The Boston Celtics (46-20) have successfully mastered the difficult task at the Minnesota Timberwolves (38-27) and won 117:109 (BOXSCORE) to secure a place in the playoffs, but their victory was overshadowed by the injury of Jaylen Brown, who lost control in a dunk and landed unhappily on his back.
There were lots of openers in the first few minutes, with the Wolves benefiting from Nemanja Bjelica’s range (3/3 threesomes in six minutes). However, Karl-Anthony Towns and Jeff Teague picked up two quick fouls and Boston started a small run, led by the strong bank around Marcus Morris (fast 9 points). Meanwhile, Minnesota made life difficult for himself with a lot of ball losses, and Towns wasn’t fed at all for a long time when he was on the field.
The guests’ reservists remained dominant, and the lead grew to 14 points after an elitist putback-dunk by Marcus Smart. The Celtics’ defenses also improved, the Wolves scored only 18 points in the second 12 minutes, and the furious darkness of Towns over Aron Baynes did not wake up Minnesota. After the change, the Wolves finally looked for Towns, who reduced the gap to 7 points on their own, while Celtics suddenly played hero ball and put some jumpers on the ring in the early shotclock. But the hosts didn’t come so close, Kyrie Irving took care of that with a few points.
The shock of the game followed, in the arena it became silent. Jaylen Brown lost control after dark in transition and fell headfirst on the field with his back. There were a lot of shocked faces on both sides. The youngster had to be treated for several minutes, but was able to leave the court under standing ovations on his own feet. The forward was immediately taken to a hospital in Minneapolis for further investigation.
However, 14 minutes of basketball had to be played. The Wolves tried again and this time the Second Unit did a better job. In the fourth quarter, Celtics had quickly used up their fouls and Wolves came closer again, but Irving took over the game after a few minutes resting on the bench. Minnesota resisted thanks to the strong Bjelica, but did not come nearer. For the Wolves it is the first time this season that they have lost three games in a row.
Also the Career High of Bjelica (30,6/9 Threes, 12 Rebounds) and the strong performance of Taj Gibson (18) did not help. Towns (15.11 rebounds) scored the usual double-double, while Andrew Wiggins (13.6/21 FG) had to fight. Celtics scored at least 12 points for six players. The pack was again led by Irving (23) and Al Horford (20.8 Rebounds) and Morris (17). Daniel Theis spent almost 10 minutes in which he scored 1 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal.
By winning, Celtics have prematurely qualified for the playoffs as a second team after the Toronto Raptors.
Minnesota Timberwolves (38-29) vs. Boston Celtics (46-20)109:117 (BOXSCORE)
Kyrie Irving. What Uncle Drew shook out of her wrist again this time was simply impressive. As it looked as if Minnesota would once again sniff out victory in the fourth quarter, the rested-out Kyrie returned to play, pocketing two incredibly heavy middistance throws and serving Horford an open three-way. In the end, another efficient evening (9/15 FG, 8 assists) stood for the star of Celtics.
Andrew Wiggins. The former No. 1-Pick could not be denied due to a lack of commitment, but there was little to succeed. The forward was incredibly vulnerable to bitter turnovers and took a lot of defended throws, while Towns starved to death in the post office for long distances. With an open threesome (totally 1/8) Wiggins missed the basket completely.
Would Derrick Rose Jones take the minutes off on the backup playmaker position? After this game the question cannot be answered yet. The former MVP was kept on the official game report sheet and also sat on the bench, but Thibs did not play Rose and preferred to bet on a rotation that consisted of only eight players. At the beginning of the fourth quarter Wiggins and Towns were sitting on the bench at the same time, but the reservists as well as Gibson and Bjelica made the game a bit surprisingly close again.