Hawks leave threes under Christmas tree in 117-104 win over T’Wolves

Back to .500.

The Hawks welcomed Trae Young back after a one-game absence. And after their 25-turnover nightmare their last time out, his return was very welcome.

The Hawks started their usual five with Daniels, Risacher, Johnson and Capela, while the Timberwolves deployed theirs as well with Julius Randle taking the spot vacated by Karl-Anthony Towns.

This was certainly missed the other night.

And, you know what? One more with extra flair.

Atlanta continued to struggle with turnovers on offense when Young sat, however. But the Hawks played solid defense and hit some critical threes to push the lead to 21-9 late in the fourth quarter.

When Garrison Mathews and Larry Nance came into the game, the three bombs didn’t slow down. In fact, Atlanta moved the ball and put them up with confidence to build a large lead in a hurry.

After one quarter, the Hawks led 35-19 behind 7-for-11 (64%) shooting from deep.

Minnesota went on an 8-2 run early in the second to narrow the margin, but Jalen Johnson did have this punction mark in the middle of that run.

But the Hawks fumbled the ball multiple times, and the Timberwolves made them pay by converting three after three after three. Once the lead got down to three points, the Hawks called a timeout knowing they had to lock in once again.

Mathews came out of the break as strong as ever, with some nice last ditch defensive players and his usual quick trigger from three.

Mathews finished the half a perfect 5-for-5 from three for 15 points. But the Hawks let down their guard for the rest of the quarter, and so they ceded the lead to the Timberwolves after a last second Conley three.

Atlanta trailed 55-52 after one half. Minnesota one-upped the Hawks from the three-point line by going 11-for-25 (44%) in the first half including a perfect 3-for-3 from reserve Nickeil Alexander-Walker.

Zaccharie Risacher struggled with his shot in the first half, but it was good to see the ball go through the net on his first attempt in the second half.

Atlanta and Minnesota engaged in a back-and-forth affair early in the third quarter — a departure from trading long runs of scoring in the first half. That was evident in the final sequence of the quarter, with the Timberwolves getting a runout dunk for Naz Reid followed by a full court pass to Jalen Johnson sitting under the basket. Johnson caught and laid the ball up in one motion to cut the lead to three.

The Hawks went into the fourth quarter trailing 85-82.

Garrison Mathews picked up where he left off in the first half, draining two triples from almost the identical spot in the corner to bring his total to seven made threes.

Atlanta used that energy to make a small run and build a seven-point lead. Then, Dyson Daniels took over as only he can on the defensive end. He racked up a number of steals to spring the Hawks offense the other way.

Quickly, Atlanta had a double-digit lead en route to putting this game to bed, 117-104.

Trae Young finished with 29 points on 8-for-15 shooting and seven assists. Garrison Mathews added 25 points on just eight shots off the bench. As a team, the Hawks shot 54% from the field and 50% from three.

The Hawks moved to 14-14 with the win. They’ll now enjoy Christmas and get back in action on Boxing Day against the Chicago Bulls.