Ten observations from Hawks victory over Timberwolves

3. After that play, Bazemore's help defense against Jimmy Butler contributed to a turnover. Bazemore then sprinted the court, collected a fine pass from Dennis Schroder and scored for a 101-98 lead while getting fouled. Bazemore missed the free throw but the Hawks held on, thanks in part to a five-second call before Teague could pass the ball inbound with 14.5 seconds left. Bazemore sealed the victory by smothering Butler on his missed 3-point attempt.

4. Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer pregame on the challenge of defending the Timberwolves, who entered the game ranked fourth in offensive efficiency: “They’ve got some tough individual covers.  It will take a lot of individual effort and pride on Butler, (Karl-Anthony) Towns and (Andrew) Wiggins. They’ve got at least three guys who can go one-on-one.” And when any of those three have off nights, the Timberwolves can still win shootouts because they have so much scoring depth.

5. Butler muscled his way to 24 points (9-for-9 on free throws). Wiggins went for 18 points on 14 shots. The Hawks didn't allow Towns (15 points, 13 rebounds) to dominate in the paint. Teague short-armed easy shots all night (1-for-12 from the field) but Minnesota's other supporting scorers chipped in: Taj Gibson (17 points), Gorgui Dieng (11) and Jamal Crawford (10). The Hawks countered with reserves Dewayne Dedmon (10 points), Malcolm Delaney (nine) and Tyler Dorsey (eight points in the fourth quarter).

6. The Hawks limited the Timberwolves to 42 points on 42 shots after halftime. Budenholzer: "I really think the individual pride just went to another level and that was the difference defensively.

7. Schroder (18 points on 15 shots) couldn't find much traction when trying to navigate the lane against Minnesota's size. However, Schroder was engaged defensively against Teague, his predecessor as Hawks starting point guard. Schroder often plays with more defensive intensity when his matchup has a personal angle.

8. Taurean Prince didn’t produce much in 10 first-quarter minutes (zero points, 0-for-2 on field goals, one assists, one turnover). In the second quarter, Prince was called for two fouls on one possession against Butler and went back to the bench with three fouls. Prince was still on the bench when the second half began, with Delaney in the lineup instead. Within a minute Budenholzer sent Prince back in — to replace Bazemore, not Delaney. Budenholzer said he wanted to keep Prince out of further foul trouble and liked the way Delaney was playing.

9. The Timberwolves had 10 points on five turnovers after a bit more than eight minutes played. Four of those Hawks giveaways by led directly to transition scores by the Timberwolves. Bazemore prevented another with a superb chase-down block of Teague’s dunk attempt.

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10. Miles Plumlee’s good early work helped keep the Hawks competitive. In his first-half run of seven minutes he produced six points on 3-of-3 shooting, three rebounds (two offensive) and generally kept Towns away from his preferred positions in the post. This was evidence in favor of Budenholzer’s belief that Plumlee provides a physical presence as the starter.

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