After thoroughly outperforming the Celtics for two and a half quarters on Friday, the Timberwolves let Boston steadily level a 17 point deficit in the third quarter and eventually rallied for a 145-136 overtime win at TD Garden.
D’Angelo Russell linked the game between 124 and 124 when he completed a 3-point try with 8.6 seconds, but Boston scored three 3-point hits in a 9-2 run that won them gave a 135-129 less than two minutes ahead.
Jayson Tatum hit a career high of 53 points and the Celtics lost 14 of 27 3-pointers in the second half and overtime.
Minnesota led in the second quarter with up to 15 players and took the lead 66:57. This marked the second time the Timberwolves had led halfway since Chris Finch replaced Ryan Saunders as coach on Feb.22. The last time was March 11, the first game off the All-Star hiatus, and the Timberwolves went on to drive the Pelicans away, 135-105, in New Orleans.
Although the Timberwolves were in the lead with up to 17 points in the third quarter and gained 82-67 with 7:04 to the left on Jaden McDaniel’s 3-pointer, Boston broke off and finally took the first lead since the first quarter , 101-100 a Payton Pritchard 3-hand with 8:21 left. They led with up to 11 before the Timberwolves roared back to tie them to Russell’s improbable 3-hander.
Tatum had a chance to win it in regulation but threw a ball instead, one of his two balls in the last few seconds. They were the only bad pictures he’d taken. Tatum made 16 of 25 shots from the field and 15 of 16 free throw attempts.
Karl-Anthony Towns led Minnesota with 30 points and 12 rebounds, and Russell added 26 points and eight assists. Anthony Edwards finished with 24 points, five rebounds and five assists for the Timberwolves.
After falling 4-0 behind, the Timberwolves slowly took control of the first half, forcing 12 turnovers – 8 of which were stolen – to take a 66:57 lead during the break.
It could and should have been even better. The Timberwolves were leading 66-55, with the ball 14.8 seconds ahead and a chance to make the last shot of the half. But with the clock down, Jaden McDaniel turned the ball on the top of the key, where it was stolen by Kemba Walker less than 4 seconds ahead.
Russell was forced to foul and Walker made two free throws to reduce the deficit to single digits. Still, it was only the second time the Timberwolves took the lead since Chris Finch replaced Ryan Saunders as head coach on February 22nd.
Anthony Edwards led the team in the first quarter and made 4 out of 5 field goal attempts with nine points and four assists.
On the subject of matching items
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