Rajon Rondo had 18 points and six assists, as the Boston Celtics hung on to beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 92-90, to remain unbeaten for the 2009-10 season.
Ray Allen added 14 points and five assists for the Celtics, who are 6-0 for the second time in three years. Boston went 8-0 two seasons ago, when it won its first title since 1986.
Kevin Garnett, the former franchise player in Minnesota, contributed 12 points and 11 rebounds in the win. Kendrick Perkins had 13 points, and Paul Pierce 10 for the Celtics.
"(Minnesota) is a much-improved team. They're at home, we're only coming here once," Garnett said. "We pretty much wanted to jump on them, but they're young. They play with a lot of energy, they play hard. They have a lot of young faces. So the future is bright here."
Oleksiy Pecherov had a career-high 24 points on 9-of-14 shooting for the T'Wolves, who have lost four straight since winning their season opener. Pecherov scored 15 points in the second half and demolished his old career high by nine points.
Al Jefferson added 18 points, and Corey Brewer had 13 in defeat. Jonny Flynn scored 10 points and dished out five assists for Minnesota.
"It was fun, but I wish we could have gotten the win," Minnesota's Ramon Sessions said. "We're not feeling good about this just because it was close. We should have gotten the win. There's no moral victories in this league."
Trailing by eight to start the third quarter, Boston tied the contest at 68 with 2 1/2 minutes left on the heels of a 14-6 run. The game entered the fourth quarter tied at 72 after Eddie House drained a three-pointer at the buzzer.
The teams went back-and-forth in the fourth quarter, with neither holding more than a three-point lead until the final two minutes.
Rondo's layup with 4:18 to go put Boston in front, 89-88, and Perkins' layup 1 1/2 minutes later after several failed possessions made it a three-point game.
A Perkins free throw with 1:31 left pushed the lead to four, but Pecherov drained a baseline jumper for Minnesota on the ensuing possession to make it 92-90.
Ryan Gomes missed a three-pointer with a chance for the lead seconds later, but the T'Wolves had the last possession, down by two, after a missed shot by Pierce.
Brewer was tied up by Garnett for a jump ball with 3.6 seconds left, and Pierce tipped it back into the T'Wolves' side of the court with 0.9 seconds remaining. A desperation shot by Jefferson was blocked to end the game.
Jefferson scored 13 points in the first quarter on 6-of-10 shooting, and the Timberwolves held a 29-22 lead heading to the second.
Boston fought back to tie the game at 33 with 6 1/2 minutes left in the first half, but Minnesota finished the second quarter on a 16-8 run to take a 49-41 halftime lead.
Game Notes
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