The Celtics defeated the Timberwolves 127-120 in overtime at home. This game is honestly fierce, and the Timberwolves have indeed proved that they are not a flash in the pan this year. They are different from the Jazz, who were the first in the West in previous years, who were brave in the regular season but fell in the second round of the playoffs, and Gobert and Mitchell had their best year at a halt. And the Timberwolves have championship strength, with Towns and Gobert attacking and defending.
The team also has top-tier quarterback Edwards, who has really cashed in on the talent of the combination of Harden + Willis. Flank McDaniels, plus an organization Lee Kyle. Today, the Timberwolves Conley and Gobert are not there, so to a certain extent, the Timberwolves are not fully fit to beat the Celtics, and the Green Army is also lacking Boshen. But overall, the Timberwolves have more of an impact, and even so, their talent still makes the Green feel the pressure.
From the beginning of the first quarter, the two sides improved their offense and defense, and Jaylen Brown and Tatum opened fire when they came up, and the two combined for 13 points. The Timberwolves relied on Towns to respond, but the Green Army was more firepowered, Brown exploded in the first quarter and scored 15 points, and the Celtics led 32-27 in the first quarter. In the second quarter, Holiday and Tatum began to exert their strength, and the Timberwolves relied on Lee Kyle to stop the bleeding, but fortunately Edwards stepped up, and he scored 6 points in a row, and the Timberwolves chased 1 point at halftime.
In the second half, the Timberwolves began to exert their power, and Towns went crazy when he came up, scoring twice under the basket, and then Edwards and Reed fired again, and the Timberwolves already led by six points in the third quarter. In the final quarter, Walker and Reed, a pair of bench wonders, continued to erupt, and the Timberwolves had a nine-point lead at most. In a desperate situation, Tatum came, he turned his fire to the maximum, and the Green Army fought back frantically. Holiday also hit a crucial three-pointer as the two sides went into overtime. In overtime, Tatum scored 12 points alone, and he blew the Timberwolves out by himself.
In the whole game, Li Kyle tried his best on the Timberwolves' side, scoring 17 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists on 7-of-12 shooting, Towns 25 points, 13 rebounds and 6 assists, Huazi 29 points, Walker started 15 points, and Reed off the bench had 19 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocks. The Green Army double-probed 80+15+5, Tatum scored 45 points, 13 of 26, 6 of 11 three-pointers, Jaylen Brown scored 35 points and 11 boards on 9 of 16, Holiday scored 12 points on 5 of 15, and Horford scored 9 points, 8 boards and 5 assists.
Today's Tatum is like a performance against the Bucks in '22, a comeback, and a miracle re-enactment of the semifinals against Philadelphia in '23. Last season, Harden and Embiid took a 3-2 lead over the Celtics and were just one game away from advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals. Tatum played three quarters at Philadelphia's home stadium, and carried Philadelphia away with a super explosion in the final minute of the crucial final quarter, after which Philadelphia lost morale and was slaughtered out of the tournament in G7 Boston. The reason why Harden is determined to leave Philadelphia in the offseason is partly because Philadelphia does not give him a long-term contract, and partly because Philadelphia's attributes are perfectly restrained by the Green Army.
Embiid had no way to meet the aging Horford at his peak, and Embiid played the Green Army like SpongeBob SquarePants throughout the semifinals. Instead, Harden scored 40+ points in two games, and took away the game with 20+10 Tianwang Mountain in one game. It's fair to say that Philadelphia won all three games thanks to Harden, while Embiid has lost all his self-confidence, and he has become Tatum's toy. In such a situation, staying in Philadelphia will not be able to survive the Green Army for the rest of his life, after all, Shuangtanhua is still young. So Harden went to the Clippers, and Leonard and George were really stronger in the playoffs. To be honest, the Celtics have dominated the world, and there is really no one who can beat the Heat, Bucks and Philadelphia.