BOSTON - Celtics coach Brad Stevens was curious how his team would play in its first game without Rajon Rondo.Boston did just fine.Moving the ball crisply one day after the NBA assists leader was traded to the Dallas Mavericks, the Celtics beat the struggling Minnesota Timberwolves 114-98 on Friday night.Im looking forward to seeing what kind of emotion we have, Stevens said before the game.Afterward, he said, We did a lot of good things. I thought the ball was moving great.Of course, it came against a team that lost for the 10th time in 11 games and fell to 5-20.Leading 95-92 midway through the fourth quarter, the Celtics scored the next eight points and 12 of 14 to take a 107-94 lead with 3:25 remaining. They stayed ahead by at least 12 the rest of the way.We played hard, got to the sixth-minute mark and we had a couple sequences where ... we turned it over, Minnesota coach Flip Saunders said.Kelly Olynyk scored 21 points to lead six Celtics in double figures during their third straight victory, all against teams that have combined for just 17 wins this season.Minnesota was led by Shabazz Muhammad with 26 points and Chase Budinger with a season-high 19 off the benchIt felt good, personally, Budinger said, but it didnt feel good that we still got beat.Jeff Green added 18 points for Boston and Jared Sullinger, Tyler Zeller and Avery Bradley had 14 each. Sullinger led all rebounders with 10.Without Rondo, seven Celtics had at least three assists and Bradley led them with seven.I was obviously down about Rondos departure, Bradley said. Hes like an older brother to me.Boston also outshot Minnesota 56.5 per cent to 45.2 per cent.We had our ups and downs, Olynyk said, but we were just playing together, moving the ball and everyone contributed. Thats a fun way to play.Neither team led by more than four points in the first quarter and the game was tied at 43 with 3 minutes left in the first half.Boston scored the next six points on a short jumper by Zeller, a 13-footer by Evan Turner, who started in place of Rondo, and two free throws by Bradley. Minnesota chipped away but still trailed 53-48 at halftime.The Celtics led 83-77 after the third quarter as Zeller scored 10 points in the period, many on layups after quick passes.The decisive spurt came after a layup by Thaddeus Young with 6:12 to go cut Bostons lead to 95-92.Rookie guard Marcus Smart then hit a 3-pointer, and Green dunked on a fast break after one steal and then hit a 3-pointer following another.Budinger stopped the eight-point run with a short turnaround shot, but consecutive layups by Smart and Sullinger made it 107-94.___CELTICS NEWCOMERSThe three players obtained from the Mavericks — Jameer Nelson, Brandan Wright and Jae Crowder — watched the game from the Celtics locker room. They already had watched video with Stevens soon after arriving in Boston.When he told me he was friends with Stan Van Gundy (Nelsons former coach in Orlando), I knew I was going to watch film right away, Nelson said with a smile.TIMBERWOLVES TRADEMinnesota traded veteran swingman Corey Brewer to Houston and centre Ronny Turiaf to Philadelphia in a three-team deal.Its kind of tough for the few veteran guys in here, guard Mo Williams said. We have a lot of young guys, but us veterans, we kind of did a lot together.TIP-INSTimberwolves: Muhammad was the top scorer for the second time in three games. He had 21 points, second-most on the team, in a 109-95 loss at Washington on Wednesday night. ... Andrew Wiggins scored just five points and missed eight of his 10 shots.Celtics: Boston began the game allowing the second-most points in the NBA in the fourth quarter, an average of 27.2, but outscored Minnesota 31-21. ... The Rondo trade also sent rookie forward Dwight Powell to Dallas. He and Olynyk are from Canada. Me and him are real good friends, so its tough to see both of them go, Olynyk said.UP NEXTTimberwolves: Host Indiana on Sunday night.Celtics: At Miami on Sunday night. New England Patriots Gear . - The Denver Broncos