BOSTON — On a night when the Celtics were in danger of a possible letdown, it was the one-two punch of Terry Rozier and Marcus Smart off the bench that lifted them to a fifth straight triumph.
Fresh off the statement victory against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday, a day stuck inside due to the blizzard on Thursday, and with the London trip looming next week, Friday night’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves was a potential trap one for the Celtics. They [...]
BOSTON — On a night when the Celtics were in danger of a possible letdown, it was the one-two punch of Terry Rozier and Marcus Smart off the bench that lifted them to a fifth straight triumph.
Fresh off the statement victory against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday, a day stuck inside due to the blizzard on Thursday, and with the London trip looming next week, Friday night’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves was a potential trap one for the Celtics. They appeared well on their way to getting stuck in that trap — at least offensively — deep into the second half when Rozier and Smart yanked them out of it on their way to a 91-84 victory.
“Terry and Smart,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said, “those guys are good players. They’ve been doing it for a long time here. They just keep getting better and better.”
The duo was key to a 16-5 run late in the third quarter that turned a seven-point deficit into a four-point lead. They then helped push the gap to 12 midway through the final quarter, as the Celtics took control and never relented.
“That’s my job — to bring energy off the bench,” said Smart, who was a game-high, plus-18 on the night. “Create for others, and be the playmaker that I am. So when I get into the game, I just try to create a lot of chaos and get us to running the floor.”
Smart had a team-high 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting, while Rozier had his career-best sixth straight double-digit scoring game off the bench with 14 points to go with nine rebounds.
“It’s our third year playing together,” Rozier said of the tandem. “We went through a little slump, which happens, and we’re playing good basketball now. Once we lock in on the defensive end, we’re fine. We can create our offense by playing defense. That’s what me and Smart have been doing a pretty good job of (lately).”
Kyrie Irving threatened a triple-double with 16 points, nine rebounds and eight assists, while Aron Baynes had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds for Boston. The Celtics had 17 offensive rebounds on their way to a 56-43 advantage on the boards overall.
Karl-Anthony Towns had 25 points and 23 rebounds for Minnesota. But he had little help with Jimmy Butler held to 14 points on 3-of-12 shooting, and the Timberwolves stuck at a paltry 37 percent shooting night overall.
“It’s a great feeling,” Smart said of holding Butler and most of the Timberwolves in check. “I know this coaching staff feels really good about it because they spend a lot of time, not only on offense, but also on the defensive end trying make sure that we’re in the right places to the succeed.
“For when our shots are not falling, to come through on the defensive end like this is big for us.”
Up, 66-62, entering the fourth, Baynes hit back-to-back baskets for a 70-65 lead with 10:50 to go. Drives from Rozier and Smart made it 74-67 with 8:42 to play before Rozier answered a pair of Butler free throws with a third-chance 3-pointer and 77-68 gap with 8:00 to play.
Four Irving points, sandwiched around a Towns' 3-pointer, had the Celtics up, 81-71, with 6:57 to go. It was an eight-point game when Irving kept a rebound alive and the ball found Baynes for a slam. Smart’s steal and free throws had the Celtics up, 85-73, when Minnesota ran off three in a row for an nine-point game into a timeout with 4:03 on the clock.
“That group at the start of the fourth quarter — Theis, Baynes, Terry, Smart and Kyrie,” Stevens said, “probably hasn’t played one minute together before that. But it was a good, effective group together that kind of pushed the lead out.”
Stevens said he took Irving out early in the third quarter with the intent of having him start the fourth.
Irving then scored out of the pause and the Celtics held the Timberwolves off the board all the way through a Jayson Tatum basket for an 89-78 lead with 1:54 to go. The Celtics shot 40.4 percent overall but just 16.7 percent (6-for-36) on 3-pointers but still improved to 32-10.
“Coach came in and made a comment about how we put up enough bricks to build a house tonight,” Smart said. “But we just stuck with it, and our defense came and got us a victory again.”