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Flat Celts Get By

The Celtics were flat tonight.   How flat were they?  In case you missed it, Tommy Heinsohn, Mr. Celtic, the homer announcer that every non-Celtics fan absolutely loathes on league pass called the Celtics elderly.   Elderly.  He said this in the context of the second night of the road back-to-back.    Hopefully, Tommy is wrong and the Celtics are still working on their legs, but clearly  they lacked a bounce in their step tonight - for example, Eddie badly air-balled a rhythm three at the start of the fourth and Paul's turn-around with 20 seconds to go to ice it was woefully short, barely scraping the front rim.

Not to take anyting away from the Timberwolves.   They came out with energy and basically had an answer for every Celtics run.  It's a pleasure to watch Al Jefferson.   Jonny Flynn seems very much legit (I still don't get the Rubio pick).   Ryan Gomes is just a solid NBA player - except for that ill-advised three with 50 seconds left.   Oleksiy Pecherov has some interesting hair, and a better jumper.   Wolves fans might be upset with the tie up call with six seconds to go, but honestly, what is career 38% shooter Corey Brewer doing with the ball there?  

The Wolves really controlled the game, up until the middle of the 3rd quarter when they decided to stop guarding Rajon Rondo.   Rajon found a few creases down low, made the bunnies and carried that energy into his defense with a few steals.   He sparked the team tonight.   With an "elderly" core (in basketball sense) the Celtics are really going to need to lean on the young legs of Rajon and Marquis Daniels to carry the team at times this year. Rajon did that tonight for the Celtics.   He pushed this team over the hill.  

Box score after the jump.  

 Boston
 Starters Min FG 3Pt FT +/- Off Reb Ast TO Stl BS BA PF Pts 
  R. Rondo G 34:53 8-16 0-0 2-2 0 2 4 6 2 3 0 0 3 18 
  R. Allen G 33:13 6-13 1-7 1-1 -2 0 3 5 1 0 0 0 0 14 
  K. Perkins C 31:57 6-7 0-0 1-2 -2 1 8 1 2 0 3 0 1 13 
  P. Pierce F 41:24 3-12 0-1 4-4 -2 1 2 5 1 0 0 0 2 10 
  K. Garnett F 35:18 6-13 0-0 0-0 -1 2 11 2 1 1 3 1 1 12 
 Bench Min FG 3Pt FT +/- Off Reb Ast TO Stl BS BA PF Pts 
  R. Wallace 19:13 2-7 2-7 1-2 +2 1 5 0 1 0 0 0 3
  M. Daniels 17:32 2-5 0-0 2-6 0 0 1 3 0 2 0 1 2
  E. House 13:16 2-8 2-4 0-0 +5 0 1 1 1 2 0 0 0
  S. Williams 9:24 2-2 0-0 2-2 +2 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0
  B. Scalabrine 3:50 0-0 0-0 0-0 +8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
 Totals 37-83 5-19 13-19 8 36 23 9 9 6 2 13 92 
 Percentages:   .446 .263 .684   Team Rebounds: 7
 Minnesota
 Starters Min FG 3Pt FT +/- Off Reb Ast TO Stl BS BA PF Pts 
  C. Brewer G 39:08 6-16 0-2 1-1 +2 0 3 5 1 1 0 1 3 13 
  J. Flynn G 33:10 4-6 1-1 1-1 +3 1 5 5 2 0 0 1 1 10 
  A. Jefferson C 36:09 8-17 0-1 2-3 +3 0 4 3 2 1 0 2 2 18 
  R. Gomes F 34:41 5-7 0-1 1-2 +6 1 7 3 1 2 0 0 1 11 
  O. Pecherov F 34:10 9-14 1-4 5-5 +12 1 8 1 2 1 0 2 3 24 
 Bench Min FG 3Pt FT +/- Off Reb Ast TO Stl BS BA PF Pts 
  R. Sessions 14:50 2-3 0-0 0-0 -5 0 4 2 3 0 0 0 1
  R. Hollins 13:41 2-5 0-0 0-0 -11 2 4 1 2 0 2 0 4
  S. Pavlovic 13:19 2-3 0-1 0-0 -8 1 4 0 2 0 0 0 0
  B. Cardinal 11:51 1-3 0-0 0-0 -5 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 2
  D. Wilkins 5:06 0-1 0-1 0-0 -8 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 1
  W. Ellington 3:55 0-0 0-0 0-0 +1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
 Totals 39-75 2-11 10-12 6 40 22 17 5 2 6 18 90 
 Percentages:   .520 .182 .833   Team Rebounds: 7

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