Game 26 Preview: Timberwolves at Celtics

Jeff Green and the Celtics continue their five-game homestand tonight
against the Timberwolves.

The Boston Celtics (11-14) will look to win their second straight game tonight when they take on the Minnesota Timberwolves (12-12).

Boston is coming off a thrilling 90-86 victory over the New York Knicks on Friday night. 

Tonight marks the second night of a back-to-back for Minnesota. They defeated the Memphis Grizzlies last night, 101-93.

These two squads met in Minnesota on November 16, a game that saw the Celtics commit 23 turnovers and shoot less than 40% from the field. Minnesota won that game, 106-88.

On the injury front, the Celtics will get Kris Humphries back tonight after he missed the last two games with a bruised right knee.

For the Timberwolves, watch out for Kevin Martin. Martin, who is averaging 20.6 points per game, went scoreless last night for the first time all season. He admitted after the game that he has been dealing with a sore knee. He is questionable for tonight's game.

Projected lineups:

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

Celtics:
Avery Bradley
Jordan Crawford
Jeff Green
Brandon Bass
Jared Sullinger


Keys to the game:

1. Keep turnovers low: As I mentioned earlier, the Celtics turned the ball over 23 times exactly one month ago against these T-Wolves. The Wolves scored 28 points off those turnovers. In Boston's 11 wins, they're averaging 13.4 turnovers. In their 14 losses, they're averaging 16.4 turnovers. Long story short, the Celtics have to take care of the ball.

2. An answer for the bigs: Minnesota is averaging 48.3 points in the paint this season, the most in the league. The C's need an answer for Minnesota's bigs such as Nikola Pekovic and Kevin Love.