Once again, the Celtics could not handle a good young post player, tonight getting torn to shreds by a Karl Anthony Towns who was so good, it led to a legitimate question about whether you’d rather start a game with him or Anthony Davis (the answers is Davis, I think, by a little bit. But I’m not sure… that’s how good Towns is). And once again, the once vaunted Celtics defense gave up a LOT of points. And once again, the Celtics lose… dropping to 1-2 since the All Star break.
The term “game of runs” fits this one perfectly. The Wolves came out riding Zach Lavine’s hot 3-point shooting and Karl Anthony Towns’ hot, well, everything, to take a 16 point lead in the first quarter only to see that cut in half over the final minute and a half. The Celtics rode that run across the quarter break, ultimately getting to 17-0 and a one point lead before giving in to a Wolves 21-9 spurt. But a C’s 5-0 run close the half to cut the lead to 6 at halftime.
The C’s had the lead down to 2 before giving up a 15-4 run to fall behind 13. But hey, guess what? The C’s responded with a run of their own to cut it to 4 with :39 left in the 3rd quarter, but Gorgui Dieng banked in a buzzer beating 3 to push Minnesota’s lead to 9 going into the 4th.
Boston saved one last run for the very end, cutting a 14 point deficit all the way down to 2 and, improbably, having the ball with a chance to win the game. However, Marcus Smart’s buzzer beater hit the front rim, sealing the 124-122 loss.
The Green
Jae Crowder’s 27 points was a career high. His clutch 3 with :33 left gave the C’s some life, and, for the first time since the 2nd quarter, gave us the feeling that the team might win.
Jared Sullinger carried the scoring early in each half. He shot 6 of 8 for 12 points.
Brad Steven drew up another amazing out of timeout play that got Avery Bradley a 3 with :06 left to cut the lead to 1.
Aside from a bad decision to not give the ball up to Isaiah Thomas, Marcus Smart did a lot of great things on the floor. He and Jonas Jerebko were the only significant positives in the +/- column.
The Gross
How does this defense give up 124 points to the Wolves? 52% shooting? 53% from 3? What happened to the defense, guys?
The game was lost here: Minnesota 26 second chance points.. Boston 12. The Wolves got most of the 50/50 balls tonight and it killed the C’s. If the C’s had maybe not given up so many second chances, things would have been different.
Zach LaVine is an OK 3 point shooter. Nothing special. But he went 4 of 5 tonight.
The Greenlights
Smart, the Cobra, with a sick steal
https://platform.vine.co/static/scripts/embed.jsKarl Anthony Towns is good
https://platform.vine.co/static/scripts/embed.js
Avery Bradley clutch 3
https://platform.vine.co/static/scripts/embed.jsSmart’s last gasp falls short
https://platform.vine.co/static/scripts/embed.js
The Grid
Crowder: 27 pts, 9-15 fg (4-6 3pt), 9 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl
Thomas: 18 pts, 8-20 fg (2-7 3pt), NO FREE THROWS, 9 ast
When’s the last time Isaiah Thomas too no free throws? December against New Orleans.
I honestly never felt like the Celtics were very into this game. They had no answer for Towns and the rest of the TWolves offense flowed off that. Whatever the hell is going on with the Celtics defense, they need to fix it fast.
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