Celtics (24-9) at Timberwolves (17-15) Game #34 1/2/25

[hwangjini_1]

D White with another strong 4th with 26pts for the game and 5/10 from 3.

a great win, and white as usual strong down the stretch.

down two starters and on the road....and the celtics win. i like this team. i think their best basketball is yet to come this season.

tps for one and all.

[Donoghus]

Great win! Very entertaining game.

[Phantom255x]

No Brown. No Porzingis. Wolves at full strength.

Awesome win on the road, and a bit of a statement win too 

It does seem like they've picked up their defensive intensity again. Frankly MIN's role players were just hitting a bunch of bonkers shots to keep them in it.

[Phantom255x]

I wouldn't mind resting a bunch of guys tomorrow including Tatum. Then go full strength including Porzingis AND Horford for Sunday against OKC. Tatum played heavy minutes today too.

[hwangjini_1]

a very strange set of game statistics.

minnesota shot 54% from 3, got 16 more free throws, and 10 gathered in more boards ... and the celtics won. 

[jpotter33]

Good Lord. I knew that Minny was hot, but they hit 54% of their 39 threes for 21 made threes. That's crazy. Great win when shorthanded.

[Phantom255x]

a very strange set of game statistics.

minnesota shot 54% from 3, got 16 more free throws, and 10 gathered in more boards ... and the celtics won. 

The C's thoroughly outplayed them after MIN went up 16-7 early. Should have been a blowout, but the combination of the refs and MIN's hot 3-point shooting kept them in it.

Gobert is a weak link for that team. He also evidently can't finish games for them, and with KAT no longer there that's going to be another problem for them come playoffs.

[Roy H.]

a very strange set of game statistics.

minnesota shot 54% from 3, got 16 more free throws, and 10 gathered in more boards ... and the celtics won. 

Thankfully we did a great job holding onto the ball.  Only 3 turnovers.

[SCeltic34]

a very strange set of game statistics.

minnesota shot 54% from 3, got 16 more free throws, and 10 gathered in more boards ... and the celtics won. 

I was about to say.  The turnovers were the difference.  Minnesota 15.  Celtics 3.

[jpotter33]

You know, for all the criticism about this game and all the threes shot - including from myself, at least regarding the quality of threes we were taking early - we hit 39% of our threes (good) and they hit 54% of their threes (outstanding). Altogether both teams were a combined 23 for 96 for 45%.

Like, a lot of us complain about the quality of the threes we take, but 45% from three on close to 100 attempts is an excellent percentage. Yeah, it's a lot of threes and different from how the game has always been played, but it's hard to really argue when they're hitting that percentage of their threes. I think it'd be different if teams were consistently shooting those threes with low percentages, but at that point there's a natural regression to the mean because it doesn't make sense to keep shooting that volume.

I'm not really a fan of us shooting 57 threes a night, but if we're both (a) hitting at a good clip, and (b) they're primarily quality looks from three, then the volume argument shouldn't hold much weight.

[radiohead]

Lol that was clearly a five second violation, too. It was literally like six seconds. I would've ticked if they made that and we ended up losing because of that.

That sure looked more than 5 seconds to inbound!

[SCeltic34]

Tatum 27 shots.  17 of those shots were 3's.   2 free throws.

I'd rather see 12 3 point attempts and 10 FTs.

[radiohead]

Late TPs guys! On to Houston!

[SparzWizard]

Houston will be a tough customer, too. In fact, this 4-game Midwest trip are all tough customers. I'll be elated if we come out of it 3-1

[Roy H.]

Dumbest star in the NBA:

Edwards said he wasn't interested in a playing style that required him to pass out of double teams:

"That's a good brand of basketball, but it's not how I want to play, of course. I'm only 23, I don't want to just be passing the ball all night. ... But the way that they're guarding me, I think I have to."

Edwards also said it was "super hard" to stay engaged while being double-teamed and that he isn't sure what to do:

"Them doubling me, definitely it's like, 'Bro, what is going on?' I'm trying to figure it out ... I don't know what to do honestly, but it's not fun. I don't want to look like I'm not trying or not as good as I am, because I am, but I can't show it because I'm getting double-teamed.

"It's definitely frustrating to see these guys cooking us and I can't cook them."