Five observations from the Hawks’ 104-90 loss to the Timberwolves Monday.
1. The Hawks got Dwight Howard back after a three-game absence due to back tightness. The starting center had a double-double with 20 points and 12 rebounds in 21 minutes. Only 21 minutes? Well, the game was out of hand by the third quarter. He played six minutes in the third and none in the fourth.
Without Howard, the Hawks were badly outrebound by the Timberwolves in loss in Atlanta last week. This time, they held a 46-40 advantage on the boards, including 17-11 on the offensive glass. The edge simply didn’t translate.
“I guess there are lots of games within the games,” coach Mike Budenholzer said. “Sometimes people focus, either rightly or wrongly, on rebounding. It is important. You have to have a complete game, a complete package, as a team. Consistently, we don’t have that.”
2. Add the Timberwolves to the growing list of teams that have season-best performances from 3-point range against the Hawks. The Timberwolves made 15 3-pointers with Zach LaVine (6), Andrew Wiggins (4) and Karl-Anthony Towns (3) accounting for 13. That's more than the entire Hawks team (8).
“I thought some of them were open and some were tough shots,” Kyle Korver said. “I think we were a step slow on everything tonight. When you are a step slow, the farthest place you have to go is the 3-point line.”
3. The Hawks turned the ball over too much. We've said and heard that before. The Hawks had 19 turnovers that led to 22 points. In the decisive second and third quarters, the Hawks committed 12 turnovers that led to 16 points. It was a huge reason the Hawks were outscored 66-40 in the middle two quarters.
“Turnovers have been one of our Achilles heels,” Budenholzer said. “I would not classify it as uncharacteristic. We need to be better with the ball. It’s going to help us more efficient offensively.”
4. Paul Millsap has a very swollen right eye after he caught with an elbow early in the third quarter. He left the game 42 seconds into the period and did not return until 5:50 remained. When he left, the Hawks trailed by nine points. When he returned, the Hawks trailed by 19 points.
Millsap finished with seven points and five rebounds. He had two turnovers and was a minus-18.
“I didn’t play any worse than before I got elbowed,” Millsap said when asked whether his eye affected his play.
Millsap said he was going to see a doctor after he dressed and left the locker room.
5. The frustration mounts as the Hawks fail to be a consistent team. They have won back-to-back games just once since Nov. 15-16.
“For sure, it’s frustrating,” Dennis Schroder said. “We have to find a way. It’s still early but we need to figure it out now. We can’t keep talking about it. We have to change something and we don’t. We have to be on the same page.”
The Hawks (15-16) have once again fallen to below .500. Thirty-one games into the season, more than one-third mark in, and this is the identity of the team. No consistency. It’s troublesome at this stage.
Millsap said Friday’s comeback win at the Nuggets was great but it wouldn’t mean anything if the team didn’t build off such a victory. They failed to again - as they have with road wins over the Bucks, Raptors and Thunder in recent weeks.
“Just a terrible performance all around,” Millsap said. “We didn’t make shots. We didn’t get stops.”
The Hawks have a three-game homestand that begins Wednesday. That could change their fortune but they are just 7-7 at Philips Arena this season.
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