The Minnesota Timberwolves have held four of their five opponents below 100 points, but they might face their toughest challenge of the season so far when they play the visiting Boston Celtics on Monday in Minneapolis.
The Celtics are averaging 126.4 points per game, which leads the league, and have scored at least 70 points in the first half of each of their last three games.
Through five games, the Timberwolves have allowed the fewest points per game in the NBA at 99.6. Their opponents are shooting 42.7 percent from the field, and their last two opponents both shot below 40 percent.
The Timberwolves are coming off Saturday night’s 123-95 victory over Utah. The Jazz shot 38.5 percent from the floor. Minnesota also limited Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets to 39.6 percent shooting from the field in a 110-89 win on Wednesday.
Anthony Edwards led the Minnesota offense by scoring 31 points against Utah. Karl-Anthony Towns added 25, and Rudy Gobert finished with 11 points and a team-high 10 rebounds.
Jayson Tatum is averaging 30.2 points per game to lead the Celtics. He surpassed 10,000 points for his NBA career when he tossed in 32 points during Saturday night’s 124-114 victory over Brooklyn.
Tatum, the third overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, became the youngest player in the franchise’s history to reach 10,000 career points. The Celtics played Saturday’s night’s game without guard Derrick White, who missed the contest for the birth of his second child. Boston coach Joe Mazzulla said Saturday that he wasn’t sure if White would be with the team on Monday.
