Rajon Rondo handed out 17 assists with only two turnovers as the Celtics (29-22) improved their win streak to four straight games and claimed sole possession of first place in the Atlantic Division.
Fourth quarter, 2:58, Celtics 92-78: Garnett could not have hit a tougher shot. With the shot clock nearing zero, Garnett muscled Love back and unleashed a fallaway jumper inches above Love's outstretched hand to give the Celtics a 14-point edge after the Wolves had cut their deficit to 10 points.
The shot improved Garnett's shooting numbers for the night to 11-for-16, for 22 points.
Fourth quarter, 5:51, Celtics 88-75: A couple times in this game, Rondo and Bradley did an interesting thing on defense. When their men criss-cross around a screen by a third Wolves player, Rondo and Bradley switch off. They have looked at each other and pointed each time, so it appears it is something they planned on doing entering this game and are doing on purpose.
This makes sense. It keeps either guard from having to chase a man around screens from one side of the court to another, and both of them are fairly interchangable in terms of size and active hands.
Fourth quarter, 10:46, Celtics 83-69: Garnett does not dunk as much as he used to, but maybe the familiar surroundings of the Target Center had him feeling like Da Kid again.
Garnett made a vintage drop-step post move past Derrick Williams for a right-handed dunk.
The Celtics' lead reached 14 points and the Wolves wanted to talk it over less than two minutes into the fourth quarter.
End of third quarter, Celtics 79-67: The Wolves were up to 15 turnovers entering the fourth quarter, which isn't an astronomical figure. It is high, though, considering the Celtics had committed only seven turnovers and Rondo did not commit a single one until the final minute of the third quarter.
Pierce, Garnett, Bass and Bradley were already in double figures in scoring entering the fourth, and Stiemsma was only two points shy of the third double-digit scoring game of his career.
Third quarter, 2:31, Celtics 75-63: Paul Pierce reminded everyone that he was still there. After Garnett and Rondo owned the first two quarters, the Celtics captain took the reins in the third, scoring nine points to help the Celtics hold off the Wolves, who simply can't find their shooting stroke.
The Wolves shot 5-for-19 to open the third quarter as Love missed his first four shots of the period. Rondo was up to 16 assists without a single turnover.
Also, the Celtics lost 97-76 to the Wizards, so first place in the division belongs to the Celtics if they win this game.
Third quarter, 8:34, Celtics 62-47: Rivers has spoken of how much he likes the defensive combination of Bradley and Rondo, but this may be one of the first times he assigned Bradley to cover the point guard and Rondo the off-guard.
With Bradley's ball-hawking abilities and Rondo's skill reading passing lanes, this move makes perfect sense. The Celtics rewarded the move by extending their lead to 15 points.
And Garnett had two points and three rebounds in the first three-plus minutes of the third, while Love was scoreless with zero rebounds in the frame.
Halftime, Celtics 56-45: Kevin Love set the stage for another huge statistical game, but unless something changes in the second half, his line in the box score will be deceiving.
Kevin Garnett owned the first-half matchup with Love, who entered halftime with 13 points and seven rebounds. Garnett had 12 points and five rebounds, but it was the defensive positioning he got on Love that contributed to the Wolves committing 11 turnovers to the Celtics' five and getting up only 38 shots to the Celtics' 45.
The Good: Garnett. See above. … Rajon Rondo probably would have had a decent game against Ricky Rubio or J.J. Barea, but with them out Rondo was sure to light up Luke Ridnour. Rondo handed out 12 assists and did not commit a turnover. He also registered three steals. … Avery Bradley had an easy job in the first half. He ran to the hoop, caught a pass and hit a wide-open layup. He was 5-for-6 and hit four free throws for 14 points.
The Bad: Martell Webster did not seem to handle Pierce defensively in the first quarter, and he did not make up for it on the offensive end. Webster was 1-for-5 from the floor and also possesses one of the worst haircuts in the NBA.
The So-so: Greg Stiemsma was 3-for-3 from the field but he forgot about Love on several defensive possessions, forgetting to rotate and get out on the reigning 3-point contest champion. That just can't happen. … Luke Ridnour was not just getting burnt by Rondo in the first half. Ridnour had nine points on 4-for-6 shooting and had seven assists to hang his hat on.
Second quarter, 2:53, Celtics 50-36: While Garnett had Love locked down, Rondo had the offensive end of things handled. The Celtics point guard was at double-digits in assists with more than three minutes left in the first half.
Love had 10 points on 3-for-9 shooting, four rebounds and three turnovers in his first 18 minutes of burn.
Second quarter, 6:02, Celtics 43-32: This has nothing to do with anything, but the Wolves appear to have 40 different logos.
