The last time the Timberwolves beat the Celtics in Boston, March 2005, a good portion of the team was just starting to dominate its grade school basketball circuits.
Futility in Boston is something generations of Wolves teams have in common, and it's something this season's squad continued with a 121-109 loss at TD Garden on Friday night.
The Wolves and Celtics traded runs for most of the night until Boston took over in the fourth quarter. The Celtics had 12 second-chance points in the fourth and 20 on the night as they buried the lackadaisical Wolves.
Jaylen Brown awoke from a tough start to finish with 36 points, 23 in the fourth, for Boston. Jayson Tatum finished with 30.
Anthony Edwards had 13 of his 30 points in the third quarter as the Wolves led by as many as nine in that quarter. But rebounding again became a problem for them.
D'Angelo Russell was quiet after a strong start. He had 18 points in the first half but just three the rest of the night. The connection between Rudy Gobert and the rest of the team was off on the offensive end, as Gobert finished with eight.
Neither team led by more than nine in the first half as the game swung back on the forth. The Celtics had control most of the second until the Wolves erased their six-point lead with an 8-0 run to close the half.
They kept up that effort early in the third before Boston began chipping away. Then Brown caught fire in the fourth and when Boston did miss, the Wolves allowed too many offensive rebounds.
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The Star Tribune did not send the writer of this article to the game. This was written using a broadcast, interviews and other material.
