Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Timberwolv­es top Hawks with fill-in

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TIMBERWOLV­ES 108, HAWKS 103

MINNEAPOLI­S — Nikola Pekovic had 25 points and a career-high 18 rebounds, Andrei Kirilenko added 21 points and the Minnesota Timberwolv­es beat the Atlanta Hawks 108103 on Tuesday night.

Derrick Williams scored 17 points and Alexey Shved had 15 for the Timberwolv­es, who were missing Coach Rick Adelman due to personal reasons. Terry Porter filled in and led the Wolves to their first victory over Atlanta since 2006, snapping an 11-game skid.

Josh Smith had 21 points and 13 rebounds and Al Horford had 19 points and 11 boards for the Hawks, who have lost three consecutiv­e and four of their last five.

Minnesota point guard Ricky Rubio had eight assists and four points in 18 minutes in his first game back after missing the previous four with back spasms.

Lou Williams finished with 21 points and eight assists for the Hawks, who had a chance to tie the game in the closing seconds. But Dante Cunningham stole the inbounds pass and Luke Ridnour made two free throws to seal the victory.

The Timberwolv­es led by 14 to start the fourth quarter, with the Hawks showing few signs of getting back into the game. But Lou Williams scored seven quick points and Horford backed Derrick Williams down for a short jumper to trim the deficit to four with six minutes to play.

Kirilenko hit two threes for a 100-89 lead with 4:15 remaining, but Kyle Korver hit two threes and Lou Williams scored during a 12-2 surge that brought Atlanta within one.

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