A disaster of a second quarter that saw the Wolves get outscored by 18 points was too much to overcome in a 3-point loss
Welcome to 2025. Coming off a New Year’s Eve loss to the Western Conference-leading Oklahoma City Thunder, the Minnesota Timberwolves faced another tough matchup as they took on the defending champion Boston Celtics in their first game of the new year.
The Celtics were without two starters Kristaps Porziņģis (ankle) and Jaylen Brown (shoulder) making the Celtics, while still an outstanding team, a bit more beatable. The only Wolves players on the injury list were Luka Garza and Rob Dillingham, both out with ankle injuries.
3-point shooting was the story early in the game with each team taking as many shots from beyond the arc as they could. The two teams combined to shoot only 12 shots from inside the arc while combining to shoot 31 3-pointers in the first quarter.
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Minnesota would land on the right side of the shooting variance early on as they shot 7-12 from deep while Boston shot 6-19, giving them a 35-28 lead after one quarter.
The second quarter was a disaster for Minnesota, reminiscent of the third quarter in their most recent game against the Thunder. The Wolves offense would fall silent, struggling to generate quality looks from anywhere on the court. They would finish the quarter shooting 6-19 from the floor including 2-9 on 3-pointers. They also turned it over five times, bringing their first-half total up to nine.
Anthony Edwards struggled in the quarter, missing four of his five attempts. He would finish the first half with only nine points on 3-10 shooting.
It wasn’t much better on the defensive end for Minnesota as Boston made seven more 3-pointers including three from Sam Hauser to open the quarter. The Celtics would shoot 13-22 from the field en route to 34 points, outscoring the Wolves by 18 points in the second quarter.
What was a seven-point Timberwolves lead at the end of the first quarter turned into a 62-51 lead for the Celtics going into the halftime locker room.
The Timberwolves would stop the bleeding in the third quarter, going 6-9 from beyond the arc. Julius Randle, Jaden McDaniels, and Naz Reid would combine for 28 of the Wolves’ 34 third-quarter points to cut the Celtics’ lead to just six heading into the final quarter of play.
The Wolves would start the fourth quarter on a mission, going on a 9-3 run including a pair of 3-pointers from Donte DiVincenzo to tie the game.
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The Wolves would briefly take a one-point lead after a Nickeil Alexander-Walker 3-pointer, but the Celtics would respond by making seven of their next eight shots including a banked-in 3-pointer from Derrick White to push the Wolves deficit to eight with two minutes left.
A Naz layup, three made free throws from DiVincenzo, and multiple stops by the Wolves’ defense would give Minnesota the ball back with just over three seconds to go, but an Edwards 3-pointer at the buzzer to tie would not fall. The Wolves would fall 118-115.
Randle led the Wolves with 27 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists. Edwards struggled again, scoring just 15 points on 15 points on 5-16 shooting from the field. Jayson Tatum led the way for the Celtics with spectacular shot-making, scoring 33 points including six makes from beyond the arc.
Key Takeaways
Photo by David Berding/Getty Images
Ant’s Scoring Struggles Continue
Edwards had another poor scoring game, putting up just 15 points on 5-16 shooting from the field and 2-9 on 3-pointers. His scoring since the start of December has been far below his standards, having just 20.1 points per game in the past 14 games.
The largest reason for the scoring dip has been opposing defenses bringing double-teams almost every time Ant touches the ball. Edwards spoke in the locker room after the game about whether or not other teams have been able to throw off his rhythm.
“It’s tough, because I’m a rhythm player. Like you said, how many shots I took in the third? One? So like, that’s definitely tough. But it’s no excuses. Like you said, I’m a scorer. It’s not hard to make shots. I just got to get them. Or get a good look. I’m just not getting enough good looks. It’s just tough.”
In the third quarter, the Wolves scored 34 points while Edwards only took one shot, but had five assists. Edwards was asked if this was the way forward until teams stopped defending him so aggressively.
“I don’t know, man. That was a good brand of basketball, but it’s not how I want to play of course. I’m only 23, I don’t want to be just passing the ball all night, you feel me. But the way that they’re guarding me, I think I have to.”
Randle spoke about Edwards getting double-teamed and the team trying to navigate that along with Ant.
“He’s doing a really good job. It’s tough. I know it’s frustrating. But that’s just the player that he is. He’s that special that nobody is going to guard him straight up. We gotta continue to try to help him out.”
It seems Edwards realizes he needs to get off the ball in situations where defenses are loading up on him, but also feels the need to be a scoring threat similar to Tatum and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who they’ve played the past two games.
The difference between Edwards and those two players is the Wolves are not nearly as good at providing easier scoring opportunities for their star player. In the past two games, Tatum and SGA, while outplaying Ant, have been presented with much easier scoring opportunities because of the offensive system and personnel that surround them.
Another Terrible Quarter Leads to a Loss
Just like the game against Oklahoma City on New Year’s Eve, the Timberwolves won three of the four quarters but lost the game due to a disaster in one of the quarters. On Tuesday, it was the third quarter and tonight it was the second quarter.
Timberwolves Chris Finch talked on the podium after the game about the Wolves struggles in the second quarter.
“Well, I thought the second quarter unraveled when we gave them two offensive rebounds after we got good stops, both of them they hit threes on. That’s where I would start. Offensively, obviously I’m sure there was a few turnovers there. I can’t remember everything that happened in the second. We’ve had that patch in our game, and there it is again. But I thought our defense kind of crumbled. Our ball contain was poor in that quarter. Instead of being 34-16, if it was 25-16, it’s a different score for us.”
Naz Reid also spoke on what has been going wrong during the Wolves’ extended poor offensive stretches.
“We might be too low sometimes, but I’ve seen, you know, we’ve made a tremendous leap, so that’s the bright side of it. So, I mean, gotta stick with it, keep going. Still got a lot of season left. Just gotta maintain the other stuff that we’re doing within progression on that side.”
The Wolves scored only 16 points in the second quarter while they scored 30 or more points in the other three quarters. It has been a trend all season that the Wolves will go through these periods of awful offense that will cost them games and that was on display tonight.
The Wolves played well against the defending champions for three out of the fourth quarters of the game, but need to figure out a way of stopping these extended runs without any quality offense. Otherwise, they will keep having games like tonight where they turn a winnable game against a quality opponent into another frustrating loss.
Up Next
The Timberwolves’ streak of 15 consecutive games against teams with a record above .500 comes to an end on Saturday when they take on the Detroit Pistons. The game at Little Caesars Arena begins at 6:00 PM CT and airs on FanDuel Sports Network North.