kept rookie wide receiver Tavarres King from joining the Green Bay Packers by promoting him to their active roster Tuesday. Stitched Patriots Jerseys . Western and the second-ranked Laval Rouge et Or (7-0) once again received 20 and 10 first-place votes from the Football Reporters of Canada panel, respectively. Rounding out the Top 10 are the Calgary Dinos (7-0), Queens Gaels (7-1), Guelph Gryphons (7-1), Montreal Carabins (5-2), Bishops Gaiters (5-2), McMaster Marauders (5-3), Manitoba Bisons (4-3) and the Saskatchewan Huskies (4-3) Western crushed York 50-10 last Saturday in its league finale to secure first place in the OUA standings and a bye in the first round of the conference playoffs. https://www.patriotsjerseysale.com/. -- Mississippi State was crushed twice by Florida last season, once by 35 points and the other by 25. Wholesale Patriots Jerseys . - Steve Kerr of the Golden State Warriors will coach the Western Conference in the All-Star Game on Feb. Fake Patriots Jerseys . -- Jim Furyk was 10 shots worse and right where he wanted to be Saturday in the BMW Championship.In honour of Dallas Eakins getting undone by percentages in Edmonton, here is a look at some players struggling with low on-ice shooting percentages. Players with low on-ice shooting percentages -- the cumulative shooting percentage of all players on the ice with that player when playing 5-on-5 -- particularly if different than previous seasons, should have a tendency to get better scoring rates going forward. LOW ON-ICE SH% PLAYERS Patrick Sharp – Limited to just 17 games by a knee injury, the Blackhawks’ sharpshooter has a modest 11 points (4 G, 7 A), while shooting a career-low 5.4% himself and posting a 4.1% on-ice shooting percentage this year, compared to 9.1% for his career. He’s also averaging a career-high 4.35 shots on goal per game. Buy. Low. Eric Staal – The Carolina centre has 16 points (7 G, 9 A) in 24 games, his 0.67 points per game standing as his lowest mark since his rookie year in 2003-04, but he’s stuck with 4.3% on-ice shooting percentage, compared to a career-mark of 8.4%. Aleksander Barkov – In his second season, the Panthers’ centre is playing against quality opposition with defensive zone starts, but he has four points (2 G, 2 A) in 19 games. With a 2.7% on-ice shooting percentage, which is low even for Florida, Barkov’s numbers are due to pick up. Patrik Elias – The 38-year-old Devils veteran has been a consistently productive force for a long time, but has just 12 points (3 G, 9 A) in 26 games this season. There is legitimate reason for concern with Elias, who is generating a career-low 1.23 shots on goal per game, but a 4.7% on-ice shooting percentage is a far cry from his typical 8.7%. Nail Yakupov – The third-year winger has flopped this year, with eight points (4 G, 4 A) in 31 games, and he’s had a terrible time generating shots lately (nine shots on goal in seven games this month). However, Yakupov’s 4.4% on-ice shooting percentage – compared to 7.9% for his career – makes him a natural candidate to get better results in Edmonton. HEROES Nikita Kucherov – The second-year Lightning winger had a goal and an assist in Tampa Bay’s 4-2 loss at Pittsburgh. Kucherov hasn’t gone more than a game without a point over the past 25 games, and he’s been one of the game’s premier 5-on-5 scorers this season. Among players with at least 300 minutes of 5-on-5 play: 5-on-5 POINTS PER 60 PLAYER TEAM POS EV PTS/60 Rick Nash N.Y. Rangers LW 3.97 Tyler Johnson Tampa Bay C 3.45 Nikita Kucherov Tampa Bay RW 3.42 Tyler Seguin Dallas RW 3.36 Ryan Strome N.Y. Islanders RW 3.26 Steve Downie – Scored a goal and added an assist in the 4-2 win over Tampa Bay, giving him five points (2 G, 3 A) in the past four games. Downie has 15 points (5 G, 10 A) in 30 games for the season. He may be a headache – there’s some reason that the Penguins are his fifth NHL stop in eight seasons (including twice with the Flyers) -- but Downie, who currently leads the league with 116 penalty