The Boston Celtics fell to the Minnesota Timberwolves 114-109 in overtime on the road Monday night, marking the first loss of the season for Boston. The Celtics did well to force overtime in the first place, but in the end, Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards iced the game, connecting on consecutive big buckets down the stretch. Edwards ended the night with 38 points, 9 rebounds, and 7 assists.
Boston entered the action with the No. 1 ranked offense in the NBA, and the team’s scoring output has been one of the hallmarks of the club’s early success. Minnesota, meanwhile, came into the action with the No. 1 ranked defense. It was a clash of styles and resulted in a tightly contested game that was a bit chaotic as well, underscored by 34 combined turnovers in regulation between the two clubs.
With the result, the Celtics move to 5-1 on the season. Let’s take a closer look at Boston’s 114-109 overtime loss in Minnesota Monday night.
Celtics Lab 126: On Boston's hot start, life after Lakers – Celtics, cannabis biz with Derek Fisher, Gloria Govan https://t.co/wEmDnYgIfF via @thecelticswire pic.twitter.com/FelFN2uKis
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) November 7, 2023
Boston's offense
The Celtics were off to the races in this one, pushing the pace ahead of Minnesota’s steady defense. This gave Boston a number of open looks, including this epic dunk from Jaylen Brown over Rudy Gobert.
The baseline view of Jaylen Brown’s dunk over Gobert is epic pic.twitter.com/HABQoYDW1M
— Cameron Tabatabaie (@CTabatabaie) November 7, 2023
Outside of Tatum and Brown, the Celtics starters struggled to get into gear, and when the action slowed down, things were especially clunky. Against Minnesota’s lengthy defenders, scoring in the halfcourt was difficult for the Celtics, and as a team, Boston shot 39.1% from the field. (Derrick White missed his second game following the birth of his son, and Boston missed his passing and playmaking.)
Bench production was another issue for Boston, and the team’s reserves contributed just 5 points outside of Sam Hauser, who had 11 points in 24.5 minutes of play. In particular, both Payton Pritchard and Luke Kornet saw extended action but looked rather shaky on both ends.
Jaylen Brown's improved passing is helping the new-look Boston Celtics' offense https://t.co/TJBki8jZxW pic.twitter.com/cQhZKwYtxp
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) November 7, 2023
Boston's defense
Pushing the pace may have actually cost the Celtics in the long run. Yes, the Timberwolves had 23 turnovers. But Minnesota logged 18 fast break points compared to 13 for Boston. Combined with a big night from Edwards and Boston never looked comfortable on defense.
When the action slowed down, Porzingis once again had difficulty as the lone defender around the rim. Even when he shared the floor with Al Horford, Porzingis was often left on an island. Gobert in particular was able to muscle his way to some easy baskets in the restricted area, an emerging theme for this Celtics defense. Porzingis also missed key stretches of the game in foul trouble as a result.
On the other side of the action, Karl-Anthony Towns struggled mightily. He fouled out early in the overtime period, ending the night with 7 points and 7 turnovers. Boston’s ability to neutralize Towns was a key part of the story on Monday despite the result.
Boston's Jayson Tatum wins Player of the Week honors for Week 2 of 2023-24 https://t.co/pLUSCR4l29 pic.twitter.com/Vo4qnDBUuM
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) November 6, 2023
Final thoughts
Porzingis will be right back in the saddle Wednesday evening. The Celtics head to Philadelphia to take on the reigning MVP Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers, and Boston will once again need to put special emphasis on defending the paint.
It won’t just be better rim protection the Celtics need to avoid another loss. The team will need more production from the reserve players, and Boston will need to find ways to generate better looks scoring the ball.
Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett are impressed by Boston's backcourt of Jrue Holiday, Derrick White https://t.co/hhysFhdNJm pic.twitter.com/vDZwIOD1d1
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) November 6, 2023
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