Game ID: 22500463
Minnesota Timberwolves @ Atlanta Hawks
Wednesday, December 31, 2025 at 3:00 PM ET
State Farm Arena, Atlanta, GA
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
ATL 33 37 28 28 126MIN 26 23 24 29 102
ATL vs MIN ScoutingATL vs MIN Scouting
Welcome to the scouting desk. The coffee is cold, the film is play-by-play, and somebody has to explain what happened.
Every game has a hinge — a stretch where it was decided, usually while everyone was watching something else. Start where the evidence lives: the Lineups' face-offs say which five actually won their minutes; the Possessions ledger says who ran ahead of the night's own pace; the Shot Chart says where the points really came from, which is rarely where the highlights were. When all three agree, that is the story. When they don't — that is why this desk has a chair.
ATL availability going into 12/23 · 1 day's restOUT Porziņģis missed 6 since 12/06, out tonight
BACK Young back 12/18 after 22, 23 min since (83% of 28)
ATL availability going into 12/26 · 2 days' restOUT Porziņģis missed 7 since 12/06, out tonight
BACK Young back 12/18 after 22, 26 min since (92% of 28)
ATL availability going into 12/27 · back-to-backOUT Porziņģis missed 8 since 12/06, out tonight
BACK Young back 12/18 after 22, 27 min since (98% of 28)
ATL availability going into 12/29 · 1 day's restOUT Porziņģis missed 9 since 12/06, out tonight
ATL availability going into 12/31 · 1 day's restOUT Porziņģis missed 10 since 12/06, returns tonight: 17 min (71% of 24)
NEW Okongwu 31 to 36 min over the last 5
ATL availability going into 1/02 · 1 day's restOUT Young missed 2 since 12/29, out tonight
BACK Porziņģis back 12/31 after 10, 17 min since (71% of 24)
NEW Newell 11 to 17 min over the last 5
ATL availability going into 1/03 · back-to-backOUT Young missed 3 since 12/29, not on tonight's roster
BACK Porziņģis back 12/31 after 10, 17 min since (71% of 24)
ATL availability going into 1/05 · 1 day's restBACK Porziņģis back 12/31 after 10, 17 min since (71% of 24)
ATL availability going into 1/07 · 1 day's restBACK Porziņģis back 12/31 after 10, 18 min since (75% of 24)
NEW Krejčí 22 to 28 min over the last 5
MIN availability going into 12/23 · 1 day's restBACK Edwards back 12/19 after 3, 39 min since (112% of 35)
BACK Conley back 12/21 after 4, 24 min since (136% of 18)
NEW Hyland 16 to 22 min over the last 5
MIN availability going into 12/25 · 1 day's restBACK Edwards back 12/19 after 3, 38 min since (110% of 35)
BACK Conley back 12/21 after 4, 27 min since (152% of 18)
NEW Hyland 16 to 26 min over the last 5
MIN availability going into 12/27 · 1 day's restBACK Edwards back 12/19 after 3, 39 min since (113% of 35)
BACK Conley back 12/21 after 4, 21 min since (120% of 18)
NEW Hyland 16 to 23 min over the last 5
MIN availability going into 12/29 · 1 day's restBACK Edwards back 12/19 after 3, 38 min since (110% of 35)
BACK Conley back 12/21 after 4, 21 min since (120% of 18)
MIN availability going into 12/31 · 1 day's restOUT Shannon Jr. missed 2 since 12/27, out tonight
BACK Conley back 12/21 after 4, 20 min since (115% of 18)
MIN availability going into 1/03 · 2 days' restOUT Shannon Jr. missed 3 since 12/27, out tonight
MIN availability going into 1/04 · back-to-backOUT Shannon Jr. missed 4 since 12/27, out tonight
MIN availability going into 1/06 · 1 day's restOUT Shannon Jr. missed 5 since 12/27, out tonight
MIN availability going into 1/08 · 1 day's restOUT Shannon Jr. missed 6 since 12/27, out tonight
I Know — the desk, before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Atlanta comes in 0-5 over its last five, scoring 128 a night and allowing 134, shooting 49 percent and 41 from three, 23 free throws a game; Johnson at 26 and Young at 24 a game. That is 5 straight losses. It has lost the glass by 11 a night. Without Porziņģis (10 straight). One day's rest. Minnesota comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 120 a night and allowing 114, shooting 47 percent and 34 from three, 26 free throws a game; Edwards at 31 and Randle at 20 a game. One day's rest.
