The Wolves’ rally falls just short in a loss to the defending champion Celtics

Naz Reid had a good look at a potential game-winning 3-pointer. It bounced off the rim.

A furious fourth-quarter rally by the Timberwolves fell just short as they fell 107-105 to the defending champion Boston Celtics on Sunday afternoon at TD Garden in Boston. It’s Minnesota’s second loss in a row.

The Wolves (8-8) trailed by as many as 19 points in the third quarter, but trimmed their deficit and found themselves in a one-possession game in the waning minutes. Anthony Edwards hit a clutch 3 and Julius Randle found a cutting Jaden McDaniels their next possession to make it a 104-102 game with just over two minutes left.

But Jaylen Brown, who finished with a game-high 29 points for the Celtics (14-3), drilled a 3 from the top of the key with 1 minute, 15 seconds left to put Boston within seven. Randle made 1 of 2 from the free throw line the next possession and Donte DiVincenzo handed it to him for a layup a possession later that cut it to 107-105.

After reaching a critical stop, Wolves coach Chris Finch called a pair of timeouts with 7.1 seconds left to advance the ball. Edwards got the ball, drove, kicked it out to McDaniels, who made the extra pass to Reid at the top of the key. It was a pretty good look, but the shot just wasn’t falling. It was an excellent rally, but Minnesota fell just short.

The effort was encouraging after Thursday’s dysfunctional loss to the Toronto Raptors. The Wolves didn’t look like that team on Sunday, even without Mike Conley, who was ruled out before the game with a sprained toe. DiVincenzo got his first start of the season in his place and finished his night with 11 points, three rebounds and a pair of assists.

Edwards led the Wolves with a team-high 28 points, Randle had 23 points and six rebounds and Rudy Gobert took advantage of the small Celtics lineup with 10 points and 20 rebounds, eight of which came on the offensive glass.

Jayson Tatum had 26 points and eight rebounds. Derrick White scored 19, 10 of which came in the fourth quarter.

Rob Dillingham put together his best game in a Timberwolves uniform, playing a career-high 16 minutes and scoring a career-high 14 points, his first double-digit performance. He also had an assist and finished with a plus-minus of plus-2.

The Wolves bench was quiet apart from Dillingham with 23 points in total from the reserves.

In the end, the Wolves didn’t get it done, but it was an effort they piled on going forward. They’ll need a similar intensity when they host the Houston Rockets on Tuesday night at Target Center at 7 p.m. 19 for more NBA Cup action.