Hayward keeps Celts on roll

MINNEAPOLIS — Gordon Hayward had a season-high 30 points and added nine rebounds and eight assists, helping the revived Boston Celtics win their third straight game by staving off the Minnesota Timberwolves 118-109 on Saturday night.

Hayward, now in a bench role after starting the season slowly, scored 11 of Boston’s final 15 points over the last 3 1⁄

2 minutes of the game and made four of five 3-pointers. Kyrie Irving had 21 points and nine assists, Jayson Tatum added 19 points and nine rebounds, and Marcus Morris had 16 points on 4-for-7 3-point shooting for the Celtics.

The Celtics lost eight of 12 games before starting their streak.

Derrick Rose scored 26 points for the Timberwolves, who fell to 9-4 at home and 7-3 since trading All-Star Jimmy Butler. Karl-Anthony Towns had 20 points and nine rebounds, and Robert Covington had 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Wolves, who allowed more than 103 points for the first time in eight games and saw their four-game winning streak stopped.

Despite missing six of his eight 3-point attempts, Irving was the natural catalyst for the Celtics for much of the night. When Andrew Wiggins couldn’t quite corral a loose ball at the top of the key on Minnesota’s end in the third quarter, Irving snagged it and raced the other way to feed Tatum for a lob pass and an easy dunk for a 67-55 lead by Boston.

After beating San Antonio by 39 points on Wednesday, the third-largest margin of victory in franchise history, the Wolves played just well enough to stay within striking distance the whole game and just lackluster enough to lose. Six of their 16 turnovers were traveling calls, part sloppy footwork and part bad luck.

Rose, who could find himself in a contest this spring with Hayward for the NBA’s sixth man of the year award, did his best to provide the energy and production off the bench. He opened the fourth quarter by sinking a mid-range jumper and hit a 3-pointer to bring the Wolves to 89-86.