Getty The Boston Celtics set a franchise record with their 18th straight win to start a season.
They got it done, but it certainly wasn’t easy. It took overtime against the Minnesota Timberwolves but the Boston Celtics made history with their 127-120 victory on Wednesday, January 10.
Jayson Tatum gutted his way to a 45-point effort that put the Celtics in the history books with their 18th straight home victory. No Celtics team has ever started a season with 18 straight home wins.
The Boston Celtics Struggled but Got Things Done Against the Wolves
The Celtics knew they were in for a fight at home in a battle of the NBA’s top two teams. Another tough third quarter put Boston in a hole after leading by a point at the half. The Celtics have made a habit of being sluggish after halftime, and Wednesday was no different. The Wolves outscored the Celtics 32-25 in the third quarter and took a six-point lead into the fourth quarter.
Things looked bleak for Boston when Nickeil Alexander-Walker gave the visitors a 106-97 lead with 3:35 left. Al Horford then ignited a 14-5 run with a 3-pointer and the game went to overtime tied 111-111.
Tatum was the star down the stretch. Despite missing a potential game-winning jumper at the buzzer to end the fourth quarter, Tatum scored 26 of his 45 points in the fourth quarter and overtime to seal Boston’s record-setting victory.
Tatum made 13 of his 26 shots from the floor, including six of 11 3-pointers, for his game-high 45 points. Jaylen Brown added 35 points and a team-high 11 rebounds.
Tatum Had the Win Streak On His Mind
The Celtics played without center Kristaps Porzingis (right knee contusion), and Tatum and Brown stepped it up.
Tatum was aggressive down the stretch, driving to the hoop and attacking the rim. He played like a man possessed. He admitted he had the home win streak on his mind.
“I didn’t want to lose at home yet”
Celtics improve to franchise best 18-0 start at home. @tvabby catches up with @jaytatum0 after his masterclass performance.
“You live for those moments, and you want to do whatever you can to help your team win,” Tatum told Abby Chin of NBC Sports immediately after the game. “In the back of my mind, I didn’t want to lose at home yet.
“We’re still undefeated. The crowd got behind us. The energy got going. That was a fun ballgame.”
Tatum believe his team was lackadaisical on defense early and turned things up when it counted most.
“I think we were just playing sluggish in the first half,” Tatum said. “Even though we was winning by one (at halftime), we didn’t like the way we was playing. We had to pick up the intensity. We just starting getting stops, getting locked in, and our offense started to pick up.”
Tatum still knows the team still has a long way to go.
“We know we’re a good team, and it’s a lot that we can work on, but if we play the right way on both ends of the floor, it’s pretty tough to beat,” Tatum said.
Tatum and the Celtics get right back into action Thursday night when they play at the Milwaukee Bucks. Milwaukee owns the second-best record in the Eastern Conference at 25-12, four games behind the Celtics.