Painful errors let Celtics steal one

BOSTON - When all the jabbering was almost done and the evening's emotion nearly exhausted, the veteran team with the NBA's best record defeated the youthful side with the worst by a point, 87-86 Friday night at TD Banknorth Garden.

The Timberwolves and the Boston Celtics met for real for the first time since last July's seismic trade sent Kevin Garnett from Minnesota after 12 seasons there. The evening's impassioned events ultimately were decided not by the former league MVP or any one of four participating players dealt from Boston, but by Kendrick Perkins, the Celtics' unsung forward and Al Jefferson's loyal pal.

Perkins' game-high 21 points and, most important, his putback with 16.6 seconds remaining ended the Wolves' only winning streak of the season after they positioned themselves for the fourth time in a week to win.

This time, they were undone also by a rookie mistake, too many offensive rebounds allowed and a game-ending defensive play by Garnett, who plucked his Celtics No. 5 jersey (the league's best seller, you know?) by his thumbs and displayed it to a joyous sellout crowd after swatting the ball away from Sebastian Telfair.

"The best team in the league, for us to be that close and have a chance to win, we don't need to hang our heads," said Jefferson, the prized player acquired by the Wolves in the trade.

Former Celtics Jefferson, Telfair, Ryan Gomes and Gerald Green all came home Friday and offered important contributions to an effort that left the Wolves leading 84-79 with 3:26 remaining while Garnett had gone to the locker room temporarily because of a strained abdomen.

But the Celtics scored eight of the game's final 10 points, and Wolves rookie Corey Brewer failed to get a sideline inbounds pass into play with the Wolves leading by a point with 23.2 seconds left.

The Celtics came that close after they played volleyball off the backboards with the basketball and scored on a Paul Pierce putback basket after four previous shots at the hoop. Then, after a timeout, Brewer failed to get the ball in play in the alloted 5 seconds. Then, Perkins scored on a putback of a Ray Allen miss -- there were many Friday, when he made four of 18 shots -- for the winning basket.

"Tough to swallow, but we will learn from this," Wolves coach Randy Wittman said. "We're trying to learn how to win games like this and we're putting ourselves in the position to do it."

Wittman elected to have Brewer pass the ball into play because he wanted his best free-throw shooters -- Marko Jaric, Gomes, Telfair as well as Jefferson -- on the floor when the Celtics fouled to get the ball back. Afterward, Wittman second-guessed himself for not calling a timeout for Brewer.

"I can't blame Coach; I take full responsibility," said Brewer, whose defense helped limit Allen to 12 points and Pierce to 19. "In the NBA, you can't make mistakes like that. I made it once now. I can't make it twice. ... I knew we had timeouts. I just counted real slow."

Asked if he counted slow or the officials counted fast, he said: "I couldn't tell you. I've got to get it off quicker than that."

Garnett left the floor late in the game for almost four minutes, coming to the bench midway through the fourth quarter with his face contorted in pain and holding his stomach.

"It felt like I got sniped from the rafters or something, you know?" Garnett said.

He returned to the bench and the game to a thunderous ovation for the final 1:51 on a night when he and Jefferson jawed at each other enough that they each received a technical foul while waiting for a free throw to be shot in the third quarter.

"He's got a big mouth, but it's K.G.," Jefferson said. "I have respect for him. It was just competition. If he was trying to get in my head, that don't work."

Garnett scored 10 points but had 16 rebounds. Jefferson scored 15 points and had five rebounds while Telfair led the Wolves with 18 points in a determined 42-minute performance.

"I got traded, I'm a competitor, like any NBA player," Telfair said, explaining his play. "We're playing mad because we're tired of losing. We've got to stay mad."

When Garnett assured the Celtics' 35th victory in their first 41 games, Garnett celebrated like it was a first-round playoff victory.

"We were at home, and it was a huge win," Garnett said when asked about his theatrical exit. "I'm in Boston. I don't play for Minnesota anymore. It's nothing personal."