NBA: Timberwolves Loss Helps Close The Gap In The Western Conference

The NBA schedule was jam packed on Wednesday night, and featured one of the premier contests of the first half of the season. Both the Minnesota Timberwolves and Boston Celtics entered the day as the top team in their respective conferences, boasting the two best records in the league, and found themselves matched up against one another in what ended up being a tightly contested game that spilled into overtime.

NBA: Wolves Lose To Celtics, Lead In West Shortened

Our best start EVER on the parquet ☘️ pic.twitter.com/gQkY9VuLhp

— Boston Celtics (@celtics) January 11, 2024

It looked as though the visiting Timberwolves were in full control entering the final minutes of the fourth quarter. With 3:35 left on the clock, Nickeil Alexander-Walker made a driving layup that put Minnesota up 106-97, and it was looking like they were going to maintain their lead in the West and escape Boston with a big victory.

But Jayson Tatum took over for the Celtics, scoring 6 of the team’s final 9 points in order to force overtime. Boston’s star scored twelve points in the extra period, pushing his game-leading scoring total to 45 for the night, tying his season-high for the current NBA campaign. Boston wound up winning by a final score of 127-120.

What The Results Mean For Both Teams

Overtime points:

12 — Jayson Tatum

9 — Timberwolves https://t.co/OXYNRoAsLn

— StatMuse (@statmuse) January 11, 2024

With the win, the Celtics were able to further increase their lead in the East. They were just a game or two better than the Bucks and 76ers just a couple of weeks ago, but they now have a four game cushion on second-place Milwaukee, and 5.5 games on third-place Philadelphia.

The story is the opposite for the Timberwolves. While they have been sitting atop the West for some time now, their lead in the conference is slim, as they entered the day a game up on the Nuggets and 1.5 up on the Thunder. Denver was upset by Utah on Wednesday night, but the Thunder were victorious in their matchup with the Heat, meaning that OKC was able to gain a full game on Minnesota.

The lead for the Timberwolves in the Western Conference is now a half-game.

The Thunder weren’t the only team that gained some ground on the Timberwolves. All six of the top teams in the West were active during the Wednesday slate in the NBA, and all but two of them were victorious. The Thunder, Kings, Clippers, and Pelicans all moved up a notch, with the Timberwolves and Nuggets being the one to give up some ground.