Game 11 Preview: Celtics at Timberwolves

Avery Bradley and the Celtics cannot allow Ricky Rubio and the

Timberwolves to run them over tonight.

Another day, another tough matchup for your Boston Celtics.

Tonight, the Celtics (4-6) are in Minnesota to take on the Timberwolves (6-4).

The Timberwolves are coming off a 117-113 loss to the Denver Nuggets last night at the Pepsi Center. This team is second in the NBA in scoring, fourth in assists, and seventh in rebounding. They're also 4-1 at home. Needless to say, tonight won't be easy.

Projected lineups:

Celtics:
Avery Bradley
Jordan Crawford
Jeff Green
Brandon Bass
Kelly Olynyk

Timberwolves:
Ricky Rubio
Kevin Martin
Corey Brewer
Kevin Love
Nikola Pekovic

Keys to the game:

1. Control the tempo: It may be a difficult thing to do on the second night of a back-to-back, but the Celtics need to prevent the Timberwolves from getting fastbreak opportunities. Minnesota is averaging 19.1 fastbreak points this season, second in the NBA to Phoenix's 23.4. Boston needs to make Minnesota work for its points.

2. Pick your Kevin: Minnesota has two Kevin's in the top ten in scoring. One is Kevin Love, whose second in the league at 27.2 points per game, and the other is Kevin Martin, whose sixth in the league at 24.9 points per game. Love is also second in the league in rebounding, while Martin is ninth in the league at three-point percentage at 52%. The point is both Kevin's are very, very good. They can do a number of different things to influence a game. But the Celtics cannot let both Kevin's be on their A-game tonight.

3. Get the starting five going: In last night's game, Boston's starting five only scored 39 of the team's 96 points. The starting quintet only shot 37% from the floor. Boston cannot expect their bench to put up 57 points and carry the starters again tonight. They need their starters to play better than they did last night.