BADER'S TAKE: Tale of Two Halves

Alex Bader

With the statement neon green jerseys donned on Wednesday night in Atlanta, the Minnesota Timberwolves put forth a tale of two statement halves in the 134-122 loss to the Atlanta Hawks. The Wolves failed to get above .500 fell to 22-23 on the season and sit in 9th place in the Western Conference.

The first half was a tale of high offense efficiency and what looked like a runaway win. The second half was a tale of poor discipline, poor defense, and poor offense.

Edwards and Russel were shooting lights out in the first half. The entire lineup was shooting efficiently and they jumped out to a big lead.

It had the feeling of a blowout win by the Wolves and I thought I was going to write a completely different article.

Instead, discipline got the better of Minnesota and is what cost them the game.

They lost ANT to two technical fouls and he was ejected from the game in the third quarter. He finished the game with 20 points and was 7-16 from the field. After his dismissal, the Hawks went on a big run to grow their lead.

They had already lost Beverley to an injury after the first half, and losing ANT did not help them.

KAT got into foul trouble as well.

It didn't help the Wolves when Trae Young and Atlanta exploded in the second half. Losing ANT and Beverly hurt them offensively, but it hurt them defensively more.

This was the type of game that did not surprise any Timberwolves fan. They got out to a huge lead and then fell apart late.

It is the type of game that makes me wonder if this team will ever break out of the .500 bubble. Every time they claw their way back to even, they fall apart and find themselves below.

The Wolves must bounce back on Sunday night at home against the streaking Nets. If they can quickly bounce back with a win, and get back to .500, it could be an energy lifter. They cannot fall into another three or four-game slump and that is why they need to win Sunday.

Game Recap:

Playing on the second night of back-to-backs, having a strong and fast start to the game was going to be key for the Wolves.

They did just that. They started the game on a 7-0 scoring run and never looked back. With 7:33 left in the first quarter, Minnesota had the lead, 15-11.

At that point in time the Wolves ran away from the Hawks. Minnesota finished the first quarter on a 27-15 scoring run and went into the second quarter with the lead, 42-26.

The Hawks had no answers on defense for the Wolves in the first quarter, so they decided to outshoot the Wolves in the second.

Atlanta scored 35 points in the second quarter and battled hard to get back in the game. The Timberwolves had no answers on defense. With 3:25 left to play in the second quarter, the Hawks cut the deficit to seven, 62-55 Wolves lead.

Minnesota responded and played strong during the waning moments of the second quarter and went into halftime with a 12 point lead, 73-61.

Both teams played very efficiently on offense, but not so efficiently on defense in the first half.

The Timberwolves needed guys to step up because Patrick Beverley went out in the first half with an ankle injury and was ruled out for the rest of the game.

Minnesota needed to be much better defensively in the second half and deny any sort of comeback.

However, Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks had other ideas. They started the second half on a 20-2 scoring run to take the lead, 81-75.

The Wolves responded to keep the game close and with 5:57 left in the third quarter, the Hawks had the two-point lead, 84-82.

Anthony Edwards - the Wolves' best player of the night for shooting the ball - received a technical foul and then received another for talking back to the ref and was ejected from the game. He finished the game with 20 points and was 7-16 from the field.

The Wolves now are without two of their five starters.

The Timberwolves needed their role-players more than ever to step up.

Minnesota tried their best to keep the game close going into the fourth quarter. Atlanta had the eight-point lead, 103-95.

After reviewing the final play of the third quarter, it was found that the basket scored by KAT at the buzzer did not count due to a technical foul and flagrant foul by KAT.

So, instead of going to the quarter down by eight. The Wolves went to the fourth quarter down by 13, 93-106.

The Hawks exploded with 42 points in the third quarter, matching the Wolves' first-quarter scoring output. Trae Young was unbelievable, he had 23 points in the quarter alone.

In a game where Minnesota looked like they would run away early, saw them battling for a comeback without two of their starting five players.

The start of the fourth quarter was all Atlanta, Minnesota struggled without Edwards and Beverley.

With 5:53 left in the fourth quarter, the Wolves trailed by 12, 121-107.

With 1:40 left in the game, Minnesota trailed by eight, 126-118.

With 1:01 left in the game, Minnesota trailed by six, 128-122.

KAT fouled out of the game and Young made both his free throws to make it an eight-point lead. KAT finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds.

Young finished with 37 points and 14 assists for the Hawks. He shot 10-17 from the field and was 6-10 from the 3-point line.

DLO finished with 31 points and five assists. He shot 10-18 from the field.

Beasley had 16 points and three assists off the bench.

What's Next:

Minnesota Timberwolves (22-23 9th west) vs. Brooklyn Nets (28-16 3rd east)

Sunday, Jan. 23, 2022. Puck Drop at 7:00 p. m. central time

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