Everything you need to know about the Celtics’ 117-109 win over the Wolves in quickie form.
Box score
HEADLINES
Jaylen Brown appears to dodge serious injury after scary fall: The second-year guard lost his grip on the rim following a third-quarter dunk and landed hard on his upper back and head on the Target Center court. The 21-year-old had no chance to brace himself and spent several minutes on the floor but he eventually walked off the floor under his own power with doctors from both teams. He was taken to a local hospital after the game to be checked out but he is reportedly okay to travel with the team back home after going through concussion protocol. Given the high impact of the floor, it appears the Celtics may have dodged a serious injury for the 6-foot-7 wing.
Jaylen Brown walks off the court after a scary fall he took on a fast-break dunk. pic.twitter.com/pAEMfQAx2i
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) March 9, 2018
The offense keeps rolling:
The Celtics scored 105 or more points for the eighth consecutive game on Thursday night as they beat one of the best offensive teams in the league at their own game.
Kyrie Irving (23 points) led a balanced scoring attack that featured six players scoring in double figures. Al Horford had his second consecutive stellar performance (20 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists) while Marcus Morris (17 points) and Terry Rozier (13 points) anchored strong minutes from the bench unit.
Road warriors:
The Wolves may have been without Jimmy Butler (meniscus surgery) but they still have one of the best home records (25-8) in the league. The Celtics managed to remain focused after Brown’s scary injury and maintained a lead above seven points the entire fourth quarter on their way to an impressive road win. It was their fifth victory away from the TD Garden in six tries since the All-Star break, which enabled the C's to clinch a playoff spot in the East.
TURNING POINT
Kyrie Irving and Al Horford teamed up for a 7-2 run midway through the fourth quarter, which turned a seven-point lead into a double-digit edge with just over four minutes remaining in the contest. The two-man game was in full effect during the outburst as Irving and Horford scored or assisted each other on all three field goals.
TWO UP
Irving:
There were no lingering effects of a sore knee in the All-Star’s game on Thursday night. The 25-year-old flirted with a triple-double by posting 23 points, seven rebounds and eight assists in just 30 minutes of action, while also adding a couple of steals and a block. He did whatever he went against a weak crop of Wolves backcourt defenders all night to the tune of 9-of-15 shooting from the field. The extra few days of rest appeared to serve him well.
.@KyrieIrving makes it look too easy ? pic.twitter.com/7uaobn0YrM
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) March 9, 2018
Morris:
The veteran looks like a different player since the All-Star break, particularly on the offensive end. He scored 17 points (7-of-15 FG) off the bench in the win, including nine straight for the visitors at one point in the first half. That type of production has been a constant theme of late as he has scored 10 or more points in seven of his last ten games overall. Slowly but surely, he’s working his way into the crunch time lineups on a regular basis.
TWO DOWN
Marcus Smart’s 3-point shooting:
The point guard had a strong game overall for the C’s but he’s back to his old self when it comes to perimeter shooting. The 23-year-old missed all four of his 3-point attempts and is now 4-of-20 overall from downtown over his last five games.
Transition defense by the starting lineup:
The Wolves play a bigger and slower lineup with Jimmy Butler injured but that didn’t prevent the hosts from attacking Boston’s less mobile starting front line. Aron Baynes and Jayson Tatum both earned a quick pull at the start of each half as the Wolves starting five found easy open looks on the perimeter against a scrambling Celtics defense. They shot 38 percent from deep on the night overall.
TOP PLAY
MARCUS SMART!!! pic.twitter.com/27jzKVVlWw
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) March 9, 2018
TWO TAKES B-ROBB WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER
The Celtics’ offensive turnaround appears to be the real deal:
I touched upon the new high powered Celtics offense last weekend and they have incredibly maintained that superb pace for a few more games. Now, with Horford snapping out of his slump, there are almost too many scoring threats for opposing defenses to contend with on a nightly basis. Morris and Rozier are helping the C’s second unit dominate opposing benches, which is providing long rests and fresh legs for the starters during winning time. For a team that underperformed on offense for such a long stretch of the year, this looks like a different group.
All-Star Al Horford is back:
There was understandable worry about Horford’s health from myself and others after the 31-year-old had a lengthy offensive slump over the past couple weeks. The veteran had a nice bounce-back game on Monday night though and followed it up with a terrific two-way performance in Minnesota. He was back to doing a little bit of everything on offense and frustrated Karl-Anthony Towns (15 points on 5-of-12 FG) into a rather ordinary performance. That’s no small feat given his status as one of the best scoring bigs in the league. Horford took the heat on Saturday night and he deserves praise for putting together a night like this.