Jaylen Brown tossed in a game-high 35 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as the Boston Celtics extended the Minnesota Timberwolves' home losing streak to five games by posting a 104-102 victory on Wednesday in Minneapolis.
Minnesota (35-35) trailed 101-99 after two Rudy Gobert free throws with 1:09 remaining, but Jayson Tatum extended Boston's lead to 104-99 by making three free throws with 1.7 seconds to play. Minnesota's Mike Conley tossed in a 3-pointer as time expired.
Tatum scored 22 points, 14 of them coming at the free-throw line. Tatum was 4 of 16 from the field and missed each of his eight 3-point attempts.
Anthony Edwards led the Timberwolves with 28 points and 10 rebounds. Brown and Edwards each made five 3-pointers.
Minnesota received 15-point performances from Gobert, Kyle Anderson and Naz Reid.
It was 23-23 after one quarter, and, despite shooting 15 of 46 (32.6 percent) from the floor in the first 24 minutes, the Celtics (48-22) had a 44-43 lead at halftime. Boston had a 36-26 lead following a Brown 3-pointer with 5:59 left in the second quarter.
Edwards led all scorers in the first half with 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting.
Boston stretched its lead to 14 points when Brown made a free throw that made it a 71-57 game with 5:50 left in the third, and matched that lead when a Grant Williams layup put the Celtics up 73-59 with 4:13 remaining in the quarter.
Minnesota responded with a 12-2 run, however, and trailed 75-71 after a Reid 3-pointer with 1:04 left in the quarter. The Celtics had a 77-71 advantage entering the fourth.
It was the second game between the teams this season. The Celtics won the first matchup 121-109 on Dec. 23. Brown led the Celtics with 36 points in the win. Edwards scored a team-high 30 points for the Timberwolves.
Boston has won 26 of its last 31 games against Minnesota.
--Field Level Media
Boston | Minnesota | |
Jaylen Brown 35 | Scoring | Anthony Edwards 28 |
Al Horford 5 | Assists | Kyle Anderson 8 |
Jayson Tatum 12 | Rebounds | Anthony Edwards 10 |
Jayson Tatum 14 | Free Throws Made | Naz Reid 6 |
Marcus Smart 2 | Steals | Rudy Gobert 1 |
Al Horford 2 | Blocks | Kyle Anderson 2 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Boston | 104 | 40.5 | 12-40 | 24-30 | 20 | 44 | 5 | 7 | 11 |
Minnesota | 102 | 44.0 | 12-36 | 16-22 | 27 | 46 | 2 | 3 | 13 |