There is this, this and this, as well as the Muskies get-ups they are wearing in this game.
Talk about brand confusion.
Oh yeah, and Garnett continued to play outstanding defense on Love, keeping him away from the hoop to prevent rebound opportunities and not getting lulled into leaving Love alone outside the 3-point line.
Second quarter, 8:56, Celtics 35-29: Love did not have the greatest start, but his teammates picked up some of the slack in the second quarter.
The Wolves cut the Celtics' advantage to six points on a 3 by Malcolm Lee, a rookie out of UCLA. In the biggest upset of the night thus far, Love grabbed only three rebounds in the first 15-plus minutes of action, the same amount as Garnett.
End of first quarter, Celtics 31-20: Love is a tough cover because he forces the opposing big man to break all the fundamental conventions. Stiemsma got caught sagging into the lane on help defense, as every post player is taught to get his feet into the paint. Of course, leaving Love is dangerous, and Love made Stiemsma pay by drilling a triple.
That said, Love had a rough first quarter as he was clearly fired up to play against Garnett. Love played all 12 minutes, going just 2-for-8 from the field and missing a technical foul free throw. (He knocked down two more on a run-of-the-mill shooting foul.)
Rondo finished the first quarter with seven assists and no turnovers.
First quarter, :41, Celtics 29-15: If Greg Stiemsma and Keyon Dooling plan on pitching in offensively this early in every game, the Celtics could cruise through the rest of the regular season.
Stiemsma hit a jumper and a baby hook shortly before Dooling nailed 3's on back-to-back possessions as the Celtics stretched their first-quarter lead to 14 points. The Celtics attempted 20 shots and outworked the Timberwolves on the boards 12-9 in the early going.
First quarter, 5:17, Celtics 15-6: The first several minutes were not the sharpest-shooting minutes the Celtics have ever had. As the C's continue their recent trend of pushing the tempo on teams, though, they put up a lot of shots in very limited time to blitz the T-Wolves.
The teams combined to shoot 1-for-7 from the field in the first two minutes, with the only basket a Martell Webster tip-dunk on an airball by Kevin Love.
Pierce got the Celtics on track with a 3-pointer and a jumper, and Avery Bradley used his cutting to leave the Wolves' heads spinning. Celtics coach Doc Rivers jokes that eventually, opponents will guard Bradley on his cuts. Maybe they won't.
Rajon Rondo dished out five assists in the first seven minutes.
8:10 p.m.: Garnett apparently received loud cheers when he was introduced. Makes sense. Garnett helped make this an NBA town again.
8:04 p.m.: Vanilla Ice is performing at the Wolves game and that is the only mention of him that will take place in this liveblog. Thank you.
7:30 p.m.: If there is a team that can commiserate with the Celtics about their injuries, it is the Timberwolves.
The Wolves had playoff hopes this season (and still do, remotely) before rookie sensation Ricky Rubio was lost for the season with a torn ACL. They will be without three other key players against the Celtics as two-thirds of their anticipating rotation is sidelined with injuries.
Michael Beasley, Nikola Pekovic and Jose Juan Barea will all be out again for Minnesota. The Wolves are fortunate Luke Ridnour has played so well this season, because the veteran out of Oregon has helped smooth over a lot of bumps in the backcourt.
The probable starting lineup appears below.
Celtics
Kevin Garnett
Brandon Bass
Paul Pierce
Ray Allen
Rajon Rondo
Timberwolves
Kevin Live
Derrick Williams
Wesley Johnson
Martell Webster
Luke Ridnour
6:45 p.m.: Ray Allen will miss Friday's game against the Timberwolves, Celtics radio announcer Sean Grande reports via Twitter.
Allen will miss his fifth consecutive game with what is being called a sore right ankle. The Celtics are 3-1 and Avery Bradley is averaging 11.5 points per game in that stretch. As Grande points out in his tweet, the Celtics are 7-1 overall this season when Allen is out of the lineup.
8 a.m. ET: The veteran-laden, rebounding-challenged Celtics face their polar opposite on Friday when they visit the young, rebound-grabbing Timberwolves.
The Celtics (28-22) are riding a three-game win streak and look to keep pace with the Philadelphia 76ers in the race for the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference. The Timberwolves (25-27) also harbor playoff aspirations, but they have won only four of their last 12 games and have fallen to 11th in the West standings.
Celtics coach Doc Rivers is "hopeful" shooting guard Ray Allen can make his return Friday after missing four straight games with a sore right ankle. Allen traveled with the Celtics to Minneapolis.
Join us for updates and analysis during the game, which tips off at 8 p.m. Eastern time.
