Finally, a good win - and one that puts the line to the 'all we need is our shots to fall' nonsense. The Celtics without Rob (non-Covid illness') played Minnesota without KAT and Kyle Anderson. They did not play great from wire to wire and they did not shoot well from three (13-46), but they did find ways to score anyway. They consistently played with pace, got the ball into the paint, attacked Rody Gobert (what a coup it was for Ainge to get so many picks for Gobert), and found ways to score beyond hitting the three. It can be done, but not if they just settle.
This was also mostly a starters' game. Every starter made a big contribution to the win, and the bench, scoring only 14 of the Celtics' 121 points, mostly just did not screw up too badly. Grant hit a couple of threes (though shot only 2 of 6 overall) and defended, Kornet had a few key second half minutes, but this was mostly a game where the starters won it.
For most of the first three quarters, the Celtics were alternately trying to do good things, with some success, and giving up runs.
- The Celtics had a 17-14 lead midway through the first quarter, until Minnesota outscored them 15-5 to end the quarter up 7, 29-22.
- They played better in the second quarter, outscoring Minnesota 28-12 to go up 50-41 with 3:46 left.
- Then they went into a "here we go again" tailspin. Minnesota closed out the first half 15-4 and extended the run to 22-4 by scoring the first 7 points of the third quarter.
- The the Celtics tightened up their defense and took a small lead, 85-81. Minnesota came back, hitting a go ahead 3 to go up 86-85 with 15 seconds left, and then Al hit a buzzer beating corner three to put the Celtics up by 2 headed into the 4th.
Throughout most of the first 3 quarters, the standout Celtic was Derrick White. He led the team with a +14 at the half, and despite shooting 0-2 from three, he had 9 points, 3 assists, 2 rebounds, and a block, and he aggressively looked to drive to the rim whenever he could. Tatum had 10 points but on poor shooting (3 of 9, 0 of 4 from three) and he had 3 tunrovers. Brown had 9 points but on poor shooting (4 of 9, 0 of 3 from three). Al and Smart had quitely good halves, with 8 and 6 points, respectively. Smart had 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals; Horford had rebounds, an assist, a steal, and 3 blocks. Both shot 2-3 from three.
Early in the third quarter, after withstanding the 7-0 run, the Celtics offense was once again led by White, who missed his only three attempt but shot 4-5 from the field for 9 points, again running in transition and attacking the rim. Then Tatum took over, scoring 15 points in the quarter on 5-8 shooting plus 5-6 at the line. A lot of driving from Tatum, who did not attempt a three in the quarter. He also had 3 rebounds and 3 assists. Brown had a rough third, shooting 1 of 6 and 0-4 from three. Smart did not score but had 4 assists.
The start of the 4th, after Al's three at the end of the third, was going to be a key point in the game for the Celtics because Smart, Horford, and Tatum had each played the whole fourth quarter, so they were all going to begin the quarter on the bench. And Brown had had a rough third quarter (and game).
The Celtics opened with Grant, Brogdon, Kornet, Brown, and White, and Brown just exploded. Brown scored the Celtics first 10 points of the quarter, putting the Celtics up by 4, 98-94. A three, a layup, a part of FTs, and another three. Then Kornet hit a putback and Brown another layup, 102-94. By now, Tatum, Horford, and Smart are back in. After the Wolves hit a pair of FTs, Smart broke the game open by setting up 3 dunks/layups in quick succession. They run a play designed for Smart to hit a cutting Tatum for a dunk, then Brown gets behind the MN defense and Smart hits him with a long pass off a made basket for another dunk, then MN misses a three and Smart hits a cutting brown for an easy layup, putting the Celtics up 10 for the first time in the game, and there was no looking back after that.
Brown ultimately scored 23 points in the 4th quarter on 8 of 14 shooting, 3 of 6 from three. His best 4th quarter ever, and it was his play at the beginning of the quarter that made the difference. Late in the game, he missed a fast break dunk, came back in bounds, rebounded his miss hit a layup. The other 4th quarter scorers were Tatum, with 5 points, Horford with 3, and Kornet with 2. In addition to his offensive rebound/putback, Kornet also had a key steal in his 3:46. Derrick White played the whole quarter and did not attempt a shot.
For the game, Jaylen (36) and Jayon (30) both had 30+, followed by White (18) and Horford (17). Smart had 6 points, 7 rebounds, 10 assists, 3 steals, and no turnovers.
Smart and Horford shot a combined 7-14 from three; the entire rest of the team shot 6-32.
But this is how they win when threes aren't falling, but creating other opportunities for themselves. They can always get the types of threes they have been missing lately. Always. But when they aren't falling they need to do something else, and tonight they did. The bellweather tonight was White. He was not hitting threes (and his misses were bad), but he was aggressive in transition, and driving at Rudy, and on defense. Whether White is cause or effect, when he is making positive things happen, things are usually going well for the Celtics.
