MINNEAPOLIS – The Celtics weren’t going to let Anthony Edwards beat them on Thursday night. Jayson Tatum asked to defend the All-Star guard before the jump, and the team threw multiple bodies at the 30-point scorer all night long. The Wolves’ supporting cast took advantage of all the attention and hit 53.8 percent of their threes as a team. The bigger goal for Boston, however, was to take Edwards out of his element, and they accomplished that with the win.

The Wolves star showed his age after the 118-115 loss, admitting that Boston’s ability to limit him to just 15 shot attempts and 15 points left him frustrated with the constant extra attention all night , which he saw everywhere on the field.

“Hell no. That was a good kind of basketball. “Obviously I don’t want to play like that,” Edwards said of Boston’s defense. “I’m only 23, I don’t want to just pass the ball all night… But the way they’re protecting me, I think I have to do it.”

Edwards did provide six assists while facing a constant Boston crowd, but his frustration clearly affected his defense. He was distracted on multiple possessions, came back late in transition, complained about a call, or simply lacked hustle. The Wolves played one of their best offensive games of the year despite his limited production, but Edwards continued to focus on his own offense rather than defensive issues.

“Super hard, super hard, super hard, super hard,” Edwards said of his night. “Because I’m programmed to shoot the ball.”

Edwards continued to express his frustration with the Celtics’ tactics.

“Yeah, even if I had the chance, I’m like, ‘Oh, they’re bringing two.’ Or an alley. I don’t know, man. I don’t know. I watch movies and try to figure it out. It’s hard to beat two NBA players, you know what I mean? These guys are NBA players. It’s not like high school or middle school. These guys, 6-8, 6-9, long, strong, athletic. Then they funnel me to the guy who is 8 feet tall at the edge. It’s crazy.”

While Edwards was upset with the Celtics’ strategy, Tatum showed his maturity. He took the primary responsibility of slowing down Edwards, but tried to shift the credit for slowing the All-Star to his teammates.

“Like I said, it’s not a one-person job,” Tatum said. “He’s extremely talented, so explosive, can go both ways and shoot. He is one of the best players we have in this league. As a competitor, accept the challenge, follow the game plan, of course you have help behind you, just try to make it difficult for people like that.”

This clear difference in mentality between two stars is representative of why the Wolves are in the middle of the pack at around .500 and the Celtics are still finding a way to win without two starters on the road.

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