Anthony Edwards shines as Timberwolves take down previously unbeaten Boston

Target Center is where undefeated records go to die.

Five days after handing Denver its first loss, the Timberwolves did the same to Boston, downing the Celtics 114-109 in an overtime thriller that very much had a playoff feel.

The game was billed as a matchup featuring the league’s top offense — Boston — against Minnesota’s top-ranked defense. It’s difficult to chalk that mini-duel up as anything other than a win for the Wolves’ defense. The Celtics struggled to generate anything that could be classified as a good look in the half-court set.

“It was a great challenge for us. Every night is an opportunity for us to see different things, different type of players, different type of talents,” Rudy Gobert said. “I feel like we’re getting better every day. We want to win, obviously, but I’m really happy that I thought they made us better tonight.”

Anthony Edwards and Jayson Tatum traded blows in the second half, with the two top-tier offensive wings each demonstrating their abilities to hit tough shots on command. Tatum finished with 32 points for Boston (5-1), while Edwards had 38 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. But, importantly for Edwards, even on a night when he had his offense rolling, he made a number of wise decisions with the ball down the stretch.

The guard repeatedly used his gravity to generate open looks for opponents, with Jaden McDaniels serving as the beneficiary on a couple open triples and Gobert getting an easy bucket down low in the fourth quarter.

McDaniels’ two triples where part of a 6-for-8 finish from the field after he missed eight of his first 10 shots.

“Really wasn’t me. I’ll say my teammates. They all see what’s going on,” said McDaniels, who also hit the jumper that put the game away for good with 15 seconds to play in overtime. “They always are here cheering me up or giving me courage throughout the game. If I didn’t have them, I probably wouldn’t have had the game I had today. I just appreciate them all being there.”

In overtime, Edwards smelled blood. He scored on three straight possessions — two mid-range jumpers and a turnaround 8-footer — to put Minnesota (4-2) up seven and essentially seal the contest.

Those are the moments Edwards seemingly always rises to, but just as important were the smart passes. That’s the mix the 22-year-old has to consistently achieve if he’s to lift Minnesota to championship contention.

“He loves the moment. We know that,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. “We know we still got to get better at closing out that game in regulation with some of our decision-making and ball movement and using the defense against them a little bit. But guys who like the moment are oftentimes few and far between. We’re lucky we have one on our team.”