ATLANTA (AP) -- While the Minnesota Timberwolves were looking for

overtime, Atlanta's Josh Childress was looking for a full-court

pass -- just like the Hawks planned.

As soon as Ricky Davis scored a game-tying basket for Minnesota

with about 2 seconds left, Childress took off on a sprint, caught

the long inbounds pass from Zaza Pachulia on a bounce and scored

the layup as time expired to give Atlanta a 101-99 win over

Minnesota on Wednesday night.

Childress said the Hawks correctly predicted "everybody crashes

the boards" in a crucial situation like Davis' basket. That left

the court open for the play the Hawks scripted.

"(Pachulia) made the perfect pass," Childress said. "It was

able to bounce and still lead me into the layup."

Childress waited for the bounce, knowing the clock wouldn't

start until he touched the ball.

"It was kind of smart," Childress said with a smile.

Trenton Hassell, chasing Childress, was the closest Minnesota

player, but he couldn't stop the layup.

Officials reviewed the replay to confirm the shot left

Childress' hand before time ran out.

The play extended the Timberwolves' road drought to almost two

months. The Timberwolves lost their 13th straight road game and

hasn't won away from home since beating Phoenix on Feb. 6.

The Timberwolves acknowledged they were caught off-guard by the

winning play.

"Yeah, there was confusion, or whatever you want to call it,"

Davis said. "It was pretty much everything. Everybody was

surprised they didn't call timeout."

Tyronn Lue also sprinted up the floor, but Pachulia said he only

saw Childress.

"We were kind of lucky, because everybody was in the paint and

everybody was celebrating," Pachulia said of Minnesota's reaction

to the basket by Davis.

Minnesota coach Dwane Casey said he didn't know who was supposed

to defend Childress. "It happened so quick," Casey said, adding

"We come up with different ways to lose it."

Atlanta's Josh Smith said it was almost comical to see Childress

and Lue racing up the court while almost all the other players were

under the basket.

"It was like they were running from the cops," said Smith, who

had 17 points and 15 rebounds.

Minnesota tried frantically to take the game in the final

seconds.

Joe Johnson, who scored 24 points to pace the Hawks, took a pass

from Lue and hit a jumper with 10.4 seconds left for a 98-95 lead.

Davis, who led Minnesota with 33 points, was fouled by Smith

with 7.5 seconds left. Davis made the two free throws.

Hassell fouled Childress with 6 seconds left. Childress made the

first free throw for a 99-97 lead. His miss of the second was

rebounded by Kevin Garnett. Davis then tied the game before

Childress won it.

"It's tough, you just have to keep playing," said Davis, who

said he couldn't explain the team's inability to win on the road.

"I don't know why. Lately we've been playing a lot of young guys.

But I'm here to win games, not babysit."

Garnett had 27 points and 15 rebounds.

The Hawks snapped a three-game losing streak. Childress had 10

points and eight rebounds.

Lue made a 3-pointer with 52 seconds left for a 96-93 lead.

Hassell answered with a basket to cut the lead to 96-95.

The Timberwolves scored eight points in a quarter for the third

time this season. Minnesota led 32-19 after the first period, but

was outscored 28-8 in the second period, matching its franchise low

for points in the quarter.

The Timberwolves also scored eight points in the first quarter

of a loss at Toronto on March 24 and in the second period of a loss

to San Antonio on Dec. 15.

The Timberwolves regained the lead with a 15-0 run after

trailing 61-50 in the third period. Rashad McCants had seven points

in the run and 14 in the game.

Game notes
The Hawks were without starting forward Al Harrington,

who was held out with a strained chest muscle. ... Former Hawks

star Dominique Wilkins, now a vice president with the team, was

honored with a video tribute for his selection to the Basketball

Hall of Fame this week. ... The teams meet again Sunday at

Minnesota. ... The Timberwolves were 3-of-16 from the field in the

second period.