Jaylen Brown leads Celtics over Timberwolves late: 6 takeaways

On By Littum

Celtics

Boston survived a chaotic final possession by Minnesota to secure the victory in regulation.

Jaylen Brown leads Celtics over Timberwolves late: 6 takeaways

Jaylen Brown led the Celtics offense for the second straight game. (Photo by Brian Fluharty/Getty Images)

Jaylen Brown and the Celtics survived a stiff afternoon challenge from the Timberwolves on Sunday to claim a 107-105 victory that came down to the final possession.

Here are the takeaways.

Jaylen Brown started off incredibly hot.

Jaylen Brown hit his first 3-point attempt of the game on the Celtics’ second possession of the game. On the next possession, Brown hit his second 3-point attempt of the game. On the next possession, Brown hit his third. Exactly a minute later, he hit his fourth. After the steal, Brown mixed up Rudy Gobert with his handle and buried his fifth. Just three and a half minutes into the game, Brown already had 15 points.

Brown finally attempted a heat check that was a little too hard and missed, and he raised a hand to apologize, though there couldn’t have been too many people in the arena upset with his decision-making at the time.

Brown cooled off a bit after that, finishing with 29 points on 10-for-18 shooting. He had a couple of nice drives, a couple of nice post-ups and a decent night defensively. He also hit perhaps the biggest shot of the game with 1:15 left – a transition 3-pointer that pushed a slim two-point lead to five.

But in the first 3.5 minutes, Brown put together one of the hottest stretches we’ve seen from a Celtics player so far this season. Sometimes a star just catches a heater and we all get to watch.

The Celtics survived a chaotic final possession.

The Celtics were the better team for long stretches, building a lead as high as 19, but the Timberwolves clawed their way back into the game several times and created a very solid opportunity for themselves on the final possession – Anthony Edwards drove into the paint and kicked out to Jaden McDaniels in the corner. McDaniels was open because Jrue Holiday was playing free safety on the set, and Jayson Tatum rotated over to defend McDaniels, who swung it to Naz Reid for what would have been the game-winner. McDaniels’ pass was a little low and Reid had to collect and hoist a hard shot with Jrue Holiday flying out at him. He missed wide left from the edge.

The Celtics defended possession very well—Brown forced Edwards far enough below the rim that the Timberwolves star would have had trouble sneaking in for a layup, Tatum read the play beautifully, and Holiday’s ability to see the entire play unfold remains unmatched.

Still, credit to the Timberwolves, who are now just .500 but initially remain one of the NBA’s tougher teams for the Celtics to handle and need to go on a run when they find themselves.

Any news from Derrick White?

Early in the fourth quarter, White completed one of the nastier moves we’ve seen from him recently. White drove as fast as he could down the floor and pulled a pull out of Edwards’ bag – hitting the brakes hard and slowing down to allow two defenders to fly by as he stopped and dropped in a little jumper.

White finished with 19 points on 7-for-12 shooting with nine rebounds, five assists, one steal and a pair of blocks. He scored 10 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter and was a team-high +8.

The Celtics selected Rob Dillingham.

The Timberwolves have a massive defensive advantage with Rudy Gobert in the paint, and the Celtics were aware of him when he was on the floor.

But Minnesota also has the type of guard the Celtics love to utilize in Rob Dillingham – a very talented but physically challenged rookie who is listed at 175 pounds. Dillingham came alive in the second half, finishing with 14 points on 6-for-10 shooting, but the Celtics’ job offensively was much simpler when he was on the floor.

The Timberwolves are an interesting Western Conference opponent given their combination of size, talent and defensive prowess on the wing — both Jaden McDaniels and Nickeil Alexander-Walker are well-above-average perimeter defenders with size and length.

However, Dillingham’s presence may oversimplify things for the Celtics for the Wolves to play him important minutes the next time the two teams meet.

More solid minutes for Xavier Tillman.

One game after being dusted off against the Wizards, Tillman again played a more substantial role on Sunday. He played 14 minutes and scored three points with four rebounds, but was solid defensively and again looked like he could earn more playing time as the season progresses.

A back to back and a break.

The Celtics return to action on Monday night when they host the Clippers at 7:30 p.m. They will have two days off before traveling to Chicago to take on the Bulls on Friday in their final game of the NBA Cup group stage.

We will have more takeaways later tonight.