Over the last two years, Paul Pierce and the Boston Celtics had beaten the Minnesota Timberwolves four straight times, but two of those meetings were nail-biting buzzer-beaters.

Wednesday night’s matchup was no exception.

The Truth scored 10 points, including a huge fourth quarter, 3-point play, as the Cs squeaked out a 92-90 victory at the Target Center in Minneapolis to maintain their perfect start to the 2009-2010 season.

The Truth battled double-teams all night (Getty Images).

The T-Wolves were determined to prevent a “Massacre in Minnesota,” and knew they had to contain No. 34 if they wanted any chance to win. Minnesota tried to apply pressure to Paul in an effort to keep the game close, double-teaming him with Ryan Gomes and Corey Brewer.

But Minnesota’s efforts to silence the Truth would only work for so long. Paul only went for 10 points on the night, but three of those 10 came on a huge fourth quarter play as the Star Tribune reports:

“The game was still tied midway through the fourth quarter, until Paul Pierce broke an 84-84 tie with a driving layup that he turned into a three-point play and an 87-84 lead with less than 5 1/2 minutes left.”

Given a slight edge by The Captain, the Cs defense was resilient and held the T-Wolves off to secure a win.

EXPERIENCE SHOWS
Despite struggling in a way they hadn’t yet this season and showing that there are still a few chinks in the armor, Boston endured everything the Wolves could throw at them and came out victorious.

In a report for the Boston Globe, Mark Murphy notes that, in this game particularly, the Celtics experience paid major dividends:

“The Celtics, still undefeated, pulled out last night’s 92-90 win over Minnesota with very little of anything working.

And that should be considered a good thing. On the nights when life is a desert and everything comes up dry, the Celtics still have enough of a second sense to win.

“That definitely played a role tonight,” said coach Doc Rivers. “It showed when we didn’t get too excited. We just stayed kind of even. Nobody panicked. At times I wanted them to get excited, but this was definitely a game where experience played a role.”

NEXT UP
Paul and the Cs get a day off to rest up in preparation for their Friday night matchup against the Phoenix Suns (4-1). Phoenix dropped their first game of the season on Wednesday night to the defending Eastern Conference Champion Orlando Magic, so the game could prove to be a measuring stick for the Celts before the Magic come to Beantown in two weeks.

Last season against the Suns, the Captain led the Celtics to a two-game sweep of the season series by averaging 19 points per game against Phoenix. Tip-off of Friday night’s showdown is at 7:30 p.m. EST and the game airs locally on CSN.

RELATED ARTICLES
Celtics survive a scare (Boston Herald, November 5, 2009)
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Boston Celtics at Minnesota Timberwolves (CelticsBlog.com, Nov. 4, 2009) http://www.celticsblog.com/2009/11/4/1114996/cs-head-north-to-visit-old-...
Kevin Garnett helps Celtics remain undefeated (Associated Press, Nov. 4, 2009)
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Celtics 92, Wolves 90 (Boston Globe, Nov. 4, 2009)
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Celtics Stay Undefeated With Slim Win Over Timberwolves (NESN, Nov 4, 2009 )
http://www.nesn.com/2009/11/celtics-stay-undefeated-thanks-to-slim-win-o...
Celtics escape with perfect mark intact (Star Tribune, Nov. 4, 2009)
http://www.startribune.com/sports/69245237.html

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