Jaylen Brown posted a stat line never before seen in Celtics history Saturday in Minnesota, but it wasn’t enough to secure a victory over Anthony Edwards and the Timberwolves.
Brown became the first player in Boston history to record at least 41 points, seven rebounds, six assists, five steals and one block in a single game, helping fuel both an electric first half by the Celtics’ offense and a spirited late-game rally.
The Wolves were able to capitalize on a stretch of second-half stagnancy, however, and rode Edwards’ 39 points and five rebounds to a 119-115 win at the Target Center.
The loss, which dropped Boston to 10-9, also spoiled a standout effort by Neemias Queta. The Celtics center racked up 19 points, 18 rebounds and two blocks after missing Wednesday’s win over the Pistons with a sprained ankle. Queta and Brown both were listed as questionable for Saturday’s game, with the latter nursing low back spasms.
The Celtics will visit the Cavaliers in Cleveland on Sunday (6 p.m.) in the second end of a back-to-back.
Queta was highly active early following his one-game layoff. In the opening five minutes, the Celtics center scored eight points and grabbed six rebounds, including four offensive boards.
Boston grabbed a total of seven offensive rebounds in the first quarter, which helped it weather a red-hot start by Minnesota’s shooters. The Wolves made 11 of their first 15 field-goal attempts but trailed 36-32 after one.
The Celtics also got similarly stellar early-game shooting from Brown, who poured in 19 first-quarter points on 8-of-12. Those eight buckets included two makes at the rim, three from the midrange and three 3-pointers, the last of which came with four seconds remaining in the period.
Two minutes earlier, Brown isolated against Edwards, banked in a turnaround jumper and then hit the Minnesota star with a “too small” celebration.
Jaylen Brown hits Anthony Edwards with the *too small*
pic.twitter.com/Rr1ZBpssua
— Taylor Snow (@taylorcsnow) November 29, 2025
Brown took a seat to start the second quarter, and Boston built an eight-point lead in his absence, getting 3-pointers from Baylor Scheierman, Sam Hauser and Hauser again on three consecutive possessions. Scheierman, who was a difference-maker in Wednesday’s win over Detroit, also drew an offensive foul during that flurry.
The Timberwolves responded with a 12-2 run to pull ahead, but the Celtics outscored them 14-6 over the final five minutes of the first half to take a 69-59 lead into the locker room.
Eleven of those points came on shots made or assisted by Brown, who zipped a highlight-reel pass to Hauser for another 3-pointer and fed Queta for a contested two over four-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert.
The Wolves have been one of the NBA’s best rim-protecting teams with Gobert manning the middle, but the Celtics went 10-for-12 inside the restricted area in the first half, with Queta providing the bulk of that production.
Queta registered a double-double before halftime for the first time in his career, while Brown became the first NBA player in the play-by-play era (since 1996-97) to tally at least 27 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals in a first half. (The only other players to post those totals in any half were LeBron James in 2004, Russell Westbrook in 2015 and James Harden in 2018.)
Brown cooled off considerably in the third quarter, however, scoring seven points on eight shots as Boston’s offensive momentum slowed. Minnesota went 8-for-13 from beyond the arc in the third and led 94-92 entering the fourth.
That margin might have been wider if not for a series of quality plays by Josh Minott, one of two ex-Timberwolves on the Celtics’ roster. Minott hit a three, picked off a Terrence Shannon Jr. pass, scored a putback off a Derrick White miss and induced a Julius Randle travel to keep Boston close late in the quarter.
The 6-foot-8 Minott played multiple positions over his 16 minutes, with head coach Joe Mazzulla giving him looks as a small-ball center for the third straight game. He saw more action in that role than Boston’s other Minnesota castoff, backup center Luka Garza, who logged just five minutes.
Edwards nearly put the game away midway through the fourth quarter when he scored nine straight points. But the Celtics, down 12 with less than four minutes remaining, rallied to tie it at 110-110 on a Brown 3-pointer with 1:38 to play.
Mike Conley responded with a three on the ensuing possession, though, and Edwards provided the dagger by drilling a 25-footer from straightaway that made it a six-point game with 14 seconds remaining. Hauser’s 3-pointer at the buzzer was too little, too late for Boston.
Hauser, whose outside shooting has improved of late, finished with 14 points off the bench. White (16 points, five assists, two blocks) and Payton Pritchard (nine points, five rebounds, four assists) went a combined 3-for-16 from 3-point range.
Each of the last six meetings between the Celtics and Timberwolves have either been decided by four or fewer points or gone to overtime.
Schedule set
The NBA announced the final two regular-season games on the Celtics’ schedule early Saturday morning.
Because Boston did not advance to the knockout rounds of the 2025 NBA Cup, it was assigned two randomly selected matchups against other eliminated Eastern Conference teams. Those will be Thursday, Dec. 11 at Milwaukee (8 p.m. ET) and Monday, Dec. 15 against Detroit at TD Garden (7 p.m.).
It’s a tricky draw for the Celtics, who went 2-2 in NBA Cup group play. The Pistons entered Saturday with the best record in the East and had won 13 straight before the C’s defeated them in a thrilling upset Wednesday night. The 8-12 Bucks have scuffled this season, but two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo returned to their lineup on Friday after sitting out four games with a groin injury.
Including the consolation date in Milwaukee, the Celtics will play four of their next six games on the road. Their two home games during that stretch are against the 12-6 Knicks (Tuesday, 8 p.m.) and 14-4 Lakers (Friday, 7 p.m.).
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