Will the Hawks be hungry… like the Wolves?

Despite falling short late in Memphis on Sunday, the Atlanta Hawks head toward the All-Star Break in fairly good shape, sporting an East-leading 42-10 record with just two games remaining against likely lottery-bound teams. Still, there may never be a worse time to run into an NBA club with an 11-40 record.

The Minnesota Timberwolves host the Hawks (8:00 PM Eastern, SportSouth, Fox Sports North) while gunning for their fourth-straight victory. They’re a far cry from the team that was dispatched in Atlanta, 112-100, just two weeks ago. Two nights before defeating the Hawks, the Grizzlies were vanquished on Minnesota’s floor. It’s much easier to sell Wolf Tickets now.

Franchise playmaker Ricky Rubio has finally returned, after surgery to repair an ankle injury sidelined him for most of the season. By all accounts after three games, he appears to be back to his no-look-passing self (11.7 PPG, 6.0 APG this month; 8.5 APG on the season), and has shot the ball above his woeful career averages (45.8 FG% this month, 43.7% this season). The Spaniard rung up nine assists in a win last Wednesday against the heat, and followed that up by hitting 3-of-4 triples on the way to 17 points against the Grizzlies, in each case helping Minnesota win by one point.

Jeff Teague (22 points and 6 assists @ Memphis) tweaked his ankle late in yesterday’s contest but appears to be ready to go tonight. Dennis Schröder (11 points, 3 assists and 1 turnover in 15 minutes yesterday) has been solidifying himself as a reliable sixth-man, and should get ample time to go head-to-head with Rubio for stretches tonight.

T’wolves Coach Flip Saunders rested Rubio on the road against the Pistons yesterday, and the hunch that he wouldn’t need him was correct, as Minnesota pounced on Detroit early and would not let up. The bucket-filling Kevin Martin has also returned, after missing extended time to recuperate from a fractured shooting wrist. He couldn’t make any of his six three-point attempts, and that was good news for Detroit, who still could not stop Martin from getting 24 points, plus nine rebounds and three steals. Simply put for the Hawks, tonight will be no Laugh-In, not with Rubio and Martin healthy and starting together in Minnesota’s backcourt.

The Pistons’ frontline also had no answers for Nikola Pekovic (career-low 45.0 FG%, career-high 85.7 FT%), who got 15 of his game-high 29 points (11-for-12 FTs) in the fourth quarter. Pek had only recently returned from injury himself when he scored 15 points, including seven free throws, in Atlanta on January 25. Keeping the gargantuan center off of the free throw line will be critical for the Hawks, and part of that effort entails cutting off the supply lines from Rubio to Pek on the low block.

The vastly-improved sophomore shooting guard Shabazz Muhammad (last 11 starts: 16.7 PPG, 46.3 FG%, 45.2 3FG%, 5.0 RPG) is also probable to play tonight following a month off to heal an oblique strain. His return is right on time to spell Martin after the latter logged 42 minutes last night in Detroit.

All of these reinforcements now surround likely Rookie of the Year Andrew Wiggins. His production regressed slightly (14.0 PPG, 40.0 FG% this month) as he adjusts to all the once-missing components in the Timberwolves’ offense. But he regained some balance with Rubio out last night, contributing eight rebounds and five assists to go with 18 points.

Despite being dwellers of the Western Conference’s cellar, now that virtually everyone is back, this is not a team that intends to tank -- they have enough unfulfilled lottery talent as it is. This latest run suggests Saunders intends to have Minnesota competing hard and soaring up the standings in the back half of the season. Or does he?

The trade deadline is only ten days away, and Coach Flip is donning his GM hat as well. It is well within the realm of possibility that he is showcasing Mo Williams (11 points, 9 assists @ Detroit on Sunday), Martin, Pekovic, and Thaddeus Young (40 minutes, 6-for-7 FGs @ Detroit) to see what the market of playoff contenders will bear. With Martin, Muhammad, and Rubio back, and with Zach LaVine getting more time, nobody needs Williams to drop 52 on anybody just to contend, so his expiring contract is the easiest item to dangle. The other vets have much more salary weight, so expect a lot of plays run for them, against the Hawks and over the course of the next week-and-a-half.

So far this month, the Timberwolves’ 22.3 free throws per game, and 85.6 FT%, lead the NBA. The Grizzlies helped their own cause by nearly doubling their free-throw output from the previous month against the Hawks last night, sinking 19 of their 21 shots, 15 of those attempts in the second half. Minnesota made 20 of their 25 against the Hawks on January 25, and that was without Martin (86.3 FT%), a notorious foul magnet. Defensive positioning for Kyle Korver and DeMarre Carroll will be important to avoid foul trouble and keep Martin and Wiggins from fattening their stats with free throw attempts.

Al Horford and Paul Millsap (combined 4-for-21 shooting, 10 points, 3 assists, 6 turnovers vs. Memphis) largely took the “sunshine-on-a-dog” view of their mutual inability to keep up with the Grizzlies’ beefy frontline yesterday. The Wolves seemed most competent in the January 25 matchup when they resorted to a big lineup that placed Thaddeus Young (26 points, 11-for-17 FGs, 7 assists @ Atlanta) in the small forward spot and played Gorgui Dieng alongside Pekovic.

Saunders would be crazy not to go big again, especially if it allows Martin some rest with Wiggins back at the 2-spot. But Young and Pek are not remotely as defensively proficient as Z-Bo and Marc Gasol were against the Hawks’ All-Star frontline (combined 16-for-21 FGs and ten assists on January 25).

Four separate Grizzlies (none of them being Gasol) were able to grab at least three offensive rebounds yesterday, Mike Scott’s back literally getting climbed like a tree for one of Tony Allen’s three rebounds and putbacks. Carroll, Korver, and Kent Bazemore must do a better job tonight helping Horford and Millsap secure the basketball and set up the transition offense.

The ongoing Budenhustle is that on most nights, the Kanye approach to defensive rebounding (“I’mma let you finish!”) will be more than offset by the Hawks’ combination of sharper passing for layups and open shots, transition buckets off of steals, and an inability for opponents to slow the game down with foul shots. Precious little of those things transpired last night, while the Grizzlies opened up a 22-6 advantage in second-chance points.

Atlanta’s 17 assists at the Grindhouse tied a season-low, and neither that amount nor their six steals outperformed Memphis’s tallies of 18 and eight, respectively. Better execution from the Hawks’ backcourt, specifically finishing in the paint and forcing turnovers, will make life easier for Horford and Millsap to rebound, literally and figuratively, after a tough night in Tennessee.

Let’s Go Hawks!

~lw3