In an impressive all-around win the Boston Celtics defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves 127-117, thus showing their winning ways prior to the All-Star break has flowed right into this final stretch-run of the season
The Boston Celtics beat the Minnesota Timberwolves by a score of 127-117 on Friday night with one of their best performances of the year. This game proved that Danny Ainge made the right decisions during the trade deadline, keeping the team together and building more and more chemistry.
This was the best game of Daniel Theis‘ career, scoring a career-high 25 points and racking up 16 rebounds. With star center Karl-Anthony Towns out, Theis took advantage of the lack of rebounding in the Minnesota front court, getting six offensive rebounds to help out the Boston offense.
Instead of looking for an upgrade at center during the trade deadline, the Celtics decided to stay put. They had many options to upgrade, such as Andre Drummond and Clint Capela, yet would have to give up Gordon Hayward in any potential trade.
Hayward seemed to play best against Minnesota, scoring 29 points on 12/17 from the field. He also grabbed five rebounds and dished out six assists, continuing to be the second best distributor on the team. Hayward has found his role in the offense, being a reliable option to get a bucket when he’s needed. If the C’s were without Hayward and had Drummond instead, their offensive and defensive ceiling would decrease immensely.
The Boston Celtics need Hayward to continue to play at his near All-Star level in order to have a chance at a deep playoff run this spring.
Jayson Tatum continues to make his ascension into stardom, scoring 28 points on four threes to go along with 11 rebounds. Tatum has been lights out as of late, seemingly converting every contested shot and slowly becoming the best player on this Boston Celtics team. With Tatum having so many successful offensive options on the perimeter, it’s difficult for defenses to formulate their game plans around him, allowing him to flourish in man-to-man defensive schemes.
Jaylen Brown had another extremely efficient night, scoring 25 points on 10/17 from the field, including eight rebounds. Brown, like Tatum, was hitting high-difficulty shots off the dribble with ease, showing his improved ball handling skills. With the combination of Tatum and Brown, it’s nearly impossible for opposing defenses to shut them both down, and Kemba Walker wasn’t even playing.
The Celtics starters went off, scoring 117 of the team’s 127 points. With the bench only scoring 10 points the entire game, Boston will have to look for more production off the pine in upcoming games, especially against the Lakers on Sunday. It’s unrealistic to expect 25 points from Daniel Theis every night, even if it was a great performance. Tatum, Hayward, Brown, and Theis combined for 107 points alone, showcasing the offensive firepower present in this offense, even without their star point guard.
For Minnnesota, Malik Beasley had his best game for the Timberwolves, finishing with 27 points on 10/18 shooting. Newly acquired star guard D’Angelo Russell had an off night, only shooting 5/16 from the field for 18 points.
This game showed that Danny Ainge made the correct decision in not pulling the trigger for an upgrade at center. For one, when looking at this performance, it might not be clear that a player such as Andre Drummond or Clint Capela are actual upgrades over Theis. Secondly, the inevitable loss of Gordon Hayward in a trade for an upgrade at center would have not have been worth it, as he is irreplaceable in the current offensive system.
The Boston Celtics showcased a complete team win on Friday night, one of their best offensive performances of the year, even without their franchise point guard Kemba Walker.