Wolves Slip Against Hawks, Giving Up 45 Points in the Third

Star of the Game

The Wolves slip against the Hawks, letting them outscore them 45-20 in the third quarter. At the start, Minnesota started out red-hot, but couldn’t sustain that momentum though to the final buzzer. In all of this chaos, D’Angelo Russell held his focus to keep Minnesota competitive. Russell had 31 points and shot 15/31 from the field. Adding five assists, a steal, and a block, Russell did everything he could to salvage this game, but it was too little too late for the Timberwolves.

Biggest Concern

There were many concerning things in this game, but there are two moments that warrant consideration. With six minutes left in the third quarter, Anthony Edwards drove for a lay-up, and he missed. After complaining about missing a foul, the referees gave Edwards two technical fouls in 5 seconds, ejecting him from the game. All in one play. Then, at the end of the quarter, Karl-Anthony Towns hit a fade away jumper, and got a technical for “taunting.” After reviewing the play, Towns also received a flagrant foul for “kicking” the defender. It’s not fair to blame the referees for this loss, but when your two best players get hammered like this in such a short time, it’s hard to recover.

Number of the Night

1. Anthony Edwards played phenomenally before his ejection in the third quarter. In 24 minutes of play, the young wing had 20 points and 5 rebounds, pretty great numbers for only half a game. His frustration boiled over after only taking two free throws in that same span. Edwards is tough, and right now, his all of his scoring comes with minimal free throws. No wonder he’s frustrated.