Minnesota Timberwolves (8-7) at Boston Celtics (13-3) Game #17 11/24/24

The Celtics look to win their 5th game in a row as they host Minnesota Timberwolves. This is the first of 2 games this season with the second game on January 2nd in Minnesota. These two teams tied the series 1-1 last season, with each team winning at home. The Celtics are 45-24 all-time against the Wolves and 25-8 in games played in Boston. The Celtics have won 17 games in a row against the Timberwolves in Boston.

The Timberwolves made some big moves in the offseason and it may take them a while to build chemistry with their new players. They lost Kyle Anderson to the Warriors and signed Joe Ingles, who they expect to fill Anderson’s spot. They also lost Monte Morris to Phoenix and they signed former Celtic PJ Dozier. But the biggest move was trading Karl-Anthony Towns for Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo. It’s the movement that seems to take time to gel.

After hosting the Minnesota Timberwolves in this game, the Celtics will host the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday in back-to-back games. They will then play in Chicago and in Cleveland before returning home for a 5-game homestand against Miami, Detroit, Milwaukee, Memphis and Chicago. They then visit Chicago and Orlando before another 4 game homestand where they host Philadelphia, Indiana twice and Toronto.

The Timberwolves just finished a 3-game road trip, playing in Portland twice and in Sacramento. They hosted Phoenix before losing to the Raptors in Toronto. After this game in Boston, they return home for a 4-game homestand, including Houston, Sacramento, the Los Angeles Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers. They then hit the road to take on the Clippers and Warriors.

The Timberwolves are 10th in the West, 4 games out of first and only half back in front of 11th place San Antonio. They are 5-5 in their last 10 games and 3-2 against Eastern Conference opponents. They are 3-5 on the way. The Celtics are second in the East, 2.5 games behind first place Cleveland. They are 8-2 in their last 10 games and they are 5-2 at home. They are 0-1 against Western Conference opponents.

Al Horford missed Friday’s game against the Wizards with a non-covid illness. He is listed as questionable for this game. If he is unable to play, I expect Neemias Queta to start again in his place. Kristaps Porzingis is listed as out for this game but should return soon. For the Timberwolves, only Mike Conley is listed as out on their injury report with a toe injury.

Probable Celtics starters

PG: Jrue Holiday
SG: Derrick White
SF: Jaylen Brown
PF: Jayson Tatum
C: Al Horford

Celtic’s reserves
Luke Kornet
Payton Pritchard
Nehemiah Queta
Sam Hauser
Baylor Scheierman
Jaden Springer
Xavier Tillman, Sr
Jordan Walsh

2 way players
JD Davison
Drew Peterson
Anthony Watson

Injuries/OutK
ristaps Porzingis (ankle) out
Al Horford (illness) questionable

Head coach
Joe Mazzulla

Likely Timberwolves Starters

PG: Nickeil Alexander-Walker
SG: Anthony Edwards
SF: Jaden McDaniels
PF: Julius Randle
C: Rudy Gobert

Timberwolves reserves
Rob Dillingham
Donte DiVincenzo
PJ Dozier
Luka Garza
Joe Ingles
Leonard Miller
Josh Minott
Naz Reid
Terrance Shannon, Jr

2 way players
Jaylen Clark
Jesse Edwards
Daishen Nix

Injuries/Out
Mike Conley (toe) out

Head coach
Chris Finch

Key matchups

Derrick White vs. Anthony Edwards
Edwards is averaging 27.9 points, 4.9 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.2 steals per game. match. He shoots 47.5% from the field and 43.1% from beyond the arc. The Celtics must defend him both in the paint and at the rim, as he can score very well in both.

Jayson Tatum vs. Julius Randle
Randle is averaging 21.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game. He shoots 50.2% from the field and 36.5% from beyond the arc. As with Edwards, the Celtics must guard Randle both in the paint and on the perimeter. Tatum struggled with his shot on Friday and the Celtics will need him to shoot better in this one.

Honorable mention
Al Horford vs Rudy Gobert
Gobert is averaging 11.0 points, 10.5 rebounds and 1.6 blocks. He is shooting 63.9% from the field and 0% on 3 pointers. Hopefully the Celtics can pull Gobert away from the basket as he is a very good rebounder and rim protector. If Horford is out, either Luke Kornet or Neemias Queta or Xavier Tillman will likely start here

Keys to the game
Defend Defend Defend!! Defense is the key to winning every game. The Timberwolves average 113.3 points per game. game (15th), while Celtic’s average 120.7 points per fight (2nd). The Celtics are 8th with a defensive rating of 110.7, while the Wolves have a defensive rating of 111.7 (13th). The Celtics haven’t played the same tough defense they did last season. They have been especially weak in defense in the paint. They are 27th, allowing 53.2 points in the paint this season. The Celtics will need to play tough team defense in all 4 quarters if they hope to win this game.

Rebound – The Celtics average 42.8 rebounds per game. game (20th) to 40.6 rebounds per game for the Timberwolves (26th). The Celtics will need to crash the boards to prevent the Wolves from getting extra possessions and second chance points. A lot of rebounding is effort, and the Celtics have to work harder on the boards than the Wolves. Once again, the Celtics were a much better rebounding team last season with the same roster. They must increase their efforts on the boards.

Play Hard 48 Minutes – The Celtics need to come out strong and not allow the Wolves to build an early lead. They need to play hard through the 2nd and 3rd quarters and not give up to allow the Timberwolves to pull ahead because the Celtics are not playing their hardest. The Celtics also need to finish strong and not allow the Wolves to roll over to close out the game. The Celtics have started slow in several games recently, and in games where they started strong and built a good lead, they have slacked off and let their opponent come back and make it a close game. They must play hard for all 48 minutes.

Effort and energy – Against several teams this season, the Celtics have lacked energy. They have allowed teams they should have blown out to either beat them or make it a close game. The Celtics’ lack of effort and energy may also help explain their lack of rebounds. Along with putting more effort and energy, the Celtics must put that effort into playing team ball. They must keep the ball moving and not fall into hero ball.

The X-Factors
It’s Home Court Advantage for a reason – There is a reason why they call it home field advantage. The Celtics have the crowd behind them, and if they put in a good effort, the fans will cheer them on and help motivate them. It is when the team lacks effort that the crowd will turn on their own team. The Wolves had to travel, stay in a hotel, play in front of a hostile crowd and on an unfamiliar pitch. The Celtics need to come out with effort and protect their home court.

Official – Officiating always has the potential to be an x-factor. Each officiating team calls the play differently. Some umpires call it tight and constantly call fouls, while others let them play with few fouls. The Celtics must adjust to how the refs call the game and not allow bad calls or no calls to take away from their focus on playing the game. The Celtics can’t let the refs get in their heads.

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