Timberwolves (43-28) at Celtics (47-23) Game #71 3/22/26

[ozgod]

And another night where our singular offensive strategy comes to bite us in the butt and all we continue to do is chuck up threes.

Celtics only took 33 shots from three. That?s probably a season low for them. Team couldn?t hit from anywhere. JB went 9-26. JT 6-16. They didn?t lose because of 3pt attempts.

Yes we went 25-62 from 2 which is 40% from 2. Minny was 27-58 from 2 which was 46%. Both shot 33 3FGA but the TWolves made 12 and we made 9. We just shot a lot worse from 2 than they did, and 66% of our shots were from 2, and 33% were from 3, normally we're around the 45% of FGs from 3 mark. So yes we shot a lot less from 3...but we also missed a lot, from both 3 and 2.

[Goldstar88]

JB actually shot the ball worse than JT did. Hard to win a game if your two best players can?t hit shots.

[ScoobyDoo]

I?ve always hated our ISO oriented, Jack-a-Three off the dribble offense for a long time. I don?t mind the three game but when it?s not going do we have anything else to go to?

I really enjoyed watching this team play this year before JT came back. They had an awesome defensive intensity and Inloved the way they moved the ball. They were also often times blowing teams out, many of them very good teams even.

I had real concerns that JT would stop the ball when he came back and the offensive ball movement would grind to a halt. I can?t remember the last time there were posts on here voicing frustrations about us losing to teams we should be easily beating - until the last few weeks. I saw a few times where JT brought the ball up, got over half court, dribbled around a hit and then jacked a deep three - that shouldn?t be the plan - ever.

Then I saw JB take his turn on our next possession.

I think the challenge is that JB, and JT (especially) need to be ?part of the offense? not ?the offense?. Then, because they?re both so talented, within that pass heavy ball movement, they both get a lot of easy looks.

I like that plan way better than everyone standing around while one or the other of them dribble around and jack up an ISO fade away jumper.

It blows - I feel like I?m right back to last year and no time has passed. To be honest I much preferred the offense this year without JT.

And the over reliance on threes goes back to Tatum?s rookie year when they lost game 7 against LeBron in the Garden because they went something like 7-39 from three and just kept jacking them?

[ozgod]

C's are just standing around on offense, Where's the movement we had before JT came back?

the offense has looked a lot more like the iso, 3-heavy, JT-focussed offense we had pre-injury.  not digging it

JT-focused? He?s barely touched the ball lol At the half it was 4 shots for JT compared to 13 for JB, who is the one that is almost exclusively iso?ing all his offense lol

If anything it needs to be more JT-focused to be less iso.

he's touched the ball quite a bit when the offense went stagnant.  the passing wasn't flowing like it had prior to his return. 

he's better this half.

He's made some good passes, shots not falling.

What we're seeing is the return of "team is missing guys so we don't have to play smart" the last 2 games.

This is exactly what it is. Lack of intensity. JT isn't the cause they missed 60% of their 2s and 73% of their 3s.

[ozgod]

Here's what tonight's pinata had to say for his atrocious performance.

Tatum has yet to shoot 50 percent from the field since returning from his Achilles injury nine games ago. After this loss, he conducted a brief but candid interview session in which he acknowledged that while he hoped to immediately regain his All-Star form, he knew that was unrealistic.

?I mean, I ain?t know how this [expletive] was going to be,? he said. ?I mean, it?s tough. In the moment, you try not to think about it, you just want to be Jayson Tatum and feel like yourself again. I?m not Superman, so it?s obviously going to take some time. I think the next day I can give myself a little more grace over certain things, but in the moment, I mean, it?s frustrating.?

Tatum said he was still working to get a good feel for the game. He said that sometimes he just needs to slow down to find a rhythm. When asked if his shooting rut was a normal downturn he might experience in any other year, he dismissed that notion.

?I wouldn?t say normal slump, because it?s the first time I went through something like this,? he said. ?I mean, it?s just been a long time. It was a long time before I could shoot a basketball, before I could walk. So just trying to knock the rust off game by game. I find great spurts and moments from game to game and, you know, just trying to put more of them together.?

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2026/03/22/sports/celtics-loss-minnesota-closes-gap-with-knicks-playoff-chase/

The question is, in a "you're only as good as your last game" and "winning isn't everything it's the only thing" environment, are we as fans willing to be patient with him if he loses us games because he's not "All-NBA Jayson Tatum"? Especially since he probably expected to return to the court with the Celtics not contending, instead of competing for the top seed and all the pressure and media attention that brings (e.g. Celtics were expected to be trash, they put together an awesome season with a bunch of also rans and now they're adding All-NBA talent Jayson Tatum to a team 2nd in the East). The pressure he's putting on himself to do well must be enormous.

[ozgod]

JB actually shot the ball worse than JT did. Hard to win a game if your two best players can?t hit shots.

 

[Neurotic Guy]

I?m starting to feel like JT needs to reinvent himself as a player for this season. Not as a worse version of his former self but as a productive player - passer, rebounder, defender. A guy who?ll take the open three (not try to create it) and who?ll take the available lane to the hoop. Mostly, a guy who keeps the ball moving on offense and rebounds. Celtics added a very good player to their already good team when JT returned.  But they didn?t add an all-NBA player. That guy might be back next year. For now, he can be a very effective player on a Derrick White level and should do what he?s capable of doing, not what he wishes he was able to do.

[Indocelts]

I?m starting to feel like JT needs to reinvent himself as a player for this season. Not as a worse version of his former self but as a productive player - passer, rebounder, defender. A guy who?ll take the open three (not try to create it) and who?ll take the available lane to the hoop. Mostly, a guy who keeps the ball moving on offense and rebounds. Celtics added a very good player to their already good team when JT returned.  But they didn?t add an all-NBA player. That guy might be back next year. For now, he can be a very effective player on a Derrick White level and should do what he?s capable of doing, not what he wishes he was able to do.

Agreed. It may not be realistic to expect him back at his All NBA level soon. I think his approach to the game should be focusing more on drive peneration first rather than chucking up 3s. If he still can't get to the pre injury level driving to the basket and finish at the rim, then we know he's not ready and should have limited role/time.
This is actually a good time for him to reduce his inefficient 3pt shots and develops more efficient one (post up, drives, or midrange(?)).

[Celtics4ever]

JT is in a rough spot.   He is not mentally at 100%, it looks like he has lost a little lift, and he is trying to tip-toe around team chemistry that worked pretty well all year. He can't win.  If he didn't come back people would complain about that.   Nothing prepares a play like actually, playing, so he can't win there, all the drills in the world can't fully test your abilities like playing.   If he hurt team chemistry people would complain about hat.

He is right where I expect him to be, as I thought he should wait until the end of March.   Guys are going to go hard at him and test him physically.

He played decentl last night, considering where is he mentally and psychically, as many have said this loss was not on him.  Our bench production was garbage this game with 26 points.  We shot 27% from the three and 36% from the field, you are not going to win games shooting like that.