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Kevin Martin drops game-high 21 in return as Timberwolves down Celtics

Jesse Johnson / USA Today Sports

Watching the Minnesota Timberwolves early in the season, you saw the seeds of something there. Not a playoff contender, or anything close to it, but at least an interesting collection of raw and unique talent, which could ultimately coalesce into a frisky, dangerous squad. 

Then the Timberwolves got hammered by injuries, losing three of their starters in point guard Ricky Rubio, center Nikola Pekovic and shooting guard Kevin Martin. With those guys on the shelf, the Wolves managed to get their young guns - particularly rookies Andrew Wiggins and Zach LaVine - some serious burn, which will benefit them down the road. 

But it was also pretty painful to watch a once-intriguing team devolve into a doormat, as the Wolves suffered through a 15-game losing streak and crashed to the bottom of the NBA standings. 

Pekovic is back now, and Martin returned Wednesday from the right wrist fracture that had kept him out since Nov. 19. Suddenly, the Wolves are starting to look frisky again.

In Martin's return, they thumped the Boston Celtics 110-98, a game they led for the entire second half. 

Martin, who had back-to-back season-high scoring outputs (with 34 and 37 points, respectively) in the two games before succumbing to wrist surgery, seemed to have barely missed a beat. 

He played 29 minutes off the bench, scoring a game-high 21 points to go along with four rebounds in the win, helping the Wolves snap a five-game losing skid.  

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