BSJ Game Report: Celtics 124, Timberwolves 108 - A little effort goes a long way

Everything you need to know about the Boston Celtics 124-108 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves with BSJ insight and analysis

Box Score

HEADLINES

A feel-good win: The Celtics started out missing their first seven shots and falling behind 7-0 but quickly recovered thanks to a barrage of 3’s from Jayson Tatum, Evan Fournier, and Payton Pritchard. They carried an approximately 20 point lead throughout the game, but when the lead slipped to 12 in the middle of the fourth quarter, Brad Stevens subbed Tatum and Fournier back into the game after they’d been sitting since the final minutes of the third.

“People can say that games don't mean as much, whatever the case may be. We needed to feel good, to get a good win after playing well the whole day," he said. "And I thought it was really important ... so, I put them in to finish the game. And that's why they went in. I held my breath a little bit the whole time.”

Still waiting on Tuesday night’s opponent: The Indiana Pacers and the Charlotte Hornets both lost, so the eighth seed in the East has still not been set. Charlotte faces the Washington Wizards tomorrow, with the winner taking eighth and coming to Boston Tuesday night for the first game of the play-in tournament. 

“Either one will be a bear,” Stevens said. “They drilled us in Charlotte. So obviously we remember that, and Washington is probably as hot as anybody in the East in the last month. You knew that when they got healthy they'd be good ... We are going to have our hands full on Tuesday night, we know that.”

TURNING POINT

Minnesota had cut the lead to 12 but Jayson Tatum and Evan Fournier came back in with 6:11 to go and quickly pushed the lead back over 20 and then sat back down.

FIVE UP

Jayson Tatum: He didn't shoot all that great but he breezed to a 26 point, 11 rebound night. He attacked when he needed to, laid back and fired jumpers when he felt like coasting. He probably could have gone for 40 if he really wanted to put in some extra effort and the game was close. When the bench blew the lead and came back in, he attacked and got where he wanted. 

Evan Fournier: This was another “sign me up for this Evan Fournier” kind of game. In control, attacking and then also spotting up, and he dished six assists. All of these “ups” come with the caveat that they were facing one of the worst defensive teams in the league that looked even more disinterested on that end, but players still have to go out there and play. 

Payton Pritchard: Teams pay for leaving him open. His early flurry of 3-pointers helped push the lead to 20.

Luke Kornet: He had trouble guarding Karl-Anthony Towns, but he wasn’t a total pushover. He finished with four blocked shots, and on the other end hit some big baskets off pick-and-rolls and on put-backs. 

Semi Ojeleye: I just wanted to highlight his offensive rebounding. He had a pair of loud putback putback dunks, something you just don’t see much of from him. 

ONE DOWN 

Tacko Fall: I always feel bad putting Fall here because he’s not really in a great position to succeed right now. I’ll reiterate that his best chance at developing at this point will probably be with a young team that can get him some playing time. He’s very obviously not good enough, consistently enough, to be a good NBA player.

TOP PLAY

ONE TAKE KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

Effort matters: I’m not going to make this game something bigger than it actually is. Minnesota is a horrible defensive team that came into this game looking to pad stats more than play basketball. It’s no surprise that the Timberwolves played better once Karl-Anthony Towns, who simply shot almost every time, left the game. 

Their reserves came in and tried to actually spread the floor and attack, and it worked. 

Boston’s mostly reserve “starting” unit did the same, and they built a big lead of their own. Sure, they were buoyed by Tatum and Fournier, but the effort and movement were there for most of the game. 

I’m sure somewhere in the film session, Stevens will gently remind his team that when they play with some effort and actually play basketball, they can still be pretty good. 

You can say it doesn’t matter, but they’re still a playoff team, and the season does not end tomorrow. 

It might end next week if a certain amount of effort isn’t expended moving forward. That means the effort to move the ball, make cuts, and put pressure on the opposing defenses. That means the effort to communicate to each other on defense, call out coverages, help, and recover. That means getting back in transition and cutting off those run-outs that quickly pile up the points. 

Pace is effort. Defense is effort. Winning is effort. 

They put in a little bit of effort and put up a 20 spot on a bad team. For a team with losses to OKC and Cleveland on its resume, that’s notable. 

If we boil everything bad about the Celtics down into one thing, this is it. It’s within their control to fix it and at least show us they can do it before the season does end.