6:30 P.M. at BOSTON • TD Garden • FSN, 830-AM
Preview: The Celtics ended a two-game losing streak by beating New York 90-86 at home Friday and now are 11-14 after they started the season 0-4 and 4-11. They led by as many as 17 points and trailed by 11 in the fourth quarter and still won after Jeff Green's defense held Carmelo Anthony to 1-for-8 shooting in the final quarter. … This wraps up the season's two-game series between the teams: The Wolves won 106-88 at Target Center on Nov. 16. Kevin Love, Nikola Pekovic and Kevin Martin all scored 20 or more points in that and the Wolves dominated in points in the paint 52-28. ... The Wolves have lost their past seven games in Boston, dating to a March 6, 2005 victory when Latrell Sprewell's last-second layup won the game. … The Wolves will be playing in their eighth of 20 sets of back-to-back games this season Monday.
Players to watch: Celtics guard Jordan Crawford was named Eastern Conference Player of the Week for the week ending Dec. 8 after he averaged 23.3 points on 61-percent shooting, 6.7 assists and 3 rebounds while leading Boston to a 3-0 week. He went 0-for-8 and scored just two points in Friday's victory over New York, however, after scoring 20 and 15 the two games before that…F Jared Sullinger has started 13 games for the Celtics and is averaging 14.8 points, 7.8 rebounds and 30.5 minutes in those starts.
Injuries: Wolves C Ronny Turiaf (elbow) and F Chase Budinger (knee) are out. Celtics G Rajon Rondo (torn ACL) is out and F Kris Humphries (bruised knee) has missed the past two games and is listed as day-to-day.
JERRY ZGODA
