3 thoughts from Boston Celtics big win over Minnesota Timberwolves

The Boston Celtics start 2019 with a 115-102 win over Wiggins and his Minnesota Timberwolves.

The Boston Celtics defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves,115-102, to get back into the winning column to start the new year.

The Celtics were without their superstar point guard, Kyrie Irving, who was sidelined with an eye injury he sustained in the loss against the San Antonio Spurs. In the absence of Irving, Terry Rozier was given the starting nod and as expected, he did not disappoint playing an extremely good all-around game.

Rozier, who finished with 16 points on 60 percent shooting from the field, added in 5 assists along with 5 steals. Rozier went full Scary Terry mode early in the first with this Rondo-esque fake.

The Minnesota Timberwolves were noticeably shorthanded with Jeff Teague, Derrick Rose and Robert Covington all missing the game with various ailments.

Although the first half was where the Celtics built 20 point lead which eventually won them the game, the Timberwolves battled back and made the game close led by Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns, who scored 31 points and 28 points respectively.

The Celtics were in need of someone to take on the scoring load that belonged to Kyrie and Gordon Hayward threw in his bid in the second quarter and shut down the auction for the rest of the night. Hayward contributed with a season-high 35 points on an unbelievably efficient 14-of-18 shooting from the field with 4 3-pointers, adding in 5 assists for good measure.

Let’s take a closer look at how the Celtics won this game.