NBA Preview from The Sports Network
Wednesday, December 5th
(All times Eastern)
Minnesota Timberwolves (8-8) at Boston Celtics (9-8), 7:30 p.m.
(Sports Network) - The Minnesota Timberwolves are coming off a 3-point barrage
in Philadelphia and will try to stay hot Wednesday night against Rajon Rondo
and the Boston Celtics in the finale of a quick eastern road trip.
Minnesota was hot from beyond the arc in Tuesday's 105-88 victory over the
76ers, burying 13-of-25 3-pointers to win for the third time in four tries.
Alexey Shved had 17 points thanks to a 4-of-7 showing from downtown and Josh
Howard added 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Dante Cunningham had 13 points and JJ Barea added 11 and 10 assists for the
Timberwolves, who made 53.2 percent from the field and got 10 points from
Malcolm Lee, Luke Ridnour and Derrick Williams. The Wolves had a 63-40 lead
right before halftime and led by as many as 14 points in the fourth quarter.
"We talked about how every game on the road we have gotten off to good starts,
but we maintained it tonight," Minnesota coach Rick Adelman said. "The bench
came in and did a terrific job to expand the lead. It was a solid win."
The T'Wolves improved to 8-4 when scoring 90-plus points and are averaging
56.3 points in the first half over the previous four games.
Celtics point guard Rondo is eligible to return after serving a two-game
suspension for his involvement during a brief brawl under the basket against
the Brooklyn Nets on Nov. 28. Rondo shoved Nets forward Kris Humphries after
what he believed was a hard foul on teammate Kevin Garnett.
Rondo is currently ranked third in the NBA behind Jason Kidd and Chris Paul in
assist-to-turnover ratio.
The Celtics split the two games without Rondo, defeating Portland on Friday
before dropping Saturday's 91-88 decision at Milwaukee. Jason Terry had 15
points and 11 assists, while Paul Pierce scored a game-high 19 points for the
Celtics, who had won three of four games and opened the night on a 17-0 run.
Milwaukee outscored the Celtics 36-21 in the second quarter.
"I thought both teams hung in there. They made some big shots and we missed
some," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "It's always going to be a make-miss
league."
Jeff Green and Garnett scored 18 and 17 points, respectively, in defeat.
Garnett is now two games shy of tying Terry Porter (1,274) for 17th place on
the all-time games played list. A.C. Green is 16th with 1,278 games played.
In injury news for Boston, guard Leandro Barbosa (illness) is questionable
versus the Timberwolves.
Boston won the lone meeting with Minnesota a season ago and is undefeated over
the past 10 matchups in this series. The Celtics are 13-3 in the last 16
contests in this series and have won six in a row as the host.
12/05 10:44:50 ET

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