So: Minnesota wins, on the road, and the game turns on the defense, Minnesota allowing 114 a night to Atlanta's 134 and the glass, where Minnesota has been minus-3 a night and Atlanta minus-11. Call it Minnesota 122, Atlanta 119, Atlanta keeping it close.
12/23 vs CHI 123-126 — ATL notes
ATL lost 123-126. ATL shot 51% (48 of 95) to CHI's 51%, 14 of 42 from three, and got to the line 20 times to CHI's 28. ATL turned it over 11 times to CHI's 16. The glass went 38-48 against them. Johnson led with 24 (11 of 23, 1 of 7 from three); Young added 22, Alexander-Walker 21. Q2 was theirs, 32-25, but the other 3 periods went 101-91 against them. They led by as many as 18. Alexander-Walker's -20 in 34 minutes was the worst on the floor.
12/26 vs MIA 111-126 — ATL notes
ATL lost 111-126. ATL shot 47% (40 of 85) to MIA's 47%, 12 of 36 from three. ATL turned it over 21 times to MIA's 10, and MIA turned those into 14 steals. The glass went 42-52 against them. Young led with 30 (8 of 16, 5 of 8 from three, 9 of 9 at the line); Johnson added 24, Alexander-Walker 15. Q3 was theirs, 33-27, the deficit cut from 12 to 6, but the other 3 periods went 99-78 against them. Risacher's -18 in 20 minutes was the worst on the floor.
12/27 vs NYK 125-128 — ATL notes
ATL lost 125-128. ATL shot 48% (43 of 89) to NYK's 45%, 17 of 43 from three. The glass went 37-55 against them. Okongwu led with 31 (10 of 16, 6 of 10 from three, 5 of 7 at the line); Alexander-Walker added 25, Johnson 20. Q4 was theirs, 36-30, the deficit cut from 9 to 3, but the other 3 periods went 98-89 against them. Young's -13 in 31 minutes was the worst on the floor.
12/29 @ OKC 129-140 — ATL notes
ATL lost 129-140. ATL shot 47% (46 of 97) to OKC's 54%, 25 of 54 from three, and got to the line 17 times to OKC's 23. The glass went 38-49 against them. Alexander-Walker led with 30 (11 of 24, 6 of 14 from three); Okongwu added 26, Krejčí 18. Q1 was theirs, 38-35, but the other 3 periods went 105-91 against them. They led by as many as 10. Risacher's -27 in 23 minutes was the worst on the floor.
12/31 vs MIN 126-102 — ATL notes
ATL won 126-102. ATL shot 49% (51 of 104) to MIN's 43%, 16 of 42 from three. ATL turned it over 8 times to MIN's 14. Johnson led with 34 (15 of 22, 3 of 6 from three); Okongwu added 17, Porziņģis 16. The hinge was Q2, 37-23: a lead of 7 became 21, and the lead reached 34. Porziņģis was the night's best plus/minus at +22.
1/02 @ NYK — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
New York comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 124 a night and allowing 125, shooting 46 percent and 42 from three, 22 free throws a game; Brunson at 31 and Towns at 24 a game. Without Hart (3 straight), Shamet (17 straight), Robinson (2 straight). One day's rest. Atlanta comes in 1-4 over its last five, scoring 123 a night and allowing 124, shooting 49 percent and 39 from three, 20 free throws a game; Johnson at 26 and Alexander-Walker at 20 a game. It has lost the glass by 9 a night. Without Young (2 straight). One day's rest.
So: New York wins, and the game turns on the glass, where New York has been plus-3 a night and Atlanta minus-9. Call it New York 124, Atlanta 119.
1/03 @ TOR — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Toronto comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 116 a night and allowing 114, shooting 44 percent and 30 from three, 23 free throws a game; Ingram at 23 and Barnes at 19 a game. Without Poeltl (5 straight). 2 days' rest. Atlanta comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 120 a night and allowing 119, shooting 48 percent and 39 from three, 21 free throws a game; Johnson at 24 and Okongwu at 22 a game. It has lost the glass by 8 a night. Without Young (3 straight). Second night of a back-to-back.
So: Toronto wins, and the game turns on the glass, where Toronto has been plus-4 a night and Atlanta minus-8 and the arc, Atlanta at 39 percent from three to Toronto's 30. Call it Toronto 119, Atlanta 114.
