ATLANTA _ Wednesday's game against the Hawks had a familiar feel for the Timberwolves. It was a chance to pick up a winnable road game, but one that wasn't going to be easy. At times, the Wolves appeared as if they might run away with the game, but defense slacked and allowed Atlanta to come back. Inevitably, it came down to a close fourth quarter after the Hawks erased a nine-point Wolves lead coming into the quarter.
But like so many games before this one, the Wolves let another get away after leading most of the second half, falling to Atlanta, 131-123, in overtime.
In the extra session, the Wolves didn't score until the 2:08 mark after Atlanta opened with the first seven points, essentially winning the game. The Wolves couldn't get the ball to their best player, Karl-Anthony Towns, who also didn't touch the ball on their last possession of regulation. That sequence resulted in an air-ball runner from Derrick Rose. Towns also didn't shoot on the Wolves' first three possessions of overtime as Atlanta took the lead.
By the time he did, it was too late. Towns finished with 37 points and 17 rebounds while the Wolves couldn't solve the duo of Trae Young and John Collins, who had 36 and 34 points respectively. Andrew Wiggins added 21 for the Wolves.
The overtime came after a dramatic fourth quarter in which Atlanta refused to let the Wolves have the game even as Minnesota led for most of it. After Towns put the Wolves ahead with a put-back dunk with one minute left, the teams traded baskets down the stretch. Collins got a dunk for Atlanta with 48.5 seconds left. Rose followed that with an eight-footer to give the Wolves a 118-116 lead with 31.6 left, but Young hit a runner to tie the score again with 20.6 left, leading to Rose's failed runner. Young hit an ensuing shot for Atlanta but it came after the buzzer, forcing overtime.
It was clear from the start the rebuilding Hawks were going to make life hard again for the Wolves. The Wolves trailed 19-10 at the 7:28 mark but then the Wolves' fortunes changed. A 13-2 spurt allowed the Wolves to take a 23-21 lead on their way to 40 points for the quarter.
However, the Wolves lead evaporated as Young took over in the second and provided a few Twitter-worthy moments. Young put the Hawks ahead 54-53 with 4:32 in the second quarter, but an 11-0 Wolves run lifted them to a 68-60 lead at the half.
The third quarter was Josh Okogie's time to continue putting on a show for the approximately 35 friends and family he had in attendance. The Georgia native had eight points in the quarter, including a 3-pointer from the wing that gave the Wolves an 83-74 lead. Meanwhile 42-year-old Vince Carter provided a few vintage moments for the fans. At one point, Carter drove to the basket an appeared as if he was going to dunk and got Towns off his feet. But Carter stopped short and in a nifty hesitation move, made the shot and got fouled.
The Hawks kept pressing the Wolves into the early minutes of the fourth quarter as the Wolves played without Luol Deng, who exited the game before of a sore left Achilles. This time it was Collins who led the charge for Atlanta, as he compiled nine points in the first 3:30 of the quarter. The Hawks would tie it at 102 and then again at 114 with 2:19 to play after a Collins three-point play, which helped create the ending drama.
