Celtics 92, Timberwolves 90

Game Highlights

Photo of the Game

Kevin Garnett and Big Al Jefferson, traded for each other in the blockbuster deal a few summers ago, battled on the block Wednesday night in Minnesota.
NBAE/Getty

By Peter F. Stringer
Celtics.com

Key Moment

With the Celtics having spent almost the entire game trailing the T-Wolves, Eddie House drained a 3-pointer to tie the game at 72-72 at the end of the third quarter to cap a period in which the C's outscored Minnesota 31-23, and the C's went on to edge Minnesota 92-90 on Wednesday night.

The Celtics improved to 6-0 and return home to face the Phoenix Suns at TD Garden on Friday night.

Key Box Score Line

Fantasy hoops sleeper alert! Normally, we'd go with a Celtics player here, but you can't ignore the performance of second-year man Oleksiy Pecherov, who set a new career high by dropping 24 points on the Celtics. We'll forgive you if you've never heard of him before this morning. His previous career high was 13 points, which he set on Monday against the L.A. Clippers.

After the game, Doc Rivers said of Pecherov, "We knew about him. We knew he was a heck of a shooter. We didn't know he shot like that..."

Box Score Nuggets

• The Celtics shot just 5-for-19 from behind the arc tonight, connecting at just 26 percent.
• Boston's bench continues to outscore those of their opponents, but the margin Wednesday (25-14) wasn't as dramatic as to which we've grown accustomed.
• All five Celtics starters scored in double figures.
• Eddie House was 2-for-4 tonight from 3-point land and is shooting 12-for-25 (48 percent) on the season.
• Brian Scalabrine played 3:50 of scoreless basketball, but was the only Celtics player who appeared in the game and did not score.
• Kevin Garnett and Kendrick Perkins each blocked three shots.

Quote of the Night

Doc Rivers: "We won with our defense on the last couple of possessions. That was nice."