Hawks win 16th straight game

ATLANTA — When the starting lineups for the NBA All-Star game were revealed last week, the Atlanta Hawks were not represented, despite having the best record in the Eastern Conference.

That is expected to change when the reserves are announced on Thursday, and Atlanta forward Paul Millsap and center Al Horford each continued his campaign to be included in the game. Millsap scored 20 points and Horford scored 19 on Sunday to help the Hawks to a 112-100 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves, extending the Hawks’ franchise-best winning streak to 16 games.

Millsap was 8 of 12 from the field and added five rebounds, six assists and four steals. Horford was 8 for 9 from the field with six rebounds, four assists and two blocks.

“We’re continuing to do the things that we need to work on, talk about and improve,” Atlanta coach Mike Budenholzer said. “To find a way to win today when we didn’t play our best, it’s a good sign.”

Atlanta (37-8) has won 30 of its last 32 games and maintained its seven-game lead in the Eastern Conference. Atlanta is 14-0 in January and equaled the franchise record for wins in a month.

Atlanta placed six players in double figures, with guard Jeff Teague (15), forward DeMarre Carroll (14), guard Kyle Korver (13) and guard Dennis Schroder (11) joining Millsap and Horford. Teague led the team with seven assists.

“Not our prettiest game,” said Budenholzer, whose team committed 10 turnovers and gave up 18 second-chance points. “But to make big plays down the stretch, a couple of big shots, the way the ball moved, finding open guys . . . “

Minnesota (7-36) lost its fourth straight game and has now dropped 20 of its last 22. The Timberwolves were led by forward Thaddeus Young, who had 26 points, seven assists and six rebounds. Guard Mo Williams had four 3-pointers and tallied 20 points, with seven rebounds and six assists. Center Nikola Pekovic added 15 points and forward Andrew Wiggins scored 12.

But the Timberwolves lost forward Robbie Hummel with a broken right hand. The medical staff put a splint on the hand and he will be examined by a hand specialist when the team returns home. He is expected to miss four to six weeks.

“I thought we competed,” Minnesota coach Flip Saunders said. “We talked to them about how good they really are, how good they are with the ball, how good they are defensively, how they can make shots, make 3s and move the ball. Until you play against it you really don’t understand. It took us almost a half to understand how good they really were.”

The first quarter was close, with neither side able to lead by more than five points. Atlanta ended up taking a 25-24 lead when Schroder drove the lane and scored at the buzzer.

Atlanta took control early in the second period by outscoring the Timberwolves 12-2 to start the quarter. A 3-pointer by Korver, another long-range shot from forward Thabo Sefolosha and a three-point play from guard Mike Scott sparked the run, which gave Atlanta a 37-26 lead. The last point came when Korver made a free throw after Saunders was hit with a technical foul for arguing too vocally after the officials failed to make what he thought should have been a goaltending call.

The Hawks stretched their lead to 18 points when Korver hit another 3-pointer with 3:12 remaining that made it 51-38. Atlanta led 61-47 at halftime.

Atlanta enjoyed a double-digit lead for most of the second half, until Minnesota trimmed the margin to six points on two occasions in the second half. The second time the Hawks answered with 3-pointers by Carroll and Korver that ended the threat.

“We went out and competed and that’s all I could ask,” Saunders said. “We had it to six and fell asleep on a couple of plays and they hit a couple of 3s and all of a sudden the game’s over. This is a game that shows our team how we have to compete. If we compete the right way we can have success.”

NOTES: Atlanta G Dennis Schroder attended the Georgia Tech-Boston College game on Sunday afternoon at Georgia Tech’s McCamish Pavilion. … G Shelvin Mack and C Adreian Payne were inactive for Atlanta. It was the fourth game Mack missed with a left calf strain; he is expected to be able to play again Wednesday. Minnesota F Shabazz Muhammad missed his eighth game with an outer oblique strain, and G Ricky Rubio sat out his 38th game due to a sprained left ankle. … Atlanta plays its next three games at home, starting with Wednesday’s game against the Brooklyn Nets. Minnesota completes a difficult back-to-back series with a road game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday.