Timberwolves at Celtics
After assisting in the Boston Celtics' pursuit of a better spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs, the Minnesota Timberwolves will pay Boston a visit Wednesday night. The Timberwolves have won seven of their last 10 and Monday's 119-104 win over Washington at home allowed the Celtics to leap-frog the Wizards and reclaim second place in the East, two games behind the Cleveland Cavaliers entering Tuesday.
Ricky Rubio's franchise-record 19 assists was the catalyst for Minnesota, which entered Tuesday four games behind Denver for the eighth and final playoff slot in the West. “We're … not just competing, we're winning games," Rubio told reporters after also scoring 22 points. "That's what this team was supposed to do. But it's a great feeling when you go out there and you know you can beat everybody." The Timberwolves haven't beaten the Celtics in Boston in their last 10 tries and the hosts should be well-rested after an easy 100-80 victory over Chicago on Sunday. Isaiah Thomas needed only 24 minutes to score a game-high 22 points as Boston successfully started a closing stretch in which it plays 11 of its final 16 games at home.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FSN North (Minnesota), CSN New England (Boston)
ABOUT THE TIMBERWOLVES (28-38): Karl-Anthony Towns was high on Rubio's distribution list and finished Monday's win with 39 points and 13 rebounds, which moved him ahead of Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook and into second place in the NBA - entering Tuesday - with 50 double-doubles. "We just picked up with any pieces he could give us," Towns told reporters when discussing Rubio. "It felt like mostly the puzzle was already done, with the way he played." While Towns is averaging 31.5 points over a four-game span, Rubio has produced consecutive 20-point games for the first time in four years and he is averaging 11.8 assists over his last nine contests.
ABOUT THE CELTICS (42-25): Chicago's 80 points represented a season low for a Boston opponent and gave the Celtics a much-needed cakewalk after coming home from a 2-3 road trip that hurt their chances to catch Cleveland. "Fifteen games left, we gotta play our best brand of basketball, because we know Washington is playing really well right now," Thomas told the media. "Cleveland's not going to play like they have been, for the most part. We just gotta control our own destiny, control what we can control, and that's by bringing it each and every night. Luckily, we got home games, so we need to protect home court and go from there." Guard Avery Bradley contributed 17 points in his best output since returning from an Achilles injury and is 7-for-11 from 3-point range in the last two games.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Towns needs one more double-double to match the total he produced last season as a rookie.
2. Thomas is averaging 30.6 points while shooting 48.4 percent at home, compared to 27.9 and 43.9 percent on the road.
3. Timberwolves F Andrew Wiggins is averaging 17.4 points - nearly six below his season average - and shooting 31.1 percent in a five-game stretch.