BSJ Game Report: Timberwolves 119, Celtics 115 - Edwards spoils Jaylen Brown's historic night

Everything you need to know about the Celtics' loss to the Timberwolves, with BSJ insight and analysis.

IN A NUTSHELL

Neemias Queta started the first quarter strong and Jaylen Brown scored 19 to give Boston a four-point first-quarter lead. The Wolves cooled off, but Brown didn’t, and the C’s lead jumped to 10 at halftime. Boston went cold while Anthony Edwards and the Wolves got hot again to take a two-point lead after three. It grew to 12 before a 12-0 Boston run to tie it up, but Edwards shut the door. 

Box Score

HEADLINES

- Tale of two halves: The Celtics put up 69 points on 56% shooting, 41% from 3 in the first half. They scored 46 in the second on 36.4% shooting, 29.2% from 3. The offense ran efficiently in the first half, but it stagnated and fell apart in the second.

- Anthony Edwards to the rescue: He was a beast in the second half, scoring 24 of his 39 after halftime, shooting 8-14 overall, 4-8 from 3, and 4-5 from the line, including the dagger 3-pointer with 14 seconds left. 

- Brown’s historic performance: Brown finished the game with 41 points, six rebounds, seven assists, and five steals, which is a combination of statistics that has never happened before in Celtics history. He was awesome in this game, especially in the first half.  

TURNING POINT 

The most obvious one is Mike Conley’s 3-pointer that broke the tie after Boston’s 12-0 run. That won the game for them, but I’ll go back to the 14-4 Wolves run that gave them a 12-point lead before Boston’s run. It built a lead big enough that taking a couple of haymakers to the chin didn’t knock them out.

If you’re the Celtics, a 12-0 run that ends with 1:38 to go in the fourth quarter had better give you a lead. The best they could do was tie it up. 

THINGS I LIKED

- Jaylen Brown: I love when we adjust statistical sliders to make them say things. If we slide the stats to 40/5/5 with five steals, the only other Celtic to do it was Larry Bird. I wanted to do that because Jayson Tatum has gotten a lot of the “only other Celtics to do that is Larry Bird” treatment and I thought this would be fair. 

- Neemias Queta: He tied a career-high with 19 points and set a career-high with 18 rebounds. He was very active on the offensive glass early on and he’s grown his game recognition so he knows where to be and when. 

- Baylor Scheierman’s first half: Specifically, the second quarter, when he fueled another strong run. It felt very much like the Detroit game when he kick-started a run to start the second quarter. The magic didn’t last, though. He was scoreless in the second quarter. 

- Sam Hauser: Someone needed to hit shots, so him going 4-10 from 3 was helpful, though the last one was meaningless at the buzzer. 

- Joe Mazzulla’s creative way to complain about the officials: Derrick White was fouled late in the game without a call, and Mazzulla channeled his inner Mike Vrabel to make a point. 

“It was first and 10, and I thought one of their guys had a great tackle on Derrick there on the sideline to for a tackle for loss,” he said. “Our offensive line has gotta do a better job of just winning in the trenches and just not letting them get to the second layer.”

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE

- Getting away from what worked: I’ll need to look at why they stopped attacking Rudy Gobert the way they did in the first half and at the start of the third quarter, but it seemed like the Celtics had a formula that worked and suddenly they weren’t going to it again. 

- Jordan Walsh: Did he play? He got into foul trouble early on and barely saw the floor in the second half. He had no points, missing both 3-pointers he took early in the game. 

- Josh Minott: He had a stretch in the third where he mitigated the damage, but then he had another wild drive that resulted in nothing more than a transition opportunity for an opponent, and then he had Joe Mazzulla yelling at him to roll after setting a pick. I don’t think it’s great to have an NBA coach yelling at a guy to do basic things so loudly that the game broadcast picks it up. 

- Payton Pritchard and Derrick White: At some point, these guys have to find some consistency. 25 combined points on 10-30 shooting (3-16 3pt) isn’t going to cut it at all. Yes, they do other things, but the Celtics need them to make baskets too. 

HIGHLIGHTS

ONE TAKE KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

- Embrace this team for what it is. 

I’m going to keep analyzing the wins and losses and the ways they can get better, and the ultimate goal for this group is to audition people for a true run at a championship, hopefully, next season. 

But if we strip all that other stuff away and just look at this group as a mismatched, ragtag group of guys really trying hard to figure things out, I think we can really come to enjoy them this season. 

They looked great to start the game, they lost it, and then they looked dead at the 3:50 mark of the fourth. It's like someone starting out great at the karaoke bar and then struggling through the high notes and losing confidence. The 12-0 run was their version of getting it back right at the end, even if their voice cracked one more time. 

You know what? I’ll take it right now. At least they got it back for a bit. 

We can say what we want about this team, but they never quit. 

Next Up: The Celtics visit Cleveland tomorrow for a back-to-back game at 6 p.m.