Launched on a “road trip” of six games in a row, the Celtics once again demonstrated mental strength to overcome Wolves in Minneapolis tonight (104-102). Jaylen Brown (35 points, 10 rebounds) was Boston’s strongman who rebounded perfectly after his misstep in Houston.
For Minnesota, it’s a new frustrating defeat and a new embryo of dynamics that is broken. This loss at home is not humiliating against the former NBA finalist but, like the blow-by-blow expulsions of Anthony Edwards and Kyle Anderson at the very end of the match, the Wolves are indeed on their nerves!
WHAT YOU MUST REMEMBER
— A stormy end to the game. Starting from -9 with 5 minutes remaining, the Wolves pulled away to come back into contact with the Celtics. But several controversial whistles, in particular on a fairly clearly illegal in-between between Grant Williams and Rudy Gobert (in addition to a technical foul not whistled for Joe Mazzulla who crossed the center line to come and request a time out on this action ), or this other generous foul awarded to Marcus Smart on an important “and-1”, the Minnesota players logically had their blood boiling. It’s all the more infuriating that Edwards had the 3-point shot to go back in front with 30 seconds remaining… Instead, the full-back was sent off for suggesting that the referees were leaning towards the C’s, before Kyle Anderson followed him for having also argued too vehemently!
— The Celtics are not afraid of contact. Whether it was Marcus Smart who went several times to get his baskets in the paint, or Jayson Tatum who climbed on Gobert in the dunk, or even Jaylen Brown who squarely came to blows with the French pivot of Wolves after a contact that he had deemed excessive in the face (which he injured with his protective mask), the C’s are not the type to be afraid of physical play. “Winning these kinds of matches in adversity is essential for us,” Advance so Smart. “Each of our opponents puts the package against us but we must continue to play and move forward. We manage rather well to receive the blows before delivering ours. »
— The return of KAT is becoming clearer. On the Wolves bench for several weeks now, Karl-Anthony Towns seems increasingly close to his return to action. His lifelong franchise has actually just announced that Towns will be operational again in “the coming weeks” after his right calf injury. Away from the courts since November 28, KAT should do good to his team in search of victories with his 21 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists on average before his injury.
TOPS/FLOPS
✅ Jaylen Brown. For some team watchers, Brown has been Boston’s best player for more than a month now. And he proved it again tonight. With 35 points (including 15 in the last quarter alone) and 10 rebounds, Brown drove the Wolves defense crazy.
✅ Anthony Edwards. With 28 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists, but also an expulsion at the very end of the game, Edwards was unfortunately too lonely offensively at the end of the game. Very close to the triple double, he was one of the few Wolves to be dangerous in the final sprint…
✅⛔ Jayson Tatum. In double double with 22 points and 12 rebounds, Tatum was still struggling offensively. Perhaps shaken by his fall on his dunk against Gobert, the C’s star winger ended up with a poor 4/16 on shots, including a rather rare 0/8 for him.
⛔ Mike Conley. Before the game, he and his entire team sang in unison of the need for the veteran point guard to be more aggressive offensively, especially late in the game. Last night, that was not the case at all, with only 7 points scored by Conley in 7 shot attempts. Of which only 2 in the last quarter…
THE FOLLOWING
Boston (48-22) : continuation of the “road trip” in Portland this Friday.
Minnesota (35-35) : trip to Chicago on Friday.
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