Timberwolves vs. Celtics on a Wednesday night in Boston. The team with the best record in the West playing the team with the best record in the NBA. My sister and brother-in-law are in town with tickets to the game.

Boston leads for the entire first half. Minnesota roars back in the third quarter but it is a close, exciting game. Timberwolves take their largest lead of the game, 106-97 with just 3:35 left in the fourth quarter.

Decision time for the Celtics and for me. Do the Celtics turn up the defensive pressure and dial in the offense? Do I leave the house to pick up my sister and BIL knowing that I will miss any comeback, however improbable that may be?

Both questions are answered in the affirmative. I get on the highway, leaving the house at 9:06pm. Shortly thereafter, Jason Tatum and company get to work. I listen to Sean Grande and Cedric Maxwell call the exciting finish.

9:30pm: I arrive at our designated meeting spot a few blocks from TD Garden. Jason Tatum misses a 20 foot jumper and the game goes to overtime. Ugh.

I find a nearby parking spot and turn off the car and listen to the radio broadcast of overtime, using accessory mode on our Honda HRV.

9:43pm: Game ends. Celtics complete a thrilling, regular season instant classic and win going away 127-120.

9:45pm: I try to start the car and the dashboard lights up like a Christmas tree. Do we really have that many icons on our instrument panel?? Car is not starting. What is going on? This four year old car, purchased on the eve of the pandemic, has never given us a hint of a problem. I try again…and again. No go.

9:55pm: I call Eileen at home to get our AAA card number.

9:56pm: My sister and BIL arrive at designated meeting spot but I’m not there.

10:02pm: Tom calls AAA.

10:04pm: AAA schedules service call. Help is three hours away!

10:05pm: I reconnect on foot with my sister and BIL. We together try to start car, and then clean the battery connection. Nothing works. Randomly, dashboard lights come on and off without us activating anything in the car.

11:11pm: AAA arrives at car. Three hours turned into one. Technician says he thinks it is not a dead battery just a battery where the connections are corroded. He’s wrong. Battery is dead.

11:29pm: Car starts after jump start from AAA.

11:34pm: All downtown entrances to 93 South towards are closed for maintenance. Are you kidding me?

11:37pm: Car is running fine (I think) but won’t stop beeping at us, loudly. Every light on dashboard is still lit and flashing. Computers!

11:59pm: We arrive safely home in Milton.

12:00am: We take bets to see if car, still beeping loudly, starts again after turning off.

12:01am: Car starts again

12:15am: I watch the replay of overtime on my sister’s phone.

12:20am: Eileen schedules appointment at dealer for her beloved, but unreliable for a night, HRV.

Post-game analysts call it the best game of the year. What a night! Indeed.