minutes, provides a rare blend of skill and mayhem. Since the start of 2009-10, Downie trails only Scott Hartnell for points by players with at least 600 penalty minutes. Scott Gomez – Had a goal and an assist, with solid possession stats (22 shot attempts for, 14 against, 61.1%) in New Jersey’s 3-2 shootout loss at the Islanders. Gomez, who turns 35 next week, has six points (2 G, 4 A) in eight games since joining the Devils, playing primarily with Jaromir Jaagr and a rotating cast of characters (Martin Havlat, Travis Zajac, Mike Cammalleri), though his possession numbers (48.dddddddddddd6% Corsi, -1.9% CorsiRel) leave something to be desired. ZEROES Ruutu, Henrique, Ryder – This Devils trio was locked into the defensive zone against the Islanders, as all three were 15% of lower in possession terms, with Tuomo Ruutu (2 shot attempts for, 17 against, 10.5%) the worst of the bunch. John Tavares – The Islanders star was One shot attempt, blocked, and 42.9% possession against New Jersey, getting the worst when he ended up out against Jagr, Scott Gomez and Travis Zajac. Tavares has four points (2 G, 2 A) in the past seven games, and Monday’s 18:45 time on ice was his lowest in a game since late October. David Legwand – The Ottawa centre failed to register a shot attempt and had negative possession stats (45.5%) against Buffalo (yes, Buffalo). With 13 points in 30 games, Legwand is averaging 0.43 points per game, his lowest since his rookie year in 1999-2000. LINEUP NEED TO KNOW Ben Bishop – Tampa Bay’s starting goaltender pulled himself from the game following the first period at Pittsburgh with a lower-body injury. Veteran Evgeni Nabokov will be available to start in Bishop’s absence, but top prospect Andrei Vasilevskiy could also be an option if Bishop is going to be out for a while. The 19th overall pick in 2012, Vasilevski has a .918 save percentage in 14 AHL games this season, his first in North America. Erik Karlsson – Ottawa’s star blueliner played 34:02 at Buffalo in a 5-4 shootout loss, the second-highest single-game total of the season. Jonathan Drouin – It hasn’t been an easy time for the Lightning rookie, who has battled to keep a spot in the lineup with the deep Tampa Bay forward class, but Drouin scored a goal at Pittsburgh and started skating with Steven Stamkos and Ryan Callahan for a few shifts after starting the game with Cedric Paquette and J.T. Brown. Ryan Strome – The Islanders’ skilled young forward played a season-high 20:09 vs. New Jersey and, while he started most (83.3%) of his shifts in the offensive zone, Strome also held 80% possession (20 shot attempts for, 5 against). Jacob Trouba – Winnipeg’s second-year blueliner has 12 points (4 G, 8 A) in 31 games, and has been a steady part of an injury-plagued Jets defence, but now hes out until February, leaving a large hole for the Jets to fill. SHORT SHIFTS Sabres LW Marcus Foligno registered a goal and an assist against Ottawa, giving him four points (3 G, 1 A) during a three-game point streak…Devils RW Jaromir Jagr had two assists and 11 shot attempts (6 SOG) and D Marek Zidlicky had a goal and an assist in New Jersey’s 3-2 shootout loss at the Islanders. FIRSTS Curtis Lazar – It’s been a long time coming for Ottawa’s rookie winger, who finally scored his first NHL goal in a 5-4 shootout loss at Buffalo Monday. Lazar has seven points (1 G, 6 A) through 26 games played, removing himself from the list of forwards with the most shots without a goal this season. Brian Dumoulin – The Penguins blueliner scored his first NHL goal, in his 10th career NHL game, in Pittsburgh’s 4-2 win over Tampa Bay. Bryan Rust –In his second NHL game, the Penguins rookie was bumped up the depth chart to play with Blake Comeau and Evgeni Malkin and it resulted in his first career goal during the Penguins’ 4-2 win against Tampa Bay. Much of the data included comes from www.war-on-ice.com, www.puckalytics.com, www.hockeystats.ca and www.naturalstattrick.com Scott Cullen can be reached at scott.cullen@bellmedia.ca ' ' '