Late run lifts Boston to home victory over Wolves

BOSTON – Out goes veteran Corey Brewer, in comes youngster Shabazz Muhammad and still the Timberwolves go on losing, 114-98 to an also-depleted Celtics team Friday night in Boston.

Friday's trade that sent Brewer to Houston clears playing time and for at least now a starting spot for the hard-working Muhammad, who turned opportunity into a 26-point, five-rebound, five-assist game on a night his team was outdone by Boston's game-deciding, 8-0 fourth quarter run.

Those five assists were a career high by Muhammad, who made his third career start just five hours after the Wolves agreed to trade starter Brewer to the Rockets for young Troy Daniels, two second-round picks and money. Theoretically, Brewer's absence will allow Muhammad to better thrive and grow for a team that Friday lost for the 10th time in 11 games.

"The more Bazz plays, the better Bazz is going to get with the things he does," Wolves coach Flip Saunders said. "We're going to have to learn to play with him. What we hope happens is, these guys are eating up a lot of minutes and they're getting in a lot of situations they haven't been in very much. When we get Ricky [Rubio]and [Kevin] Martin back, it will make us that much better, when we get guys back who can make plays. That's where we really miss Ricky. He makes plays."

On Friday, Muhammad made shots — 11 of 15 from the field — while teammate Andrew Wiggins went 2-for-10 and Thaddeus Young went 6-for-19, against a Celtics team that had just traded star Rajon Rondo to Dallas on Thursday night.

"I really thought we were going to pull that one out, I was really disappointed," Muhammad said. "I wanted to come in and win the game, most importantly. But I was very comfortable out there. I'm starting to get really comfortable, and that's one thing that's really good for me."

Saunders noted afterward that Friday's two best players were two guys coming off the bench for the Wolves, or not coming off at all: Muhammad and little-used Chase Budinger, who stepped into a backup role with Brewer gone and scored 19 points on 8-for-12 shooting in 27 minutes. Included was 3-for-5 shooting on three-pointers.

"If you don't play well, you shouldn't play," Saunders said. "So tonight Bud played well and Wig didn't have it going on, so Budinger got a lot more minutes tonight. That's why I kept him in. It has been so long since he had it going, it was best to let him play and let it keep going."

Said Budinger: "It felt good to make some shots. It felt good to get some dunks still. It's been a while since I've done that."

Veteran guard Mo Williams traveled to Dallas on Thursday to get a second opinion on his back and celebrate early his 32nd birthday with his wife and children. He said he is relieved to learn his back spasms are only muscular and not something that requires surgery. He played 25 minutes Friday even though Saunders only intended to play him 15 minutes at most. Williams said he'll play through the pain.

"However many minutes, it doesn't bother me at all, I'll fight through it," Williams said. "To be honest with you, I want to stop talking about it and just play. I didn't get treatment today because I just want mentally to learn how to tolerate the pain."

• Reserve forward Jeff Adrien returned home to Boston on Friday, the final night of his 10-day hardship roster exception. Friday's 2-for-1 trade with Houston and Philadelphia leaves the Wolves with the 15-man maximum roster. But Saunders won't decide until Saturday how the team will proceed: It could keep Adrien, add a backup center behind Gorgui Dieng or add another point guard.