Jayson Tatum leads Celtics in 118-115 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves
On Thursday night in Minnesota the 24-9 Celtics took on the surprisingly 17-15 Timberwolves. While Minnesota headed into the season with high expectations they’ve gotten off to a rough start in their 24-25 season but both squads headed into this one 5-5 in their last 10. Boston would be without superstars Jaylen Brown and Kristaps Porzingis after Brown was injured in the teams dominant win over the Toronto Raptors earlier in the week. Minnesota was at close to full strength heading into this one and was looking for a win over one of the top teams in the East. While Boston is looking to continue to right the ship after an ugly 1-3 stretch before their win over Toronto.
First Half:
Boston got off to a slow start in the first quarter falling behind early. However the teams intensity and defense that led them to a blowout win over Toronto was there again and it would pay dividends as the game went on. Tatum struggled early starting the game 2/8 from the field with Boston trailing by seven early. The Wolves were led by Julius Randle early in this one who went 5/9 in the first half and led all scorers with 15 points.
After a slow start for the Celtics their offense showed up in the second quarter alongside their defense. After allowing 35 in the first quarter the Celtics held Minnesota to only 16 points in the second quarter. 9 points below their target of 25 points a quarter. Boston was doing everything right in the second with Tatum, Hauser and White all scoring in double figures while making stop after stop on the defensive end. Two players that really stepped up in the first half with Brown and Porzingis out were Hauser going 4/5 from beyond the arc, and Neemias Queta scoring 6 points in 11 minutes while adding a couple boards and a steal.
The Celtics found their 3 point stroke in the second quarter going 13/31 in the first half and shooting 24/48 from the field against a solid defensive team in the Wolves. Boston held Minnesota to 16/37 shooting in the first half. Another big difference maker in the half for Boston was their distribution, Boston had 18 assists to Minnesota’s 8 in the half. The other area the Celtics dominated in the first half was turnovers they forced 9 and only committed two themselves. All these factors added up to Boston leading 62-51 at the half after outscoring Minnesota 36-16 in the second quarter.
Second Half:
Minnesota would start the second half strong cutting Boston’s lead to 5 after an 11-2 run with 6 minutes left in the 3rd to make it 70-65 Celtics. Boston would immediately answer with a Hauser 3 pointer and a Tatum jumper to make it 75-68 with 5:14 to go in the third. The Celtics defense wasn’t nearly as physical or on point in the third quarter. The Wolves would score 34 in the third, once again led by Julius Randle who was now up to 24 points in the game, Boston’s defense was still tough on young superstar Anthony Edwards as he was struggling going 3/11 to this point in the game.
The Celtics would head to the 4th leading 91-85 led by their superstar Jayson Tatum in the third quarter who scored 16 in the quarter. Getting his game total up to 28 points on 11/21 shooting a much needed boost for Boston with Brown and Porzingis out and Al Horford continuing to struggle to score.
Boston would need it’s defense to find the level of defense they had in the second quarter to close this one out. The fourth quarter started with playoff intensity on both ends with Queta getting a huge block for Boston and DiVincenzo getting one of his own for the Wolves. Boston would find itself in a tie game after the Wolves started the quarter on a 9-3 run with 9 minutes to go in the game.
The teams would continue to trade shots throughout the fourth quarter with Boston retaking the lead 101-98 with 7:22 left in the game. Jayson Tatum and Al Horford the Celtics leaders were making things happen in the 4th hitting a pair of 3 pointers to give Boston a 109-104 lead with 4:36 left in the game. Tatum would score again to extend Boston’s lead to 111-104, Minnesota would answer with a 3 from Anthony Edwards who was now up to 27 points in the game. However Boston’s 3 point shooting was becoming too much for the Wolves after a Derrick White 3 made it 115-107 with just over 2:30 left in the game.
Boston would get a little luck late in the game when a Derrick White 3 pointer would bank in with just under 2 minutes to go to make it 118-110 for the Celtics and things were getting out of hand for Minnesota. The Wolves would close the gap after a bad foul by Jrue Holiday gave the Wolves 3 late free throws to make it 118-115 Boston with 12.1 to go in the game.
Boston would go to Tatum in isolation with the 3 point lead and Minnesota opting not to foul, Tatum would miss a midrange jumper giving the Wolves a chance to tie with 3 seconds left and the ball. Minnesota would get a good look from Anthony Edwards at the top of the 3 point line but he would miss left and Boston would go on to win 118-115. This was a gutsy win for an undermanned Boston team missing two of it’s stars, Boston will get right back at it tomorrow night against the Rockets hoping to maybe get one of Porzingis and Brown back with Horford expected to be out.
Boston’s defense still needs some work getting outscored in the second half but a win is a win and they needed this one. Getting a win on the road down a few guys against one of the better teams in the league is always a positive and after Boston’s rough stretch in their last 10 this was a good sign for a team finding it’s stride again.
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