Final: Celtics 118, Wolves 109 -- Offense, Hayward carry C's to third straight win

It took one full season and 22 games this year, but we finally got a glimpse of what Gordon Hayward looks like in All-Star form. The swingman came off the bench to lead the C's with 30 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists, helping carry the visitors to a hard-fought 118-109 win over the surging Timberwolves at the Target Center on Saturday night. Kyrie Irving added 21 points and 9 assists in the victory, helping the C's earn their third straight win despite missing Jaylen Brown (sore back) for all three wins. 

Derrick Rose had a team-high 26 points off the bench for the Wolves, who had their four-game winning streak snapped. Boston improved to 2-3 on the second half of back-to-backs with the win and now get four days of rest before facing off again with the Knicks at the Garden on Thursday night.

First Half Notes

• Celtics come out playing cohesively on the offensive end. A lot of extra passes, resulting in good looks from 3-point range.


• Very little resistance early on defensively from the wings and some early foul trouble for Marcus Morris.


• Al Horford showing a nice job in the pick-and-roll defensively containing Jeff Teague but got little help from his teammates until the bench arrived. Smart was burned a couple times by guessing wrong.


• Gordon Hayward came into the game and helped right the ship on the defensive end with some steady work against the Wolves wings and solid help D.


• Also played some of his best offense in a Celtics uniform, crashing the glass hard, finding the open man and knocking down open looks. Finished with a team-high 13 points and 6 rebounds after first half.


• Only thing that slowed C's offense down early was turnovers. Some sloppy passing from Kyrie Irving (three) helped the Wolves get some transition buckets.


• Marcus Morris continues to knock down 3s (3-of-4) at an elite rate, raising his percentage from deep to 45 percent for the year.


• Solid stint from Daniel Theis against Karl-Anthony Towns with Baynes and Morris in foul trouble (three each) for the second half of second quarter.


• Towns and Wiggins were virtually non-factors in the first half. Taj Gibson doing some nice work on the offensive glass. Derrick Rose got his (12 points) but gave it back on the defensive end (-12)


• Smart shooting 6-of-12 from downtown since entering the starting five on Monday.


• Some very nice ball movement on the whole (16 assists on 20 baskets) against what has been the best defense in the league since the Jimmy Butler trade.

• Jaylen Brown traveled with the team to Minnesota on Friday night but is not expected to play after going through a workout on Saturday. It will be the third straight game that Brown misses due to a bruised back/tailbone. With four off days upcoming for Boston after tonight's game, there's a very high chance he'll be back on Thursday against the Knicks.


• Al Horford will be back in the lineup after getting a scheduled night off due to rest on Friday. Gordon Hayward will also play the second half of a back-to-back for the second time all year. He played 24 minutes on Friday in the win over the Cavs.


• The Wolves are one of the hottest teams in the Western Conference since the Jimmy Butler trade, winning four straight and seven of their last nine after acquiring Dario Saric and Robert Covington. The schedule has been friendly (only .500 team among victories was Portland) but it has allowed them to get back to .500 after a 4-9 start.


• Saturday will be a tough test for the C's pick-and-roll defense given the speed of the Wolves' backcourt with Derrick Rose (19 ppg off bench) and Jeff Teague running the show.