Brown's dominant 4th quarter helps C's beat T-Wolves, end losing streak originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
The Boston Celtics snapped their three-game losing streak Friday night by beating the Minnesota Timberwolves 121-109 at TD Garden.
The T-Wolves played pretty well and led the Celtics by eight in the third quarter. But the Celtics stormed back with an 11-2 run to lead 88-86 entering the fourth quarter, and then they (finally) caught fire from 3-point range to secure a much-needed win.
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Minnesota has now lost 16 consecutive games in Boston.
Jaylen Brown (36 points) and Jayson Tatum (30 points) led the way offensively for the C's. This game marked the 17th time Brown and Tatum have both scored 30-plus points in the same matchup. The only pairs of teammates with more of those games since 1985 are Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant (34 with the Thunder) and Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant (33 with the Lakers). The C's are 16-1 when both of their stars score 30-plus in the same game.
The victory improved the Celtics' record to 23-10. They are a half-game up on the Milwaukee Bucks for first place in the Eastern Conference standings. These two teams will square off at the Garden on Christmas Day.
But before we look ahead to that game, let's break down three takeaways from Celtics-Timberwolves.
U.S. & World
1) Jaylen Brown steps up in fourth quarter
The Celtics needed one of their two stars to take over in the second half and Jaylen Brown rose to the challenge. He scored 13 points in the first 4:15 of the fourth quarter, which increased Boston's lead to 102-94 after entering the quarter up 88-86.
After missing his first seven 3-point attempts, Brown knocked down three of them early in the quarter and also attacked the Timberwolves defense when the opportunity presented itself.
Easy buckets at the rim for Brown on back-to-back possessions gave the Celtics a 108-98 advantage with 5:30 remaining.
Brown finished with 36 points, and 23 of them came in the fourth quarter. The Timberwolves scored 23 points as a team over the final 12 minutes.
Brown's performance dramatically improved when he drove to the basket and stopped relying on outside shots. His aggressiveness was rewarded with 10 free throw attempts. It was just the fourth time this season he's attempted double-digit free throws.
2) Marcus Smart makes winning plays in return
After missing Wednesday night's loss to the Pacers, Marcus Smart returned to the starting lineup and gave one of his trademark all-around efforts.
Smart only scored six points, but he ran the offense as an effective playmaker with a team-high 10 assists. He found Tatum and Brown for two easy buckets in the middle of the fourth quarter that helped the C's build a double-digit lead.
Shortly after that stretch, Smart tallied offensive rebounds on back-to-back possessions that led to a 3-pointer from Brown and a 3-pointer from Al Horford that pushed Boston's advantage to 114-99.
Smart's final stat line: Six points, 10 assists, seven rebounds, three steals and zero turnovers in 38 minutes.
3) Poor 3-point shooting still an issue for C's
The Celtics were the best 3-point shooting team in the league through the first quarter of the season. They were, at one point, shooting close to 42 percent as a team.
That number has fallen way down over the last two weeks.
The Celtics shot just 28.3 percent (13-of-46) from 3-point range against the Timberwolves. Brown, Tatum, Smart and Sam Hauser combined to miss their first 15 attempts from beyond the arc. This quartet finished 6-of-25.
Boston's 31.8 percent shooting on 3-pointers in December ranks 28th out of the league's 30 teams. Hauser is shooting just 28.2 percent on 3-point shots in December, and he's made two or more 3-pointers in just two of his 11 games during that span. He was 0-of-2 on Friday night.
There's no reason to be super concerned about the Celtics' struggles from 3-point range. There are a lot of quality shooters on this roster. But this offense won't be firing on all cylinders until these shots are knocked down at a more consistent rate.
