The Boston Celtics were at home on Friday night looking to snap a three game losing streak when they took on the Minnesota Timberwolves, while the Boston Bruins took their show on the road to New Jersey to face the Devils.
At TD Garden, the Boston Celtics got 36 points from Jaylen Brown and 30 from Jayson Tatum as they bounced back from a slow start to outscore Minnesota by 14 in the second half for a 121-109 victory to end the three game slide.
Minnesota (16-17) led for a good portion of the first quarter as they held a seven point advantage after the opening 12 minutes. Boston took their lead back and led by as many as nine in the second at 50-41, but the Timberwolves ended the first half on a 15-4 run and led 56-54 at the break. The guests also led for a majority of the third quarter by as many as nine, before the C’s pushed back ahead by two and wouldn’t trail again. Brown took over in the fourth. Leading by one 95-94 with 9:39 left to play, Boston outscored Minnesota 21-5 over the next six minutes to stretch to the biggest lead of the night at 17. Brown would score 13 of those points during the run to put the game away, and had 23 of his 36 in that final period.
Brown added seven rebounds and three assists to his game high point total in the Boston win. Tatum added eight rebounds and five assists for his 30 points. Derrick White had 18 points, five rebounds, and three assists while Al Horford also got into double figures with 17 points, 11 rebounds, and three blocks. Anthony Edwards led five players in double figures in the loss for Minnesota with 30 points, six rebounds, four assists, and two blocks. The Celtics, who had lost their last three all at home (two to Orlando and one to Indiana), improve to 23-10 on the season and will host Milwaukee on Christmas Day at 5 p.m. in a battle of the top two teams in the Eastern Conference.
At the Prudential Center in Newark, the Boston Bruins scored four second period goals to take a 4-1 lead and then held on for a 4-3 victory over the New Jersey Devils.
Boston who was playing for a second consecutive night after a comeback win at home over Winnipeg on Wednesday, would allow New Jersey to take the early lead as Jack Hughes scored a powerplay goal at 16:36 of the first period for a 1-0 advantage. The Bruins exploded in the second as Patrice Bergeron tallied at 3:12 to tie it, and then David Pastrnak scored the next two at 4:34 and 9:52. Jake Debrusk capped off the big period with his 13th of the season and the game winner at 17:27. The Devils would creep closer thanks to goals from Tomas Tatar and Yegor Sharangovich at 11:01 and 13:47 of the third period, but were unable to find an equalizer as the guests hung on for the road win.
Pastrnak had the two goals to lead Boston (27-4-2) to the win. Debrusk had a goal and an assist, while David Krejci added two helpers. Linus Ullmark made 37 saves. Tatar had a goal and an assist, while Nico Hischier and former Bruin Dougie Hamilton had two assists a piece in the loss for New Jersey. MacKenzie Blackwood made 14 saves on 18 shots playing the first two periods, and Vitek Vanecek stopped all five shots he faced in the third. Boston is in Ottawa to take on the Senators on Tuesday, before heading back to New Jersey for a rematch with the Devils on Wednesday night.
Recaps written by Chris Lessner
