After getting a look at Chris Paul, Stephen Curry and John Wall -- and Wolves point guard Ricky Rubio outplaying them all -- in the last week, the Timberwolves tonight in Boston get their second and final chance against Celtics star Isaiah Thomas.

The last player drafted in 2011, Thomas is scoring at a rate surpassed in the Celtics' great history by only Larry Bird.

Thomas is second in the NBA in scoring, his 29.2 point average behind only Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook's 31.2 average.

In Celtics' history -- a franchise Tom Thibodeau after this morning's shoot called "there's no other one like it" -- only Bird scored at a higher rate, with a 29.9 average in the 1987-88 season.

An Eastern All-Star reserve last month in New Orleans, Thomas scored 22 points in 24 minutes the last time the Celtics played, Sunday's 100-80 home rout of Chicago.

All that from a little guy whom Sacramento selected with the 60th and final pick in the 2011 draft.

"He can shoot from anywhere," Rubio said. "He's really fast, quick. You've got to be attached to him all the time. If he gets loose or gets any space, he's going to shoot it. He's hot right now and he's making all the shots."

Asked about the challenge of defending a significantly smaller player, Rubio exhaled and said, "It's tough. It's one of the toughest matchups in the league. You try to cover the pick-and-roll with the bigs. You try to help and make life harder."

The Wolves changed their travel plans and left for Boston immediately after Monday night's home victory over Washington. They did so to beat into town a snowstorm that buried parts of the East Coast much worse than it hit Boston.

The Wolves arrived early Tuesday morning, practice in Boston later that day and start tonight a three-game trip that includes games at Miami Friday and New Orleans Sunday.