1/05 @ TOR — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Toronto comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 120 a night and allowing 119, shooting 45 percent and 30 from three, 24 free throws a game; Ingram at 26 and Barrett at 19 a game. It has won the glass by 4 a night. Without Poeltl (6 straight). One day's rest. Atlanta comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 122 a night and allowing 121, shooting 48 percent and 41 from three, 21 free throws a game; Johnson at 26 and Alexander-Walker at 24 a game. It has lost the glass by 8 a night. One day's rest.
So: Toronto wins, and the game turns on the glass, where Toronto has been plus-4 a night and Atlanta minus-8 and the arc, Atlanta at 41 percent from three to Toronto's 30. Call it Toronto 120, Atlanta 117, Atlanta keeping it close.
1/07 vs NOP — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Atlanta comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 117 a night and allowing 119, shooting 46 percent and 40 from three, 20 free throws a game; Johnson at 24 and Alexander-Walker at 22 a game. It has lost the glass by 5 a night. One day's rest. New Orleans comes in 0-5 over its last five, scoring 112 a night and allowing 124, shooting 45 percent and 33 from three, 20 free throws a game; Murphy III at 26 and Williamson at 25 a game. That is 5 straight losses. Without Bey (3 straight), Murray (8 straight), Jordan (34 straight). Second night of a back-to-back.
So: Atlanta wins, and the game turns on the arc, Atlanta at 40 percent from three to New Orleans's 33 and the glass, where New Orleans has been plus-0 a night and Atlanta minus-5. Call it Atlanta 123, New Orleans 114.
12/23 vs NYK 115-104 — MIN notes
MIN won 115-104. MIN shot 45% (42 of 93) to NYK's 41%, 15 of 46 from three, and went to the line 23 times to NYK's 15 — 16 points from the stripe to their 11. MIN turned it over 11 times to NYK's 19. The glass went 42-55 against them. Edwards led with 38 (15 of 27, 4 of 10 from three, 4 of 6 at the line); Randle added 25, Gobert 11. The hinge was Q4, 30-25: a lead of 6 became 11, and the lead reached 17. Hyland was the night's best plus/minus at +24.
12/25 @ DEN 138-142 — MIN notes
MIN lost 138-142 in 1 overtime. MIN shot 49% (51 of 104) to DEN's 47%, 12 of 45 from three. Edwards led with 44 (14 of 25, 5 of 14 from three, 11 of 13 at the line); Randle added 32, McDaniels 21. Q4 was theirs, 37-23, the deficit cut from 14 to 0, but the other 4 periods went 119-101 against them. Edwards's -17 in 42 minutes was the worst on the floor.
12/27 vs BKN 107-123 — MIN notes
MIN lost 107-123. MIN shot 45% (37 of 83) to BKN's 55%, 13 of 31 from three, and went to the line 28 times to BKN's 21 — 20 points from the stripe to their 20. Edwards led with 28 (10 of 22, 2 of 7 from three, 6 of 9 at the line); McDaniels added 16, Randle 13. Q2 was theirs, 33-29, turning a 3-point deficit into a 1-point lead, but the other 3 periods went 94-74 against them. DiVincenzo's -22 in 32 minutes was the worst on the floor.
12/29 @ CHI 136-101 — MIN notes
MIN won 136-101. MIN shot 54% (51 of 95) to CHI's 41%, 15 of 37 from three, and went to the line 25 times to CHI's 14 — 19 points from the stripe to their 12. MIN turned it over 3 times to CHI's 16. Reid led with 33 (11 of 18, 6 of 10 from three); Edwards added 23, Randle 17. The hinge was Q4, 41-23: a lead of 17 became 35, and the lead reached 41. Edwards was the night's best plus/minus at +28.
12/31 @ ATL 102-126 — MIN notes
MIN lost 102-126. MIN shot 43% (37 of 87) to ATL's 49%, 14 of 40 from three. MIN turned it over 14 times to ATL's 8, and ATL turned those into 9 steals. Edwards led with 30 (10 of 18, 3 of 8 from three, 7 of 8 at the line); Randle added 19, Juzang 10. Q4 was theirs, 29-28, the deficit cut from 25 to 24, but the other 3 periods went 98-73 against them. Reid's -23 in 22 minutes was the worst on the floor.
1/03 @ MIA — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Miami comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 125 a night and allowing 115, shooting 47 percent and 37 from three, 20 free throws a game; Powell at 25 and Jaquez Jr. at 21 a game. That is 4 straight wins. It has won the glass by 5 a night. Without Herro (9 straight). One day's rest. Minnesota comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 120 a night and allowing 119, shooting 47 percent and 35 from three, 25 free throws a game; Edwards at 33 and Randle at 21 a game. 2 days' rest.
