NBA: Boston Celtics vs. Minnesota Timberwolves Preview, Odds, Prediction

The Boston Celtics face the Minnesota Timberwolves in their second consecutive road game. After losing to the Milwaukee Bucks on the road, the Cs now hope to erase that mistake against the short-handed Timberwolves. The hosts are going to appear without two of their top stars, Karl-Anthony Towns and D’Angelo Russell, who are in health and safety protocols, plus several other standard players are going to be out for this one. It is a huge chance for the Cs to improve the record, and their playoff prospects.

Preview

Boston Celtics (16-17, TBA) have subsequent losses and wins in the past five games, with the most recent one being on Christmas Day against the Milwaukee Bucks in Wisconsin. Despite them being up 15 points at halftime, the Celtics lost in the end 117-113.

They allowed 43 points in the third period and 27 in the final, scoring 51 combined in that two quarters. Jaylen Brown opened the game strong but slowed down as time went by, scoring 25 points. Jayson Tatum had the same output, with the note that he had nine boards.

My bad champ… got you a 🦷 for the holidays https://t.co/HWmdtO4ICq

— Jayson Tatum (@jaytatum0) December 26, 2021

Marcus Smart ended the game with 19 points and seven assists, while Robert Williams III posted a double-double with 11 points and 14 boards. Payton Pritchard was solid off the bench with 16 buckets. We need to add that Boston had only three players in reserve.

Minnesota Timberwolves (15-17, TBA) suffered back-to-back losses on a short road trip through Dallas and Utah. The reason for that is largely due to COVID-19 protocols, as their best player Karl-Anthony Towns and several others had to be out from these matches.

To make things even tougher, D’Angelo Russell will be out too, along with Patrick Beverly, Josh Okogie, and the former top picks in the 2020 NBA draft, Anthony Edwards, who has been playing extremely well recently. Basically, the T-Wolves are beheaded at this moment.

RT to vote @KarlTowns to #NBAAllStar pic.twitter.com/tNWsblA4zS

— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) December 26, 2021

Against the Jazzers, Minnesota scored 116 points, yet allowed 128. Malik Beasley was the top scorer with 33 points and six boards, scoring seven threes. Naz Reid had 17 points and 10 rebounds, while Russell ended the night with 19 buckets and 14 assists. Jaden McDaniels had 16 points, nine boards, and seven assists. When looking at the whole picture, the Timberwolves played well on the offensive side but failed to deliver on defense.

Head to Head Games

At the moment, the Cs are dominating the series, winning the last nine meetings. In the 2021 campaign, the team from TD Garden won at home 145-136 after overtimes and 124-108 in Minnesota.

Prediction

If there is a nice chance for Ime Udoka’s unit to post a win on the road, that would be now. As you saw from all the written above, the hosts will play practically with the second lineup, and without their best players. Even though the game takes place in Minneapolis, Boston is, in our opinion, a massive favorite. Tatum and the boys shouldn’t have too much trouble, and the suggestion here is to bet on the Cs to post a double-digit win, that is, to cover a 10-point handicap. Feel free to test Boston in this one and go with some big win.

Pick: Celtics -10