– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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BOSTON — The Jays get all the attention. The threes rain down ad infinitum. But when talking about the Boston Celtics, it’s also best to make sure their team defense gets as much love as any other aspect of this squad over the past few years, and it was that unit that once again came through to secure another high-profile victory.
The very start of the game saw Jaylen Brown hit five-three pointers for Boston’s first 15 points, and the end of the game was highlighted by the Celtics’ defensive stand on the final possession as they defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves 107-105 inside TD Garden on Sunday afternoon. Jayson Tatum scored 26 points with eight rebounds as the Celtics won their fifth straight while handing Minnesota its fifth loss in its last seven.
The Timberwolves closed to within 55-54 before Boston’s defense took over as a 14-0 run highlighted the third quarter. Tatum nailed two three-pointers during the run, and Boston claimed a 79-60 with 4:26 to play in the period.
Minnesota roared back int he fourth , shooting a blistering 61.1 percent in the period (11-of-18), including making six threes in 12 attempts. Rookie Rob Dillingham had eight points, including two threes, in just over four minutes in the fourth to spur the comeback. A driving layup by Julius Randle with 34 seconds remaining cut the Celtics’ lead to two, and Minnesota got the ball back with a chance to tie or win after a Brown missed three.
With 7.1 seconds remaining and a chance to tie or win. Wolves star Anthony Edwards got the inbounds and tried to drive on Brown. Edwards was cut off and the ball was passed over to Naz Reid, who failed to get off a three-pointer as time expired.
Edwards led Minnesota with 28 points, while also grabbing nine rebounds and dishing out seven assists. Randle had 23 while Rudy Gobert had a double-double with 10 points and 20 rebounds.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Sunday afternoon’s game, with photos taken by ALOST staff photographer Erica Denhoff. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page, Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are 43 pictures in total.
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