The shorthanded Celtics started their road trip on a high note Thursday, beating the Minnesota Timberwolves 118-115 at Target Center. The Wolves had a chance to tie the game in the closing seconds but Anthony Edwards missed a 3-point shot as time expired.
Jayson Tatum scored 16 of his game-high 33 points in the third quarter while Derrick White added 26 points to lead a balanced Celtics offensive effort playing without Jaylen Brown (shoulder) and Kristaps Porzingis (ankle) for the matchup.
Boston came out of the gate sluggish early, trailing by as many as nine points in the first quarter before the bench helped turned the tide. The Celtics doubled up Minnesota 34-16 in the second quarter, helping build up a 13-point lead at intermission.
Boston’s offense leaned heavily into 3-point shooting for most of the night against the Wolves size down low, taking over 60 percent of their shot attempts from 3-point range.
The Wolves fought back in the second half though with some hot 3-point shooting of their own and timely offensive rebounding that helped erase the visitors’ 14-point lead early in the fourth quarter with Tatum resting on the bench.
Ultimately, the Celtics fought back well with Tatum on the floor, kicking off a four-game road trip on the a winning note. Joe Mazzulla also went with a double big lineup of Al Horford and Neemias Queta that paid dividends.
Here are four Celtics takeaways from Thursday’s game:
Celtics firing away from 3-point range: Without two of their top scorers against one of the toughest rim protectors in the league in Rudy Gobert, the Celtics opted to lean even more than ever into their perimeter shooting Thursday night. Despite a sluggish start from beyond the arc, the Celtics hoisted up 31 3-point attempts in the first half alone, putting themselves on pace for a season-high in that department. The persistence paid off as five different players hit multiple 3-point attempts before intermission, helping Boston build a double-digit halftime lead. After a down month in December from 3-point range, the Celtics look poised to lean hard than ever into the strategy to try to spread the floor against rim protectors. They finished 22-of-57 from 3-point range, one of their top five totals of the year.
