The Celtics were seeking a third-straight win, before running into the Minnesota Timberwolves Saturday night at the Target Center -- but a late 3-pointer in the fourth quarter Anthony Edwards essentially put the game out of reach for Boston in their 119-115 loss.
Edwards hit an unlikely 3-pointer from the top of the key to beat the shot-clock with 14 seconds left to play and seal the win for the T-Wolves, which was his fifth made from deep (5-of-11) on his way to 39 points (12-of-24 from the field overall) to go along with five assists.
According to the Timberwolves' superstar, it was Jaylen Brown's trash talking that motivated his performance that help stop a three-game skid for Minnesota.
"I mean, he had 40, so just trying to not let him get a shot off," said Edwards of Brown during his postgame comments. "I feel like I did a good job on him. He made a tough shot on me one time and kind of told me I'm too small. I said, that might have been the luckiest shot ever… he kind of woke me up after telling me I was too small."
Julius Randle added 16 points, nine rebounds and Donte DiVincenzo chipped in 15 points, eight assists for the Timberwolves, who are now 11-8 to start the season.
Brown on the other hand, finished with a game-high 41 points on 17-of-32 shooting, including going 5-of-11 from behind the arc and seven assists. The All-Star was listed as questionable just prior to tip-off before going off for 27-first half points (19 in the first quarter) to give the Celtics a 69-59 lead at the break.
Neemias Queta recorded his fourth double-double of the year with 19 points, 18 rebounds while Derrick White notched 16 points and Sam Hauser scored 14 points off the bench to round out Boston's double-digit scorers.
The Timberwolves went on a 24-12 run in the third quarter to take a lead for good and head into the final frame with a 94-92 advantage.
Boston used a 12-0 spurt, capped off by a Brown 3-pointer to even it up at 110 apiece with 1:37 remaining in the game.
However, with the T-Wolves up 115-112 and the shot-clock winding down, Edwards threw up a prayer after briefly losing his dribble off of White's foot only to hit the shot from deep over the C's wing in the final seconds for the dagger.
The Celtics are now 10-9 and will face the Cavaliers (12-8) on a second night of a back-to-back Sunday in Cleveland.
Boston shot 47% (45-of-96) from the field, including 35% from 3-point range (16-of-46), while the Timberwolves hit 49% (41-of-83) of their attempts and 44% (21-of-48) from deep. The Celtics out-rebounded Minnesota 43-37 and outscored the home team in the paint 50-34.
Joel Pavón
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