Minnesota rallies against Celtics, Jokic continues triple-double pace

The Celtics, second in the Eastern Conference, said goodbye in front of their home fans to a four-game winning streak with a loss to Minnesota, a team that hadn't won in Boston since 2005. The team of Jaylen Brown (29 points) and Jayson Tatum (16) dominated the Timberwolves by 15 points at the start of the second quarter but the visitors did not throw in the towel even with the absence of their star, Anthony Edwards, who has been out for a week due to inflammation in his right knee.

A 16-0 run by the Wolves down the stretch silenced the 19,156 fans at TD Garden, who had seen their team beat Minnesota 18 straight times.

Backup point guard Bones Hyland led Minnesota off the bench with 23 points, while forward Jaden McDaniels contributed 19 and Ayo Dosunmu, recently drafted from the Chicago Bulls, another 17.

Minnesota improved its record to 44 wins and 28 losses and remains in sixth place in the West.

The Nuggets get to play with their luxury quintet

Also in the West, the Denver Nuggets beat the Portland Trail Blazers 128-112 with 22 points, 14 rebounds and 14 assists from Nikola Jokic. The Serbian center thus completed the triple double 192 of his exceptional NBA career, in which he has won a championship ring and three MVP (Most Valuable Player) awards.

Jokic, 31, is still closing in on the record of 209 triple doubles held by Russell Westbrook, his former Denver teammate and current Sacramento Kings player.

With another 22 points from Jamal Murray, the Nuggets improved their record to 44-28 to retain fifth place in the West. The win also served Denver as a rehearsal for the playoffs, as it was unusually able to field its full starting five, which completes Cam Johnson, Aaron Gordon and Christian Braun, and celebrated the return of Peyton Watson to support from the bench.

"We know we have a good team and it's been a while since we've had them at full strength," said Watson, who had been side-lined since early February, in remarks picked up by AFP. "I think, when we're healthy, nobody can beat us."

Knicks and Suns wins

In other games, the New York Knicks posted a comfortable 145-113 win over the Washington Wizards with 26 points and 16 rebounds from Karl-Anthony Towns.

With a sixth straight win, the New York franchise moved just one win away from snatching second place in the East from the Celtics.

The Phoenix Suns, meanwhile, outplayed the Toronto Raptors 120-98 at the close of the day with 25 points from leading scorer Devin Booker and another 20 from Jalen Green.