Led by the unlikely pair of Mike Miller and Rashad McCants, the Wolves woke up in the fourth and cut what had been a 17-point Atlanta lead to 85-83 on Randy Foye's layup with 1:46 to play.

Mike Bibby hit a killer three-pointer to make it 89-84 with 44.2 seconds to go, though, and the Hawks held on for a 94-86 win at Target Center with Johnson sitting at home in Atlanta with a flu bug.

Bibby had 24 points and Marvin Williams 23 for the Hawks (28-20), who beat the Wolves for the fifth straight time and third in a row at Target Center.

Al Jefferson had 18 points and 11 rebounds to lead Minnesota (17-31), which shot just 36.4 percent (32 of 88) on a night when point guard Sebastian Telfair went 0 for 9.

There were bright spots for the Wolves, none more surprising than McCants, who had 10 fourth-quarter points in his first game action since seven garbage-time minutes in a 129-87 blowout of Oklahoma City on Jan. 7.

Miller broke out of a prolonged slump with 17 points and rookie Kevin Love, starting in place of the injured Craig Smith (bruised ribs), had 16 and 14 rebounds.

It wasn't enough, though, to prevent a fourth loss in five games for the Wolves, who have two days off before a weekend trip to Houston and New Orleans.

The Wolves never trailed during the first 6 1/2 minutes as Jefferson hit two early baskets, Love got a tip and Foye nailed a long three-pointer.

Josh Smith gave Atlanta its first lead with a layup that made it 12-11 with 5:22 to play in the quarter, and Bibby followed with a three.

Brian Cardinal came off the bench to hit a three for Minnesota and make it 17-16, but the Hawks scored five straight points to finish the period up 22-18.

Love hit two free throws to open the second quarter, but Atlanta went on an 8-0 run and took a 10-point lead, 30-20, on Williams' layup.

A Miller layup interrupted that streak, but the Hawks went on another 10-2 spurt capped by a Zaza Pachuilia jumper for a 16-point cushion, 40-24, with 4:53 left in the half.

The Wolves went on an 11-3 run and cut it to six on a Foye layup, but Smith hit another jumper to make it 45-37 Hawks at intermission.

Jefferson started the second half with a driving layup, but Atlanta pulled away to a 13-point lead with the Wolves coach Kevin McHale pleading for ball movement.

A Flip Murray layup pushed it to 17, and the Hawks took a 75-62 lead into the final period.

Atlanta was still up 13 when Miller took over, hitting a basket and back-to-back threes to make it a 77-72 game with 8:42 to play.

Bibby banked in a tough shot in the lane, but McCants hit a three to pull Minnesota within four, 79-75, with 7:22 left.

McCants hit another three to make it an 84-80 game with 3:40 to play and the Wolves twice got to within a basket on Foye's layup and a Jefferson free throw with 1:04 remaining.

That was as close as they got, though, as Atlanta held on.