Rapid Recap is designed for the busiest of Celtics fans. Whether you canโt stay awake to read 10 paragraphs or your hangover is just too much, Rapid Recap tells the timeline of the game in only a minute or two.
No Kemba Walker for the Celtics on the road against a Timberwolves team with no Karl-Anthony Towns? Are we thinking trap game?
Well…almost. Boston was often slacking on defense and still pulled out a 127-117ย win, due almost entirely to Herculean efforts by the starting five. Gordon Hayward, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Daniel Theis all eclipsed the 20-point threshold (29, 28, 25 and 25, respectively), with Theis and Tatum contributing double-digit boards as well (16 and 11) and Marcus Smart making up for poor shooting with 10 dimes (while still making it to 10 points). Smacking around a Minnesota team with zero shotmaking outside of D’Angelo Russell and Malik Beasley, our heroes didn’t look like one that could beat the dominant Lakers squad they face on Sunday…but A. Sunday is not today and B. they didn’t look prepared for the last Lakers game and we know how that went.
Surprising no one, Jayson Tatum showed the most intensity early on for the Celtics:
I think Jayson Tatum is gonna have some success against Hernangomez/Naz Reid.
— Tom Westerholm (@Tom_NBA) February 22, 2020
Yeah, PnR scoring is just going to be too easy for Tatum against these bigs pic.twitter.com/9o89GLw9rX
— Max Carlin (@maxacarlin) February 22, 2020
Although Minnesota scored well enough to keep themselves in it during the first, Boston was clearly in control.
Smart with the smooth behind-the-back bounce pass to Theis ๐
๐๐๐ฅ๐ญ๐ข๐๐ฌ ๐๐๐ฐ๐ข๐ง๐ (๐ฒ @MetroByTMobile) pic.twitter.com/Y8otHHIALs— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) February 22, 2020
Haywards ability to just say fuck you I'm making this tough mid range jumper is going to be very valuable in the playoffs
— Adam Hedrick โ๏ธ (@Ad_It_Up__) February 22, 2020
END Q1: โ๏ธ24 – ๐บ20
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) February 22, 2020
It started getting very ugly for the T-Wolves as soon as the Q2 buzzer rang. I follow more than a few of their fans on Twitterโall pretty great peopleโand they were Not Pleased:
Wolves have had good looks and a whole bunch of bricks.
— David Naylor (@ProfCedar) February 22, 2020
Exactly. If the Celtics are barely working to stop your offense and it’s still a disaster, that doesn’t bode well. All that said, the following dunk by Josh Okogie was too cool not to post:
JOSH OKOGIE MY GOODNESS
๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฑ pic.twitter.com/e3G3uSgQ0E
— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) February 22, 2020
That kicked off a mini-run for the Wolves…which did not last and was quickly parried away by the Cs:
9-2 Celtics run.
— Brian Robb (@BrianTRobb) February 22, 2020
The Celtics have eight assists as a team so far, six of which came from Marcus Smart.
— Tom Westerholm (@Tom_NBA) February 22, 2020
no rust here pic.twitter.com/isLqmK840H
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) February 22, 2020
The Russell-Beasley backcourt kept the Wolves from entering blowout territory. That’s probably the best that can be said for them regarding how they did in the first half.
Celtics up 61-53 at the half.
Tatum – 18 points, 6 rebounds
Brown – 11 points
Hayward – 9 points
Theis – 8 points, 8 rebounds
Smart – 7 points, 6 assists
Celtics – 32-23 rebound advantageBeasley – 16 points
Russell – 12 points
Hernangomez – 9 points
Wolves – 41.7% shooting— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) February 22, 2020
Counterpoint:
The Celtics are not playing very well defensively at all. They're lucky Minnesota is just terrible
— John Karalis ๐ฌ๐ท ๐บ๐ฆ (@John_Karalis) February 22, 2020
Counter-counterpoint: The Cs had a double-digit lead on the Wolves for a good four minutes or so when the third quarter started…
๐ณ@jaytatum0's on another level these days pic.twitter.com/RUh2RagKIt
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) February 22, 2020
Celtics only had three turnovers during the first half. Already four here in the first five minutes of the third quarter.
— Jay King (@ByJayKing) February 22, 2020
…but they were still playing pretty carelessly. That was going to bite them in the ass at least somewhat, eventually, and it did when the Wolves got within two points of the Celtics’ lead for the first time since Q1.
We should consider playing better instead of risking losing to this terrible team
— Ryan Bernardoni (@dangercart) February 22, 2020
Theis was not in the mood to let this happen quietly, and begin letting loose on both ends of the floor despite CONTINUED DISRESPECT BY THE GODDAMN REFS.
Theis already with 17 points and 11 rebounds. He has a legit shot at his career-high in points (22) and rebounds (15) tonight.
— Brian Robb (@BrianTRobb) February 22, 2020
Hayward was similarly galvanized in the latter half of the third:
Smart to Hayward for the DUNK, plus the & one
๐๐๐ฅ๐ญ๐ข๐๐ฌ ๐๐๐ฐ๐ข๐ง๐ (๐ฒ @MetroByTMobile) pic.twitter.com/h9e7LrabaD— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) February 22, 2020
Gordon Hayward leading the #Celtics with 13 FGAs. It doesnโt feel that way. Heโs been efficient, 9/13 for 20 points, to go with 4 assists and 3 rebounds.
— Abby Chin (@tvabby) February 22, 2020
๐๐๐โช๏ธ #Celtics x #Timberwolves
๐ฒ: https://t.co/AAyHDEdsfE
๐ข: https://t.co/xwkswgyrlN pic.twitter.com/B6k3HpJldT
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) February 22, 2020
Then shit got hairy again in the fourthโpartially because the Celtics wereย stillย taking it easy on defense, partially due to more than a handful of what I’ll generously say were 50-50 foul calls on Cs players. It was still a narrow Boston lead with about five minutes to go, and then:
Jaylen Brown just fouled out.
— Adam Himmelsbach (@AdamHimmelsbach) February 22, 2020
Fortunately, the Wolves hadn’t scored a field goal for about three minutesย beforeย that happened, only managing to collect points at the charity stripe. Theis, Hayward and Tatum (and, in less glamorous but still notable ways, Smart and Romeo Langford) kept the ship floating en route to a Wโ harder than it should’ve been, but a W nonetheless.
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