout just a few minutes into the second half.

Luwawu-Cabarrot, however, would not be deterred with the lead shrinking to just 11 points at one point in the third quarter. The Frenchman stroked the net on a few deep attempts to tie his career high with six made triples.

With a commanding 96-78 lead after three periods, the Hawks just needed to see this one through with steady play down the stretch to come away with a solid win on the road. Gorgui Dieng helped that cause with some sharpshooting of his own, hitting three long shots to push the lead past 20 points at one point.

With a fourth quarter three from — who else? — Luwawu-Cabarrot, the Hawks tied a franchise record with 22 threes with over six minutes left in the contest. It was Luwawu-Cabarrot’s seventh three personally, a career high for him.

But the Timberwolves wouldn’t go down with a fight. Malik Beasley added some long range marksmanship of his own, finishing with 24 points and six made threes, and Minnesota brought the lead down to 10 at 108-98 with just over five minutes left in the contest.

The Hawks pushed back, however, and John Collins would make the record breaking three to solidify Atlanta’s lead.

With the starters back in to close the game, Atlanta salted the game away with some more nifty ball movement and clutch buckets down the stretch.

Atlanta finished out their fourth consecutive road victory after a dreadful start away from home, 121-110. Luwawu-Cabarrot finished off a career night with 23 points on 8-of-18 (44.4%) shooting including seven triples. Young added 29 points on just 18 shots and 11 assists. And Danilo Gallinari continued his recent hot streak with 20 points on just 10 shots off the bench.

As a team, Atlanta shot 25-of-49 (51.0%) from three, a franchise record as stated above. They also tallied 31 assists on 40 made field goals, indicative of how the ball was finding open shooters all night long. This offensive onslaught brought the Hawks above .500 yet again at 13-12. They will travel home for a much needed three day break and take on the Eastern Conference leading Brooklyn Nets on Friday.