4 takeaways as Celtics outlast Timberwolves in gutsy finish

BOSTON — The Celtics needed one last stop at the end, but they defeated the Timberwolves 107-105 on Sunday at TD Garden. Naz Reid’s 3-pointer right at the buzzer was too late and off-the-mark to close out the game. The C’s won at the end to improve to 14-3 while the Wolves fell to 8-8.

It was all Jaylen Brown from tipoff as he poured in five 3-pointers in the opening minutes. The Garden crowd was juiced after that fast start, though it didn’t last. The Celtics went nine minutes of the game without anyone else besides Brown scoring as the offense started off in the mud.

The C’s woke up from there. They didn’t win at the margins much in the first quarter, but they were better in the second. By halftime, the C’s held a 55-52 lead over the Wolves in a slim game. The Celtics then threatened to blow the game open in the second half, building up a 19-point lead.

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The Wolves weren’t going down without some fight, though, as they got it down to a clutch game down the stretch. Anthony Edwards was a huge part of that comeback as the Wolves started to knock down 3s as part of their comeback effort. The Wolves never retook the lead, but they hung around all night. The Wolves ultimately got one final shot to either tie or the game, but they also couldn’t generate a clean look.

Brown had 29 points to lead the way as part of an efficient night. Jayson Tatum added 26 points and eight rebounds. Rudy Gobert had 10 points and 20 rebounds for the Timberwolves. Edwards added 28 points, nine rebounds and seven assists.

The Celtics face the Clippers at 7:30 p.m. Monday at TD Garden for the second game of a back-to-back. Here are four takeaways from Boston’s win over Minnesota:

Catching fire: After Brown put up an impressive game against the Wizards, he followed that up with a quick start Sunday. Brown hit his first five 3-pointers as he immediately got the Garden crowd buzzing. It’s been a slow shooting start to the season for Brown as he’s only converted 28.4% of his 3s on a career-high 7.7 attempts per game. Brown finished 7-for-10 from deep Sunday as he upped his percentages Sunday.

3-point margin: The Celtics hit their 3s early and often, though they did hit a bit of a cold stretch in the second half. For the Celtics, it was again not just that they made 3-pointers at an efficient clip — it’s also about the volume of 3s they get up on a nightly basis. That was shaping up to be the case Sunday as the C’s were raining 3s while the Wolves lacked behind. But Minnesota was able to get back into the game partly due to knocking in its 3s — the Wolves went 6-for-12 from 3 in the fourth quarter. The Celtics ended up 21-for-56 (37.5%) from behind the arc while the Wolves were 15-for-41 (36.6%). So while it was still a sizable difference, the Wolves were able to close the gap in the comeback attempt.

Bigs rotation: C’s coach Joe Mazzulla leaned on Al Horford some more Sunday, knowing the big man wouldn’t play Monday due to the back-to-back. The Celtics were also shorthanded up-front with backup big Luke Kornet unavailable Sunday because of a hamstring injury. Mazzulla also rolled with Xavier Tillman as the primary backup over Neemias Queta. That was the case in the Wizards win last time out, so it wasn’t a surprise to see Tillman getting some more run. Queta got playing time to open the season, though has struggled recently. Tillman finished with 14 minutes Sunday, putting up three points and four rebounds in his minutes.

Long streak: The Timberwolves historically haven’t been able to beat the Celtics in Boston, and they’ll have to add another game to a losing streak. The Wolves have lost 18 straight games in Boston after Sunday’s loss as they haven’t won on the road against the C’s since March 2005. Amusingly, that’s actually not the longest historical losing streak against an East opponent. The Wolves, who lost to the Raptors last game, have dropped 20 straight games in Toronto, which dates back to January 2004. So there are some marks of futility there over the years for the Wolves.