BOSTON – Paul Pierce scored 14 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Boston Celtics to a 103-96 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday night.
Pierce scored 11 consecutive points for the Celtics to spark a 13-2 run spanning the third and fourth quarters and help the Celtics turn a seven-point deficit into a four-point lead. Boston outscored Minnesota 34-23 in the fourth quarter.
The Celtics trailed by as many as 14 early in the second quarter and 55-46 at halftime but chipped away at the lead.
Delonte West scored Boston’s first eight points of the second half to keep the game close. Then Pierce took over.
Pierce gave the Celtics their first lead since early in the first quarter when he completed a 3-point play 51 seconds into the fourth quarter. Pierce drove to the right side of the hoop, made a tough layup in traffic while being fouled by Trenton Hassell. The ensuing free throw made it 74-73.
The next time down the floor, Pierce nailed a 3-pointer to extend the Celtics’ lead to 77-73.
Minnesota built its lead back up to 82-79, but Al Jefferson scored eight points during a 12-2 run late in the quarter to ice the game for the Celtics, who snapped a two-game losing streak and won for just the second time in seven games.
Jefferson finished with 18 points and eight rebounds and Kendrick Perkins added 17 points and six rebounds for the Celtics, who committed a season-low five turnovers.
Kevin Garnett had 29 points and 13 rebounds but was held to just two points in the fourth quarter.
Wally Szczerbiak scored 22 points and Hassell had a season-high 18 for the Timberwolves, whose three-game winning streak came to a halt.
Garnett scored 13 first-quarter points and helped Minnesota end the quarter on a 14-2 run. He scored seven during that stretch, including a 35-footer at the buzzer that put the Timberwolves up 32-22.
The Timberwolves led by as many as 14 early in the second quarter but the Celtics chipped away at the lead, pulling to within seven on three occasions.
Al Jefferson tipped in a rebound with 52.1 seconds remaining in the half to make it 53-46, but Hassell made a 5-foot fadeaway at the buzzer to extend Minnesota’s lead to nine.
Notes: Mark Blount entered the game to scattered boos with 3:16 remaining in the first quarter. He scored two points in six minutes off the bench. … Garnett was named Western Conference Player of the Week for games played Jan. 9-15. He averaged 24.3 points, 14.0 rebounds and 6.3 assists for the week.
AP-ES-01-18-06 2210EST
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