Wolves Fight, Fall Short to Hawks

Wolves Postgame Audio
Kevin McHale

The flu bug has hit several teams around the league, including the Hawks. Atlanta shooting guard Joe Johnson missed the game with a viral infection but it was the Wolves offense that looked infected throughout the 94-86 loss at the Target Center.

"Well, we didn't shoot the ball very well tonight, needless to say," head coach Kevin McHale said. "It was just one of those funky nights right from the get-go. I don't know, it just seemed like we were missing some shots, missing some layups, missing opportunities."

Minnesota only shot 36.4 percent from the field and had to dig out of an 11-point deficit in the fourth quarter. With most of the team struggling to hit the broad side of a barn, McHale made a surprising decision to help give the Wolves a lift off the bench.

Rashad McCants made his first appearance in 2009 in the third quarter after the Hawks extended their lead to 16 points with 3:19 left in the period. Just when Atlanta looked to run away with the win, McCants ignited the crowd with a big blocked shot on Acie Law.

"I was happy for Rashad. He's been taking care of his game, and that's a tough thing to do when you're not playing, I know how frustrating it is. I gave him credit for taking care of his game. He's been coming in early, staying late, working on his game, working one-on-one afterwards, so he was ready to go when his number was called," McHale said.

Mike Miller would then hit back-to-back 3-point field goals to cut the Atlanta lead to just five points with 8:33 remaining in the contest. Minnesota would continue to chip away at the Hawks and Randy Foye connected on a cross over drive to the basket as the Wolves moved within two points at the 1:34 mark of the final stanza.

Mike Bibby then silenced the Target Center crowd with a 3-pointer to give Atlanta a five-point lead with 44.2 seconds left in the game. The Wolves could not execute successful offensive possessions in the final stages and dropped to 17-31 on the season.

Bibby led the Hawks with 24 points, seven assists, and four rebounds. Marvin Williams added 23 points, including 11-of-14 from the free throw line. Atlanta built a campground at the charity stripe with 38 attempts on the night.

For the Wolves, several players could not find the shooting touch, which could be a result of playing back-to-back games. Sebastian Telfair, Foye, Al Jefferson, and Ryan Gomes combined to shoot just 12-for-55 from the field. Jefferson did manage to score 18 points to lead Minnesota.

A couple of bright spots for the Wolves included the 10 points from McCants and the play of Miller from the perimeter. Shooting 3-of-6 from the 3-point line, Miller finished with 17 points in one of his most efficient performances this season.

"I'm glad that Mike came out and was aggressive, but he's always been aggressive, he looked for his shot a little bit more tonight," McHale said.

Kevin Love also showed promise in the starting lineup as he filled in for the injured Craig Smith. With Smith suffering from bruised ribs, Love dominated the glass with 14 rebounds and he also scored 16 points.

Minnesota will have the day off tomorrow to try to recover from the taxing two weeks of basketball. On Saturday, the team hits the road for a game against the Rockets.

Matt's Stats

Fan Reactions: "They look slow, they look tired." Steve, 53, Burnsville "Mike Miller needs to shoot more." Kyle, 20, Burnsville

-- Looking at the box score, the game simply came down to shooting. The Wolves shot just 36.4% from the field compared to Atlanta's 50%. Ryan Gomes, Sebastian Telfair, and Randy Foye combined to shoot 5-for-38 from the field and score just 18 points. The Wolves did have one bright spot though: they had 19 offensive rebounds.

-- Mike Bibby has roared back from a three-game stretch of scoring in single digits to score at least 20 in the last three games. He's also hit at least three three-point shots in his last three outings. Bibby, who was named to the three-point shooting competition for the upcoming All-Star weekend today, has hit at least one three in all but four games this season.

-- Mike Miller had three three-pointers in tonight's game, the most he's had since December 14. Miller is averaging 8.9 points per game, 7.2 field goal attempts, and 1.0 three-pointers per game, all career lows.

-- Kevin Love finished with 16 points and 14 rebounds as a starter, his 11th double-double of the season and fourth in the last seven games. It was Love's first start since December 5.

-- Jefferson had his usual double-double performance despite the fact the Atlanta defense was clearly designed with him in mind. Big Al is averaging 24.5 points, 12.5 rebounds, and 2.75 blocks per game since beings snubbed for the All-Star game on January 29.

-- Even though the Wolves are a respectable 8-10 against the Eastern Conference this season, they are 0-5 against Southeast Division opponents.

-- Rashad McCants made his return to action after not playing since January 7. Despite the time off, McCants came in and played the final 15 minutes of the game quite well. He finished with 10 points and four rebounds, connected on two three-pointers, and finished with a team-high plus 9 plus-or-minus. Despite his strong play, the Wolves fell to 4-25 when McCants scores at least one point.

--Matt Everhart