Takeaways from Minnesota Timberwolves’ loss to the Atlanta Hawks

The Minnesota Timberwolves didn’t look like a team one week removed from winning seven of eight games in their 121-110 loss to the Atlanta Hawks at Target Center Monday night.

Nor did they look like the one that just played two straight top-five Eastern Conference teams tough on the road.

Takeaways from Minnesota Timberwolves’ loss to the Atlanta Hawks

The 11-point margin doesn’t do justice to the Hawks, who controlled the game from start to finish. A big part of the Wolves’ struggles was that they literally looked different. D’Angelo Russell missed the game with soreness in the right ankle that caused him to miss two games earlier this season.

Even Karl-Anthony Towns, who returned to the lineup after missing a game with a tailbone contusion, was clearly not himself. Minnesota’s star big man still played great, putting up 31 points and 16 rebounds, but labored to move throughout the night, especially after taking some spills in the first half.

The Hawks, on the other hand, looked like the team that stunned the league on its way to the Eastern Conference Finals last season. The Hawks shot the lights out (more on that in a second), ran seamless offense, and responded to every Minnesota run with a haymaker.

The Timberwolves didn’t play up to their new, higher standards Monday regardless of health, and now they have a three-game losing skid to stop.

“No one’s going to feel sorry for us. Everybody has one of these patches during the season where you have injuries or you have illness or whatnot,” head coach Chris Finch said on Wolves Live Postgame. “It’s been a little bit just trying to plug gaps, but that’s what we got to do. These guys gotta step up and play.”

Here are three other takeaways from the loss.