The Atlanta Hawks entered Friday night’s fight against the Minnesota Timberwolves with a healthier squad than the team had in recent weeks. Using the stability of the newly discovered squad and a pair of individual elite-level performances, Lloyd Pierce’s team crossed to a 116-98 result in their third consecutive victory.
Much of the opening period was uneven on both sides, with the Wolves hanging around as a result. The Hawks had the last word in the first quarter, however, scoring the seven end points to claim a 25-19 lead.
The story of the first quarter was the play of Clint Capela, who continued his dominant effort on Wednesday with six points, eight rebounds and three blocks in the opening minutes.
The Atlanta run continued with the opening of the second quarter, growing to 28-9 overall when combined with the first quarter. When the attack subsided, the Hawks had an advantage of 18 points and the bank was a significant part of the attack.
Atlanta led by 23 before settling with a 19-point lead at halftime. Chapel tied his high career with six blocks before the break, adding eight points and 15 rebounds. On the offensive side, Trae Young was the catalyst, scoring 25 points from 8 of 13 shots, 3 from 6 on the three-point line and 6 from 6 on the free-throw line.
The Wolves showed a bit of a fight at the start of the second half, reducing the margin to 13. From then on, however, the Hawks regained full control and it was Young at the front.
The All-Star guard scored 15 points in the third quarter alone, surpassing the 30-point mark and settling into 40 (!) Points in just 27 minutes.
In three quarters, the Hawks had a 92-67 lead and, honestly, the wolves never threatened. There was a little of drama, however, as Capela was in search of his first triple-double career.
The veteran pivot surpassed his high point in blocking career and eventually accumulated ten rejections with the rest of the team rooting for him.
Ultimately, the final minutes came and went without incident, and the Hawks ended with a decisive victory. Young and Capela were the dominant players tonight, with Young scoring 43 points – including 8 out of 12 in the three-point range – and Capela scoring 13 points, 19 rebounds and 10 blocks. Elsewhere, Reddish (15 points, five rebounds) and Gallinari (10 points, four rebounds) performed well in their returns, and Atlanta took care of business against an inferior opponent on the road.
The Hawks will now travel from Minneapolis to Milwaukee for a Sunday night game against the Bucks. The game will begin at 8:00 pm Eastern Time.
Stay tuned.