Jayson Tatum scored a game-high 45 points, including 12 in overtime, to help the Boston Celtics improve their home record to 18-0 by beating the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves 127-120 on Wednesday.
Jaylen Brown added 35 points and 11 rebounds for the Celtics, who set a franchise record for consecutive home victories at the start of a season, originally set by the 1957-58 team. Minnesota hasn’t won a game in Boston since the 2004-05 season.
Tatum gave the Celtics a 122-120 lead on a layup with 1:04 left in OT and increased the lead to five by making a 3-pointer with 51 seconds remaining. He sank two free throws with 12.7 seconds left to finalize the scoring.
Anthony Edwards tossed in 29 points for Minnesota, which received 25 points and 13 rebounds from Karl-Anthony Towns. Naz Reid had 19 points and 10 rebounds.
Neither team had its starting center. Minnesota’s Rudy Gobert didn’t play because of a sore left hip. Gobert is averaging 12.8 points per game and is the team’s leading rebounder (12.0 boards per game). The Timberwolves were also without guard Mike Conley (rest).
Boston’s Kristaps Porzingis missed the game because of a right knee contusion. Porzingis is the team’s No. 3 scorer (19.8 points per game) and No. 2 rebounder (7.0 boards per game). Boston coach Joe Mazzulla said he expects Porzingis to play Thursday at Milwaukee.
The Celtics led 32-27 after one quarter and 54-53 at halftime. Boston went 6:01 without a field goal in the second quarter, a stretch that ended with a Jrue Holiday 3-pointer with 2:29 remaining in the first half.
The Timberwolves led 55-54 — their first lead of the game — following a Towns layup 17 seconds into the third quarter. Minnesota outscored Boston 32-25 in the quarter and led 85-79 entering the fourth.
The Celtics took a 111-109 lead on a Holiday 3-pointer with 25.9 seconds to play, but Edwards made two free throws to tie the game with 8.5 seconds left. Tatum missed a jumper at the buzzer, which sent the game to overtime.
–Field Level Media
