The Celtics were down plenty of manpower on Monday night, but the Minnesota Timberwolves had it even tougher, with seven of the team’s top nine players in NBA health and safety protocols.
The Celtics took advantage of an undermanned Wolves squad in the first half to build an 11-point halftime lead. But Boston was outworked for much of the second half as Minnesota pulled away for a 108-103 victory with deep reserves like Jaylen Nowell (28 points) and Nathan Knight (20 points) leading the way.
Backup big man Greg Monroe added 11 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists in his first NBA action in over two years, outplaying Boston’s bigs down the stretch.
The Celtics lost for the seventh time in 10 games in disheartening fashion, leaving to some pointed words after the game from the head coach.
“One of our poorest losses of the year,” Udoka said. “A team that is as depleted as we are just out-hustled us late in the game, and it was a very undisciplined effort overall.”
That undisciplined defense stood out in the fourth quarter. The Timberwolves made 11 of their first 12 shots, and their passing led to many open looks and countless defensive mistakes by Boston’s lineup.
“Off the ball defense obviously stood out tonight, but something we’ve seen out here and defended well all year,” Udoka said. “To come out and get carved up like we did tonight was embarrassing.”
Udoka singled out Rob Williams for putting the Celtics in a vulnerable spot defensively with his decision making.
“Lack of focus for sure,” Udoka said of what caused the defeat. “It’s something we’ve seen all year and guarded well, and whether it was communication – two guys off the ball got picked apart for layups, but even the fact with Rob (Williams) being out – the majority of his five fouls were undisciplined … so he took himself out of the game as well. Just poor overall job coaching, playing, getting ready for this game, not understanding what we needed to do to win.”
With Jayson Tatum out of the lineup for at least another two games after entering NBA health and safety protocols, the challenges will continue for a Celtics team that has been without any consistency for over a month now. While some personnel reinforcements could be back in the lineup on Wednesday against the Clippers (Marcus Smart, Josh Richardson), Udoka’s more worried about the bigger picture.
“Every game seems like it’s a new day with us,” Udoka explained. “And that can’t be the case. It can’t be three good quarters here and then one undisciplined quarter, same thing with Milwaukee in the third quarter. It can’t be a reset every game. You have to have some continuity, some consistency. Lack of consistency is most concerning to me. Doesn’t matter who’s in or out.”
THE CELTICS had won nine consecutive games against the Timberwolves before Monday’s defeat, dating back to February 2016. A big part of the reason for that was the Wolves’ domination in the paint, outscoring Boston 50-26 thanks to the surprise contributions of Nate Knight and Greg Monroe down low. Monroe arrived in Minnesota just hours before gametime after signing a 10-day hardship contract.
“Well, I woke up about at 4 a.m,” Monroe said. “The first flight was canceled, so then I had to, well, the next one wasn’t too far away though. So, I left (Washington D.C.) about 7 a.m. roughly, I had to connect in Chicago, got here around 11. Had COVID testing, got a chance to rest, came to the gym around 4. I’ve been here, been a long day, but I’m glad we got the win for sure.”
It was Monroe’s first NBA action since the end of the 2018-19 season. He had previously played in the G-League this year.
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