Jaylen Brown posted a stat line by no means earlier than seen in Celtics historical past Saturday in Minnesota, nevertheless it wasn’t sufficient to safe a victory over Anthony Edwards and the Timberwolves.
Brown grew to become the primary participant in Boston historical past to file a minimum of 41 factors, seven rebounds, six assists, 5 steals and one block in a single recreation, serving to gas each an electrical first half by the Celtics’ offense and a spirited late-game rally.
The Wolves have been in a position to capitalize on a stretch of second-half stagnancy, nevertheless, and rode Edwards’ 39 factors and 5 rebounds to a 119-115 win on the Goal Middle.
The loss, which dropped Boston to 10-9, additionally spoiled a standout effort by Neemias Queta. The Celtics heart racked up 19 factors, 18 rebounds and two blocks after lacking Wednesday’s win over the Pistons with a sprained ankle. Queta and Brown each have been listed as questionable for Saturday’s recreation, with the latter nursing low again spasms.
The Celtics will go to the Cavaliers in Cleveland on Sunday (6 p.m.) within the second finish of a back-to-back.
Queta was extremely lively early following his one-game layoff. Within the opening 5 minutes, the Celtics heart scored eight factors and grabbed six rebounds, together with 4 offensive boards.
Boston grabbed a complete of seven offensive rebounds within the first quarter, which helped it climate a red-hot begin by Minnesota’s shooters. The Wolves made 11 of their first 15 field-goal makes an attempt however trailed 36-32 after one.
The Celtics additionally bought equally stellar early-game capturing from Brown, who poured in 19 first-quarter factors on 8-of-12. These eight buckets included two makes on the rim, three from the midrange and three 3-pointers, the final of which got here with 4 seconds remaining within the interval.
Two minutes earlier, Brown remoted in opposition to Edwards, banked in a turnaround jumper after which hit the Minnesota star with a “too small” celebration.
Jaylen Brown hits Anthony Edwards with the *too small* 😳 😆 pic.twitter.com/Rr1ZBpssua
— Taylor Snow (@taylorcsnow) November 29, 2025
Brown took a seat to start out the second quarter, and Boston constructed an eight-point lead in his absence, getting 3-pointers from Baylor Scheierman, Sam Hauser and Hauser once more on three consecutive possessions. Scheierman, who was a difference-maker in Wednesday’s win over Detroit, additionally drew an offensive foul throughout that flurry.
The Timberwolves responded with a 12-2 run to tug forward, however the Celtics outscored them 14-6 over the ultimate 5 minutes of the primary half to take a 69-59 lead into the locker room.
Eleven of these factors got here on photographs made or assisted by Brown, who zipped a highlight-reel move to Hauser for an additional 3-pointer and fed Queta for a contested two over four-time NBA Defensive Participant of the Yr Rudy Gobert.
The Wolves have been one of many NBA’s finest rim-protecting groups with Gobert manning the center, however the Celtics went 10-for-12 contained in the restricted space within the first half, with Queta offering the majority of that manufacturing.
Queta registered a double-double earlier than halftime for the primary time in his profession, whereas Brown grew to become the primary NBA participant within the play-by-play period (since 1996-97) to tally a minimum of 27 factors, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and three steals in a primary half. (The one different gamers to submit these totals in any half have been LeBron James in 2004, Russell Westbrook in 2015 and James Harden in 2018.)
Brown cooled off significantly within the third quarter, nevertheless, scoring seven factors on eight photographs as Boston’s offensive momentum slowed. Minnesota went 8-for-13 from past the arc within the third and led 94-92 getting into the fourth.
That margin might need been wider if not for a collection of high quality performs by Josh Minott, certainly one of two ex-Timberwolves on the Celtics’ roster. Minott hit a 3, picked off a Terrence Shannon Jr. move, scored a putback off a Derrick White miss and induced a Julius Randle journey to maintain Boston shut late within the quarter.
The 6-foot-8 Minott performed a number of positions over his 16 minutes, with head coach Joe Mazzulla giving him seems as a small-ball heart for the third straight recreation. He noticed extra motion in that position than Boston’s different Minnesota castoff, backup heart Luka Garza, who logged simply 5 minutes.
Edwards practically put the sport away halfway by the fourth quarter when he scored 9 straight factors. However the Celtics, down 12 with lower than 4 minutes remaining, rallied to tie it at 110-110 on a Brown 3-pointer with 1:38 to play.
Mike Conley responded with a 3 on the following possession, although, and Edwards supplied the dagger by drilling a 25-footer from straightaway that made it a six-point recreation with 14 seconds remaining. Hauser’s 3-pointer on the buzzer was too little, too late for Boston.
Hauser, whose outdoors capturing has improved of late, completed with 14 factors off the bench. White (16 factors, 5 assists, two blocks) and Payton Pritchard (9 factors, 5 rebounds, 4 assists) went a mixed 3-for-16 from 3-point vary.
Every of the final six conferences between the Celtics and Timberwolves have both been determined by 4 or fewer factors or gone to extra time.
Schedule set
The NBA introduced the ultimate two regular-season video games on the Celtics’ schedule early Saturday morning.
As a result of Boston didn’t advance to the knockout rounds of the 2025 NBA Cup, it was assigned two randomly chosen matchups in opposition to different eradicated Jap Convention groups. These might be Thursday, Dec. 11 at Milwaukee (8 p.m. ET) and Monday, Dec. 15 in opposition to Detroit at TD Backyard (7 p.m.).
It’s a difficult draw for the Celtics, who went 2-2 in NBA Cup group play. The Pistons entered Saturday with the most effective file within the East and had received 13 straight earlier than the C’s defeated them in an exciting upset Wednesday evening. The 8-12 Bucks have scuffled this season, however two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo returned to their lineup on Friday after sitting out 4 video games with a groin harm.
Together with the comfort date in Milwaukee, the Celtics will play 4 of their subsequent six video games on the highway. Their two residence video games throughout that stretch are in opposition to the 12-6 Knicks (Tuesday, 8 p.m.) and 14-4 Lakers (Friday, 7 p.m.).