So: Miami wins, and the game turns on the glass, where Miami has been plus-5 a night and Minnesota minus-3. Call it Miami 121, Minnesota 116.
1/04 @ WAS — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Washington comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 118 a night and allowing 111, shooting 48 percent and 40 from three, 20 free throws a game; McCollum at 18 and Johnson at 15 a game. It has won the glass by 6 a night. Without George (4 straight), Watkins (2 straight), Kispert (5 straight). One day's rest. Minnesota comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 122 a night and allowing 121, shooting 49 percent and 34 from three, 25 free throws a game; Edwards at 32 and Randle at 21 a game. Second night of a back-to-back.
So: Washington wins, and the game turns on the defense, Washington allowing 111 a night to Minnesota's 121 and the glass, where Washington has been plus-6 a night and Minnesota plus-0. Call it Washington 118, Minnesota 117, Minnesota keeping it close.
1/06 vs MIA — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Minnesota comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 122 a night and allowing 116, shooting 50 percent and 35 from three, 25 free throws a game; Edwards at 30 and Randle at 19 a game. One day's rest. Miami comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 129 a night and allowing 116, shooting 48 percent and 41 from three, 21 free throws a game; Powell at 28 and Jaquez Jr. at 18 a game. It has won the glass by 4 a night. Without Herro (11 straight). One day's rest.
So: Minnesota wins, and the game turns on the arc, Miami at 41 percent from three to Minnesota's 35. Call it Minnesota 120, Miami 118, Miami keeping it close.
1/08 vs CLE — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Minnesota comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 125 a night and allowing 110, shooting 51 percent and 34 from three, 24 free throws a game; Edwards at 29 and Randle at 19 a game. That is 3 straight wins. It has won the glass by 7 a night. One day's rest. Cleveland comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 117 a night and allowing 110, shooting 48 percent and 36 from three, 22 free throws a game; Mitchell at 27 and Garland at 19 a game. It has won the glass by 7 a night. One day's rest.
So: Minnesota wins, and the game turns on the turnovers, Cleveland giving it away 16 times a game to Minnesota's 11. Call it Minnesota 119, Cleveland 113.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
ATLAN A. Newell
DD D. Daniels
JJ J. Johnson
KP K. Porziņģis
KW K. Wallace
KR Krejci
LK L. Kennard
MG M. Gueye
NA N. Alexander-Walker
OO O. Okongwu
PO Porzingis
VK V. Krejčí
ZR Z. Risacher
MINAE A. Edwards
BH B. Hyland
DD D. DiVincenzo
JB J. Beringer
JC J. Clark
JI J. Ingles
JJ J. Juzang
JM J. McDaniels
JR J. Randle
LM L. Miller
MC M. Conley
NR N. Reid
RD R. Dillingham
RG R. Gobert
ATL/MIN the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
END the clock ran out, ball in hand
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur
Johnson scores 34 points as Hawks roll past Timberwolves 126-102 to end 7-game losing streak
ATLANTA -- — Jalen Johnson scored 34 points and the Atlanta Hawks overcame Anthony Edwards ' 30 points for Minnesota to beat the Timberwolves 126-102 on Wednesday and end a seven-game losing streak.
Atlanta took control by outscoring Minnesota 37-23 in the second quarter to lead 70-49 at halftime.
Johnson added 10 rebounds and six assists. Onyeka Okongwu had 17 points and Dyson Daniels added 11 points, eight rebounds and nine assists. Daniels also had two steals and two blocks.
The Hawks claimed their first win since beating Philadelphia 120-117 on Dec. 14 and improved to 6-11 at home.
The Hawks were bolstered by the return of Kristaps Porzingis , who scored 16 points in 17 minutes off the bench after missing 10 games with an illness.
“It's really good to have him back because he's a really good player,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said of Porzingis before the game.
Luke Kennard added 15 points off Atlanta's bench.
Edwards, the Atlanta native, had 24 first-half points. The Timberwolves had too little scoring depth to keep pace with the Hawks.
Julius Randle scored 19 points and Johnny Juzang had 10. Minnesota had no other player score in double figures. Jaden McDaniels had eight points while Rudy Gobert and Donte DiVincenzo each had six. Gobert had 11 rebounds.
Minnesota coach Chris Finch pulled all his starters for the final several minutes.
Trae Young missed his second consecutive game for Atlanta with a right quad contusion and was in street clothes on the bench for the second half. Nickeil Alexander-Walker , who played the last three seasons for Minnesota, scored 11 points as the fill-in starting point guard.