Instead, the Wolves spotted the reigning champs an 18-point halftime lead that grew to 21 in the third quarter of a 109-101 loss.

Star center Al Jefferson, asked what that game and Friday's 132-119 whipping by the runner-up Los Angeles Lakers say about where this team stands, had a simple answer.

"Just that we can go out and play with the best of them," he said. "We've just got to do it for 48 minutes, not half of the time."

Jefferson did his part, with 34 points and 11 rebounds, and his slam dunk pulled the Wolves to within five with 5:20 remaining.

That was as close as they got, though, as Paul Pierce scored seven of his 36 points the rest of the way to give the Celtics their 11th straight win and extend Minnesota's losing streak to three.

Wolves coach Kevin McHale, returning to the city where he played for 13 seasons, called the game another "tale of two halves."

Jefferson, asked to explain his team's lackluster first-half performance, couldn't.

"We just want to sit back and wait," he said. "Especially against a team like that, we can't come out and let them hit us first. I don't know what we were thinking. I don't know if we were just caught up in the moment. I don't know what it is, but that's not the way to win."

When it was suggested that the Wolves played the first half like Garnett must have felt, rookie forward Kevin Love didn't disagree.

"It's on us," he said. "We played poorly."

That the Wolves did, committing nine first-half turnovers and shooting 27.8 percent (5 for 18) in the second quarter, when the Celtics used a 16-3 run to turn a five-point lead into a commanding 62-44 halftime advantage.

Boston pushed it to 21 points 3:10 into the second half on a fadeaway jumper by Garnett's replacement, Glen "Big Baby" Davis, but the Wolves weren't through.

A 15-2 run made it an eight-point game and Randy Foye hit two free throws to bring the visitors within 77-71 with 2:15 to play in the third.

The Celtics got it back up to 14, but the Wolves clawed back, and Jefferson's slam made it a 94-89 game with 5:20 remaining.

That was it, though, as Pierce scored the next seven Boston points to lift his team's record to an NBA-best 40-9.

"I just try to give the game what it needs," Pierce said. "Today, I thought it needed my scoring."

Ray Allen backed up Pierce with 22 points for the Celtics. Tony Allen had 14 off the bench.

Foye had 21 points and Ryan Gomes 17 for the Wolves (16-30), who will wind up this two-game road trip Tuesday night at Indiana.

The team did earn some respect in defeat from Celtics coach Doc Rivers.

"I tell you, they're going to be good," he said. "Al Jefferson offensively is very difficult to guard. Kevin Love is going to be a monster; he really is. He's a pain in the butt to keep off the glass."

Love had 10 rebounds in 25 minutes for the Wolves, who have suffered consecutive losses to the Detroit Pistons, Lakers and Celtics after a 10-2 start to January and only five more games before the all-star break.

Based on the past five days, they don't yet measure up to the NBA's elite, but they insist their confidence remains high.

"The confidence level, definitely," Foye said. "Because we felt we could have won every game. Everything that happened during the game today, it was nothing they did to us. It's what we did to ourselves."

In the end, that might be the biggest difference between these Wolves and teams like the Celtics and Lakers, who know what it takes to avoid the bad quarters and halves that cost lesser teams games.

"They don't have those stretches," Gomes said. "They play a game within a game. If they're missing seven jump shots, they're going to attack the basket seven more times. They've been to the top, they know what it takes to win at the highest level, so they know what they have to do to put the pressure on you."

Up next: Timberwolves at Pacers, 6 P.M. Tuesday, FSN