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Hawks at Timberwolves Game Thread

Both teams are on 2nd games of back to backs tonight; amazingly it's the Wolves who are coming off a win, while the Hawks fell last night in Memphis.

By Eric in Madison
Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

Hawks at Wolves
7:00 pm CST
FS North +

Let's see: On Friday, the Wolves beat the Grizzlies. Last night, the Grizzlies beat the Hawks. Tonight, the Hawks are in town to face the Wolves.

Should be an easy win for the their 4th in a row, wouldn't you say?

OK. Not really. The Hawks are the best team in the Eastern Conference, sporting a league best 42-10 record and have been playing absolutely fantastic ball on both sides of the court. Their ball movement and intelligence on the court is wonderful to watch, and they held off the Wolves in Atlanta a couple of weeks ago; building a lead and then easing to the finish as the Wolves vainly tried to get back into the game.

The Hawks do many things well, with shooting threes being perhaps the top of that list. They lead the league in 3P%, of course headlined by Kyle Korver, who is the best shooter in the league and someone who changes the way teams defend. They also do well up front with the tandem of Paul Millsap and Al Horford, hold teams to a below average efg%, and rarely foul.

I could go on at length about all the good things the Hawks do, but we should see it tonight.

For the Wolves, this is a great night because, for the first time in months, the entire rotation should be healthy and available. Shabazz Muhammad is slated to make his return to the lineup, which means Flip Saunders should have everyone at his disposal. Presumably Ricky Rubio will still be on limited minutes, but we should see everyone tonight, which will be something different.

Obviously the team has looked a lot better since the main cogs--Nikola Pekovic and Kevin Martin along with Rubio--have returned to action. The Wolves are on a three game winning streak and actually have been playing some good basketball. Hopefully that continues tonight.

Expected lineups

Hawks

Jeff Teague
Kyle Korver
DeMarre Carroll
Paul Millsap
Al Horford

Wolves

Ricky Rubio
Kevin Martin
Andrew Wiggins
Thaddeus Young
Gorgui Dieng

Our blogging buddies are over at Peachtree Hoops.

No no no.

Enjoy. Chat. Go.