Losers of 4 of their final six video games — together with a letdown efficiency in opposition to the lowly Houston Rockets on Monday night time — the Boston Celtics entered tonight’s sport in opposition to the Minnesota Timberwolves determined for some optimistic momentum. Although it wasn’t at all times fairly, they could have discovered the vitality they wanted, delivering a gritty defensive efficiency and making performs down the stretch to win an in depth sport in opposition to the Wolves, 104-102.
Jaylen Brown led the best way together with his second consecutive scintillating efficiency, scoring 35 factors and dominating the Wolves within the second half. Jayson Tatum struggled to seek out his shot (4-of-16 from the sector), however discovered his technique to the free throw line ceaselessly in opposition to a foul-happy Minnesota protection, hitting 14-of-16 freebies. For Minnesota, Anthony Edwards had a pleasant outing, scoring 28 factors, however couldn’t carry the Wolves in crunch time.
The Boston offense was anemic, at greatest, to open up the night time. They shot simply 32.6% from the sector within the first half, together with a 5-of-22 line from behind the three-point line. Brown was essentially the most aggressive scorer within the early going, however that aggression didn’t result in outcomes — he shot 5-of-13 from the sector, and outdoors of a trio of three-pointers, couldn’t discover a lot of a rhythm. Tatum, in the meantime, missed all 4 of his three-point makes an attempt, although a couple of early journeys to the road helped buoy his efficiency.
The Celtics locked in defensively, nevertheless, and that gave them an edge regardless of the depressing capturing. At the same time as their percentages continued to drop, they rattled off a 13-2 run, clamping down on the Wolves to place themselves within the driver’s seat. Halfway by way of the quarter, a small scuffle ensued after Gobert hit Brown with an inadvertent elbow, and the incident appeared to inject some vitality into the Wolves. A 9-1 run and a scoring eruption from Edwards — 18 first half factors — pulled them again into the sport, and the Celtics entered the half with only a one-point lead, 44-43.
The Boston offense discovered some degree of stability because the second half started. After scoring 23 and 21 within the first and second quarters, respectively, they put up 20 within the first 5 minutes of the third. On the seven-minute mark, Tatum went up for a dunk on Gobert; he slammed it by way of, however Gobert despatched him crashing to the ground with a success to the face. The Wolves middle was tagged with a flagrant-1, and the sequence ended up netting 5 factors in all after Tatum hit the free throw and Brown scored on the following possession. Regardless of the scary fall, Tatum remained within the sport. Wheels appropriately greased, the Celtics rode a 33-point quarter to a 77-71 lead coming into the ultimate quarter.
Aside from one missed free throw after a Minnesota technical foul, Brown was terrific within the second half of this sport. He shot 7-of-11 within the half and bullied his technique to the free throw line en path to his game-high scoring night time. After a profitable Joe Mazzulla problem reversed an offensive foul name on Brown to an and-one layup, he linked on the free throw to succeed in the 30-point plateau for the night time. A number of possessions later, he canned his fifth triple of the night time to provide the Celtics an eight-point lead with simply over seven minutes to play.
The Wolves weren’t fairly achieved but, and the sport remained shut after some well timed shotmaking from Edwards. They clawed the lead down to 2 factors on an Edwards layup because the clock ticked underneath 4 minutes in regulation, however Good restored a two-possession Boston benefit with some playmaking of his personal. The sport remained tightly knotted because the clock ticked underneath a minute to play.
With the sport on the road, Celtics forward by two factors, each groups got here up empty on their first possessions within the last minute. With 10 seconds remaining, Good missed a three-point try, however Grant Williams grabbed an infinite offensive rebound off the bounce. Williams went to the bottom, however in an odd sequence, the officers appeared to overlook Mazzulla’s determined makes an attempt to name timeout, as a substitute ruling a soar ball between Williams and Gobert. The upcoming disaster was averted, although, after Tatum corralled the soar ball and made each of the free throws after an intentional Minnesota foul to place the Celtics forward by 4 factors with only a second remaining on the clock.
Subsequent up, the Celtics will enter the second half of their street journey, touring to Portland to face the Path Blazers at 8 pm EST on NBC Sports activities Boston.
