Jayson Tatum personally asked for Anthony Edwards matchup

Celtics

“He wanted to guard him, so he took that defensive challenge. That’s key for us to get to where we want to get to”

Jayson Tatum personally asked for the opportunity to guard Anthony Edwards before the Celtics’ 118-115 win over the Timberwolves on Thursday, coach Joe Mazzulla said.

Edwards turned in a below-average performance, by his standards. The Celtics forced him to go to his left hand and threw occasional double-teams at him.

It appeared to throw the Minnesota star off of his game. He scored 15 points on 5-for-16 shooting and missed a clean look at the potential game-tying shot in the closing seconds.

Meanwhile, Tatum put on a clinic on the offensive end, pouring in a game-high 33 points to go with nine assists and eight rebounds against just two turnovers.

Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla praised Tatum, not just for his shotmaking, but his willingness to take on the challenge of guarding Edwards.

“He did great tonight. His ability to execute, really just fight for the shots that he wanted,” Mzzulla said. “Obviously he made some great shots. I just thought his intentionality on the offensive end was really good. He started the night out on Edwards which is something that he wanted. I thought he took on the challenge of that. So, he was good tonight.”

Asking for a particular defensive assignment is not something that Tatum always does, Mazzulla said.

But, with Jaylen Brown and Kristaps Porzingis out and the Celtics in need of a jolt after losing four of their previous seven games, Tatum wanted a shot at guarding Minnesota’s premier offensive option.

“The guys do that differently, but today it was him,” Mazzulla said. “He wanted to guard him, so he took that defensive challenge. That’s key for us to get to where we want to get to is him taking that on, so it’s a credit to him.”

NBC Sports Boston analyst Eddie House said during Celtics Postgame Live that Tatum’s attitude set the tone for the win which cemented a season-series sweep over the Timberwolves.

Teams tend to take after their stars, and Tatum showing initiative on the defensive end was impactful, he said.

“Since Jaylen Brown is out, your superstar steps up,” House said. “He says ‘I want that challenge. I need that. I’m not ducking the smoke, I want that smoke and what that does is it fuels your team because you see your guy going out there not only just wanting to get paper on one end, and get money, and score points.

“No, I also want to guard the best player that they have, so that does ignite your team,” he added. “It gives you a little extra jolt, a little extra juice to go out there and do your job a little bit better than maybe you were even thinking about when you placed them up.”

The Celtics struggled with consistent effort on the defensive end throughout the month of December. They kicked off the new yeah with a strong one against a tough opponent.

“Good team win, great environment. It was going to be a close game,” Mazzulla said. “I thought we did a great job on the game plan trying to keep Edwards in check. The role players hit some shots, but I thought we managed that …We’ve got to clean up a couple of things, but I thought it was a great team win. Great attention to detail on both sides.”

Khari A. Thompson

Sports Reporter

Khari Thompson covers professional sports for Boston.com. Before joining the team in 2022, Khari covered college football for The Clarion Ledger in Jackson, Miss.