Celtics Exact Revange on the Timberwolves for an Earlier Beating This Season

Tangible evidence for how far the Celtics have come in only one month: on November 16, they were embarrassed 106-88 in Minnesota. Tonight at TD Garden in the teams' only other meeting of the season, Boston (12-14 overall, 7-6 home) outlasted Minnesota (12-13 overall, 5-9 away) 101-97. The Celts are maybe the third best team in the extremely weak Eastern Conference so it seems like the new plan is to win as much as they can with this group (thus upping their trade value).

Kevin Love (game-high 27 points, 14 rebounds) is still one of the best players in the NBA but unfortunately, he's also employed by a club that can't get over the hump once again. Monster Nikola Pekovic (13 points, 7 rebounds) was the only other Timberwolves starter in double-figures. Dante Cunningham had 12 points and six rebounds off the bench along with 10 points apiece from Northeastern's J.J. Barea (11 assists) and Alexey Shved.

Without Rajon Rondo (who has been cleared to practice), the Celtics lack a true superstar but they can win the Atlantic Division this season with a solid team that plays unselfishly with a very smart head coach (Brad Stevens) in total control. Jared Sullinger (24 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists) had one of his best games as a pro. Avery Bradley added 19 points and five rebounds and Jordan Crawford (15 points) was the final Celtic with double figures.

Coming into this campaign, you would have thought the Celtics couldn't win when Jeff Green pulls one of his infamous no-shows. Well he scored eight points tonight but teammates like Kelly Olynyk (9 points) and Kris Humphries (8 points, 7 rebounds) picked him up off the bench. Maybe it is because so many of them have something to prove in the NBA (to cash in) or here but there are plenty of motivated players on the Celtics this season (hence first-place in the Atlantic Division).

It was tight the whole way even though it felt that Boston was in control. The Celtics were up 29-21 after the first quarter and 51-50 at halftime. Boston took the third quarter (23-19) and held off Minnesota's mild charge in the fourth (28-27). The only statistic that was much different for both teams is that the C's shot 44.2% from the field while Minnesota was 37.8%.

Up next, the Celts host the Pistons (12-14, 2nd in Central Division) on Wednesday (7:30, CSN). Detroit beat Boston 87-77 in the third game of the young season on November 3 in the Motor City.

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Things Are Not Going Well When This Goon Drops 29 Points In Your Eyeball

I'm really excited for the Celtics' regular season to begin, this preseason seems like it will never end. What's that? There are only eight games left now before the playoffs? Oh. Like an old person with dementia, it's hard to remember what month it is when you watch these pointless games. Tonight, Boston lost 110-100 to Minnesota at the Target Center as Paul Pierce (personal reasons) and Kevin Garnett (left ankle) sat out.

Showing how much fake life this entailed, Nikola Pekovic bullied his way inside to a game-high 29 points and five rebounds for Minnesota (27-46, 18-19 home). Andrei Kirilenko added 17 points, nine rebounds, five assists and two steals, Derrick Williams had 11 points and three blocks while Ricky Rubio dished out 10 assists as only he can. Dante Cunningham went wild off the bench with 19 points, five rebounds and two blocks plus Northeastern's J.J. Barea tossed in 11 points with seven assists.

Boston (38-36, 13-25) actually hung around for much longer than we could have expected thanks to Avery Bradley (19 points), Brandon Bass (13 points, 6 rebounds) and Jeff Green (10 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists). The bench was great: Terrence Williams (14 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists) had his best game as a Celtic, Jason Terry scored 14 points and Jordan Crawford put up 11 points, six rebounds and five assists.

After five games in seven days, the shorthanded Celts limp home to face another miserable team-the Pistons (25-50, 4th in Central Division) on Wednesday (7:30 p.m., CSN) at TD Garden. It has the potential to be one of the real horrorshow games of the season which is saying something given how the last few weeks have unfolded for the Celtics.

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For KG, Beating The Timberwolves Will Always Be Extra Sweet

A week after his scuffle with Brooklyn's Kris Humphries and a two-game suspension by the NBA, Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo was back on the TD Garden parquet where he belonged tonight. As expected, it was like he hadn't missed a beat as he put up 17 points and 11 assists in Boston's (10-8, 6-4 home) 104-94 win vs. Minnesota (8-9, 4-6 away).

The Timberwolves were playing the second night of a back-to-back on the road but they looked good in the first half as they took a 51-47 lead into halftime. Predictably, they fell apart in the second half and the much more rested Celtics took advantage of their tired legs. Oh by the way, the C's have won 11 straight against the Timberwolves (10 in a row since KG got here).

Kevin Garnett had 18 points and 10 rebounds against his former team. Paul Pierce scored 18, Jason Terry added 17 points and five rebounds while Brandon Bass put up 12 points, eight rebounds and three blocks. Jeff Green scored eight off the bench and Jared Sullinger had a statistically pleasing seven points and seven rebounds.

Kevin Love paced the Timberwolves with 19 points and 13 rebounds. Nikola Pekovic added 14 points and nine rebounds, Josh Howard scored 12 and Luke Ridnour had 11 points and five assists. Alexey Shved notched 11 points off the bench and former Northeastern star J.J. Barea tallied 10.

Boston shot better from the field (52.6%-44%), they made four more free throws (18-14), grabbed four more rebounds (45-41), dished out five more assists (24-19) and blocked three more shots (6-3).

Earlier in the day, rookie swingman Kris Joseph was recalled from the Red Claws. He even got in during garbage time against Minnesota and hoisted up a shot that missed.

In a weird scheduling quirk, the Celtics play a home-and-home with the Sixers (10-8, 3rd in Atlantic Division) this weekend. Boston travels to Philadelphia on Friday (7:00 p.m., CSN) then hosts the Sixers on Saturday night (7:30 p.m., CSN). As we all know, Philly is a bad matchup for Boston therefore they usually play them very tough. In their first meeting this season-back on November 9-Philadelphia won 106-100 at the Garden.

This weekend is when Boston could use some extra contributions from its supposedly deep bench. They can't rely on Garnett, Pierce and Terry to give them huge minutes in either contest so it's up to the young guys-Green, Sullinger, Courtney Lee, Leandro Barbosa-to make it happen when they need a rest.

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