The Atlanta Hawks defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves last night, 112-100. Want to read more about what happened? Check out Eric's recap -- follow the link.
Robbie Hummel suffered a non-displaced fracture of the fourth metacarpal in his right hand at the end of the third quarter of Sunday's loss in Atlanta. This was explained in a press release sent by the Wolves PR department last night.
As it was said in Key's post on this website: Backup point guard/center, +/- legend and rap icon Robbie Hummel will now be suit pant/sport jacket combo sideline model Robbie Hummel for a while.
Costly timing
Even those who weren't thrilled with the decision to sign Hummel last summer would have a tough time ignoring his contributions over the previous few weeks. Hummel, given a larger role with Shabazz Muhammad sidelined because of an injured abdomen, has been refreshingly solid on both ends of the floor. In nine appearances since January 9th, Hummel averaged 7.1 points and 5.3 rebounds playing 25.4 minutes per game.
He shot 52.9% from the field (27-of-51) and was 41.7% (5-of-12) from beyond the arc, in addition to knocking down each of his five attempts from the free throw line.
Andy Greder of the Pioneer Press recently reported that Shabazz will see a specialist and Flip Saunders expects him to possibly return before the All-Star break. The Wolves will play 10 games between now and All-Star Weekend -- which begins Friday, February 13th -- starting with Monday's matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The other opponents: Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers, Cleveland Cavaliers, Dallas Mavericks, Miami Heat, Detroit Pistons, Atlanta Hawks and Golden State Warriors.
Roster situation: Grim?
Thad Young's size became a liability against the New Orleans Pelicans last Friday. He's struggled on the glass all season, averaging just 4.7 rebounds per game, but was particularly ineffective against the likes of Anthony Davis and Omer Asik -- the Wolves' starting power forward finished the game with 15 points and zero rebounds. Young finished the game on the bench while Flip Saunders went with Gorgui Dieng and Nikola Pekovic in the frontcourt.
Saunders started Young at the 3 spot on Sunday and the decision yielded positive results. Young finished with 26 points on 11-of-17 shooting to go with 7 assists and 6 rebounds. The starting lineup; Young, Dieng, Pekovic, Mo Williams and Andrew Wiggins scored 82 of the Wolves' 100 points against Atlanta.
Some other tidbits from last night.
- Hummel (22:44) was the only member of the bench to play more than 20 minutes. He scored 9 points.
- Zach LaVine (7:08), Chase Budinger (16.49) and Glenn Robinson III (5:14) collectively matched Hummel's scoring output (9).
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Troy Daniels was held scoreless in 2:50 of playing time.
- In 144 minutes (over 15 games) Daniels has shot 19-of-57 (33.3%) from the field since joining the Wolves. He's 13-of-38 (34.2%) from three point range.