With Boston back at full strength, the Celtics geared up for what was sure to be another close battle with the Minnesota Timberwolves and this matchup did not disappoint. In another hard fought game, the Celtics were not able to hold off the Timberwolves in this matchup as they lost 119-115. Jaylen Brown led the way for the Celtics with 41 points, 7 assists, 6 rebounds, and 5 steals on 17-32 FG, and 5-11 3PM but it wasn’t enough as Anthony Edwards led Timberwolves with 39 points on 12-24 FG and 5-11 3PM.
Jaylen Brown scored the first points of the game for the Celtics with a three pointer but both teams shooting started out slow in the first quarter. Neemias Queta wasted no time getting his game off coming back from a left ankle sprain as he scored 8 of Boston’s first 13 points and had 7 rebounds (4 offensive rebounds) against 4-time Defensive Player of the Year, Rudy Gobert in the first 6 minutes.
A track meet started to ensue between both teams as they made 12 straight baskets going back to the 6:16 mark of the first quarter to the 3:01 mark. This offensive explosion was due to their superstars, Jaylen Brown and Anthony Edwards, controlling the offense with their scoring and playmaking. Brown was cooking the most however as after he hit a mid range jumper over Edwards, he gave him a “too little” gesture that Edwards could only smile at.
Brown had an incredible first quarter as he finished with a season high 19 points in a quarter on 8-12 FG and 3-5 3PM. He put the finishing touches on his masterpiece with a pull-up three at the buzzer that gave Boston a 36-32 lead.
With Brown on the bench the Celtics offense continued to click as they went on an 11-2 with a midrange jumper from Payton Pritchard, a deep three from Baylor Scheierman, and back to back threes from Sam Hauser that forced the Timberwolves to call a timeout 3 minuets into the second quarter. Timberwolves responded with a 12-2 run of their own to retake the lead and force the Celtics to call a timeout with 6:37 left.
Jaylen Brown picked up where he left off out of the timeout as he hit a midrange jumper, set up Queta for another basket over Rudy Gobert, and made an incredible pass to Sam Hauser in the corner for a wide-open three. This was a part of a 20-6 run by the Celtics as they exploited the Timberwolves inability to defend the midrange shot and opened up a 69-59 lead at the half.
Brown was on fire in the first half as he scored 27 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals on 11-16 FG and 4-7 3PM. He became the first player in NBA history to have that stat-line in a first half as the Timberwolves had no idea how to defend him. Neemias Queta also had his best half of the season, racking up a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds on 6-7 FG. Sam Hauser also had a great half as he had 11 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists on 4-8 FG and 3-6 3PM.
Boston’s shot making was flowing in the half as they shot 56% from the field and 41% from three while Minesotta shot 48% from the field and 38% from three. The Celtics also won the rebounding battle at the half as they out-rebounded the Timberwolves 23-15.
Brown and Queta started the second half right where they left off as the Celtics ran a play right at Gobert that ended in a dunk for the Celtics big man and Brown put Julius Randle in the blender and hit another step-back midrange jumper. Brown hit 3o points at the 8:53 mark of the third quarter but the Timberwolves started to find their offense, cutting the Celtics lead to 3 points until Derrick White hit three off of some impressive ball movement by Boston to force Minnesota into a timeout.
The Celtics started to play sloppy as the Timberwolves cut their deficit to 1 point on an Anthony Edwards layup that forced Boston to call a timeout at the 4:52 mark of the quarter. Edwards gave the T-Wolves the lead out of the timeout as he started to heat up.
Both teams traded the lead back and forth but neither team was able to run away with the game as the defense started to tighten up. The Celtics had a bunch of open shots that they couldn’t hit but Josh Minott had a nice put back after working for an offensive rebound and Jaylen Brown made a layup in the final seconds of the third quarter to make the score 94-92 Minnesota going into the fourth.
With Brown on the bench, the Celtics offense was struggling to start the fourth quarter until Payton Pritchard hit a tough midrange jumper over Mike Conley at the 9:40 mark. Both defenses continued to hold up to begin the quarter as neither team could score until Terrance Shannon Jr made a fast break layup that made it a 4 point game and forced the Celtics to call a timeout at 8:13 of the quarter.
Boston put in their starting five in the game out of the timeout, hoping to fins a spark. Shannon Jr continued to make his mark hitting another three but Brown responded with an incredible and-1 layup but missed the free throw. After a Minnesota timeout, Pritchard made a put back layup that Edwards responded to with a three pointer, two free throws, and a layup to make it a 10 point Timberwolves lead with 4:29 left.
After a Celtics timeout, Queta missed two free throws and Edwards made another layup in response as the the game slowly started slipping away from Boston. Jaden McDaniels fouled out of the game at the 3:33 mark and Queta redeemed himself at the free throw line, hitting both to give him a season high 17 points. Jaylen Brown then made a layup on the fast break after he stole the ball from Dante DiVincenzo and Neemias Queta hit another 2 free throws to make it a 6 point deficit with 2:41 left.
Derrick White and Jaylen Brown then hit back to back threes to tie the game with 1:36 left in the ball game as a part of a 12-0 run. Mike Conley responded with a wide open corner three and Anthony Edwards hit two free throws to give the Timberwolves a 5 point lead with 44.6 seconds left. White then got fouled on a three point attempt and hit 2 of his free throws to make it a 3 point game with 37.7 seconds left.
With time running out and the Timberwolves having the ball, Anthony Edwards was defended tightly by Derrick White. He threw up a prayer at the end of the shot clock and it went it for a dagger three to give Minnesota a 6 point lead. DiVincenzo hit a free throw and Sam Hauser made a three at the buzzer to make the final score 119-115, Timberwolves win.
