Wednesday night’s matchup with the Western Conference-leading Minnesota Timberwolves was arguably the closest test to the Boston Celtics’ home victory streak in recent weeks. In overtime, after falling behind by nine baskets with four minutes remaining, the Celtics rallied with a 14-3 run, thanks in large part to Jayson Tatum’s heroics. The final score was 127-120. A perfect 18-0 record at TD Garden for the Celtics this season.

Due to Kristaps Porzingis’s rest night on the first night of the back-to-back for the Celtics and the eventual ruling out of the game for Rudy Gobert and point guard Mike Conley, both teams played without their usual starting centers today. Foul problems appeared to be testing the Celtics’ depth early on, as Holiday was called for his second personal foul on a post-up by Towns just over three minutes into the game.

 

The Celtics’ Jayson Tatum was instrumental in a fourth-quarter and overtime scoring barrage that he mastered, scoring 45 points. Following closely after with 35 points of his own, Jaylen Brown nearly single-handedly made up for an otherwise scoreless supporting cast. Jrue Holiday was the only member of the rotation to reach double digits, and even then, he only did it on 5-of-15 shooting. The Wolves’ offense dwindled down the stretch, despite having Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards with 29 and 25 points, respectively.

Brown scored 51 points in the first quarter of tonight’s game, building on his 40 points against the Pacers. With Gobert out of the lineup, the Celtics offense looked more at ease and аggressive, creating opportunities that probably wouldn’t have existed with the 7-foot-1 center playing. In the first half, they were successful from the field (50%) and beyond the arc (46%), but the Wolves’ balanced effort kept them from establishing a double-digit advantage due to their shorthanded situation. At the start of the second quarter, the Celtics held a five-point lead, 32–27.

Luke Kornet, who was the Celtics’ third-leading scorer in the first half and added an outstanding block on Minnesota’s backup center Naz Reid for good measure, was perhaps the most fortunate player to miss time due to Gobert’s absence. This continued the 28-year-old seven-footer’s stellar play, and he may be able to negotiate a healthy raise as an unrestricted free agency in the upcoming offseason.

Soon after halftime, Minnesota’s defense started to take control. In the first half, they let the Celtics get within 30 points, but in the second half, they limited Boston to only 22 points. After getting off to a blazing start, Brown cooled down in the second quarter, converting just one field goal—a two-point jumper—as White, Horford, and Tatum all had trouble finding their shot (4-of-16 from the field). The Timberwolves cut Boston’s advantage to 54-53 at halftime because to some quality shooting by Edwards, including a smooth mid-range jumper off the boards.

The third quarter turned into a nail-biter as the Timberwolves re-entered the game. Throughout the most of the frame, both teams’ scoreboard positions were within one possession of one another. Still, Minnesota seemed to be in a stronger position. They appeared to keep the Celtics off-kilter because to the solid play of Towns, Reid, and Edwards. It didn’t help that Boston’s offense remained a major weakness; Brown got back to his scoring streak, but no one else appeared to be able to join in. The Celtics went into the fourth quarter down 85-79, thanks to Minnesota’s 8-2 run that gave them their largest lead in the game up to that time.

The Celtics and Wolves got the fourth quarter off to a blazing start, with threes on the opening two possessions of the round (Sam Hauser’s first two threes for Boston, in particular)—promising late-game pyrotechnics. There was a noticeable uptick in the оffensive tempo of the game. As the Boston offense appeared to have discovered some confidence with their perfect home court record at stake, Tatum made his fourth three-pointer of the game and Brown persisted in pounding the basket.

But it seemed it wouldn’t be enough to change the course of events. The Wolves gradually extended their lead as the game drew nearer to the final moments. In spite of Tatum’s astute move to set up Edwards for a jump ball, the ball appeared to be bouncing in Minnesota’s favor. The Wolves quickly laid up the resulting tip from Edwards, which followed an apparently uncalled foul. As time ran out, the Celtics found themselves down four points, 104–95.

A friendly whistle and a successful challenge brought some late life to the Celtics. Following Tatum’s layup conversion on the subsequent possession, Minnesota’s Nickeil Alexander-Walker was called for an оffensive foul, and Mazzulla triumphantly reversed an out-of-bounds call that would have handed the ball to Minnesota. With under two minutes to go, Tatum slashed a three-pointer to cut the Celtics’ lead to two. Moments later, Jaden McDaniels missed a three-pointer, setting up a crucial situation in the last 41 seconds of regulation time: the Celtics had possession but were down two points.During the inbounds play, Mazzulla reached out to Tatum, who was then given an isolation matchup against Towns in the corner of the near side. It worked out well for Tatum since he made the first one but missed the second. The ball got a little bounce before being collected by White. Shortly after, Horford set up Holiday for a three-pointer in the corner, which Holiday converted to change the lead. Celtics lead with 25 seconds remaining.

With seven seconds remaining in the game, the Timberwolves called a timeout and isolated Edwards. Edwards drove right, drew a foul as he was driving to the hoop from White. After challenging what seemed like an extremely close decision, Mazzulla had it affirmed upon review. Both free throws were converted by Edwards, who proceeded to the line to put the game at 111–111. Tatum’s attempt at a last-second jump shot was unsuccessful, sending the game into overtime.Towns went ahead and put the game into overtime with a basket just fifteen seconds into the overtime stanza. The game was soon tied after a transition free throw and a slam by Tatum, who now has 36 points and counting, as his late-game аssаult continued into overtime. However, Tatum seemed to sustain an arm ιnjury after the dunk, as he visibly grabbed at his shooting arm in apparent discomfort. To put Minnesota up three, Towns drained a three-pointer.

Brown restored Celtics’ lead with four consecutive free shots, but the Timberwolves remained unfazed. Once again, they went ahead by three points from Alexander-Walker (120–118), and the Celtics missed two good chances after an оffensive rebound on the next Celtics possession.

Tatum decided to shut the game down at this point. In spite of seemingly suffering an ιnjury just minutes before, he proceeded to make two free throws, a layup at the rim, and a three-pointer on the following three Celtics possessions, going scoreless and causing Minnesota to call a timeout. Less than a minute before halftime, Boston went up 125–120, a five-point lead. In the end, the Wolves’ final possessions didn’t lead to anything, and the Celtics prevailed.

Thursday at 7:30 PM on TNT, the Celtics will play the second game of a back-to-back, and it might be the most high-profile game of the season thus far: a road trip to Milwaukee to face the Bucks.