“Bad loss.”
Atlanta Hawks head coach Lloyd Pierce is looking for answers to win a basketball game for a full 48 minutes after his Atlanta Hawks team lost its seventh straight Monday, falling to the Minnesota Timberwolves 125-113 at State Farm Arena.
Asked what the Hawks need to do to break the streak, Pierce didn’t hesitate: “We just need to win.”
The biggest reason for this? Karl Anthony Towns had his way with Atlanta’s bigs for almost 32 minutes. The former first overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft flirted with his second career triple-double, as he recorded a team-high 28 points and game-high 13 rebounds to go along with eight assists.
His teammate, Andrew Wiggins, got in on the scoring as well, posting 25 points to continue the best season he’s had in his six-year career. Also making an impact for Minnesota was Gorgui Dieng, who added 13 points in 16 minutes off the bench.
For the Hawks, they know things have to change, it’s just a matter of how.
“There were some cross matches guys just overreacted to the situation and we got caught,” Pierce said. “I just thought that [the 32 assists were] a good flow and good rhythm for us.”
That said, however, there were positives for the Hawks that we can take away from this game.
For one, Bruno Fernando played exceptionally well. Despite playing his fourth game in four days (played for the Hawks G League affiliate College Park Skyhawks Sunday), the 21-year-old scored a career-high 13 points.
Guard Trae Young did well for the Hawks too, contributing game-highs of 37 points and nine assists. On the other hand, he did have seven turnovers.
Rookies Cam Reddish and De’Andre Hunter seemed absent for most of the night. The two combined for 14 points, six rebounds, and six assists. Even more concerning was the 5-for-20 combined performance from the field.
But, you move on and learn. This is a young team and the players will look to do just that as they travel to Wisconsin to take on Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks Wednesday night at 8:00 pm.
