Fans were treated to the best of the Timberwolves in the first half and then the worst of the Timberwolves in the second half as they blew a 21-point third quarter lead wound up losing to the Hawks 127-113 Monday night in Atlanta.
The 21-point lead gave Minnesota an opportunity to prove things are different in 2023-24 after blowing 18 double-digit leads last season, but it wasn’t to be as the Wolves were outscored by 38-19 in the third quarter and 29-15 in the fourth quarter. If you add up the second half totals, Atlanta outscored Minnesota 67-34, turning a 21-point deficit into a 14-point win.
Minnesota hit ten 3s in the first quarter and lit up Atlanta for 79 points in the first half, scoring 42 in the opening quarter and 37 more in the second quarter. They
Anthony Edwards scored 20 of his points 31 points in the first half while Naz Reid and Shake Milton had 13 and 10 points off the bench, respectively in the first 24 minutes. Neither Reid nor Milton scored in the second half.
Karl-Anthony Towns had 13 points in the first half and finished with 16 points.
The tide turned in the third quarter as Dejounte Murray went berserk with 22 points and the Hawks erased a 79-60 halftime deficit to tie the game 98-98 entering the fourth, and they poured it on from there.
Murray finished with 41 points on a blistering 17-of-24 shooting.
Up next: Timberwolves vs. Nuggets, 7 p.m. CT Wednesday.
