Paul Pierce had 23 points and seven rebounds and the Boston Celtics rallied after blowing a 25-point lead to beat the host Minnesota Timberwolves 85-82 on Sunday.

Kevin Garnett had 13 points and 13 rebounds while Ray Allen and Nenad Krstic had 11 points apiece for the Celtics (51-21), who led 38-13 in the second quarter but trailed 73-72 with five minutes left in the game.

Pierce scored five straight points that put Boston up 77-73 with 3:26 remaining. He hit two free throws with 19 seconds left that restored a five-point edge as Boston halted a two-game losing streak and remained one-half game ahead of Miami for the second spot in the Eastern Conference.

Michael Beasley had 28 points and 10 rebounds as Minnesota (17-57) lost its seventh straight game. Anthony Tolliver had 16 points and 15 rebounds and Darko Milicic added 15 points and nine rebounds for the Timberwolves, who were without All-Star forward Kevin Love (groin) for the third straight game.

All-Star point guard Rajon Rondo of Boston missed the contest with a sore right pinkie finger.

The Celtics rolled off 17 unanswered points to take a 22-5 lead. Garnett capped the spurt with a dunk and Allen hit a 3-pointer to make it 28-8 with 3:59 left in the quarter.

The lead grew to 25 early in the second quarter but Minnesota rallied and eventually caught the Celtics at 62-62 on Luke Ridnour’s free throw with 14 seconds to go in the third quarter.