I thought I was joking when I tweeted before Wednesday night’s game, playfully mocking the night’s matchup that pitted Oleksiy Pecherov against Kevin Garnett.

Shows you what I know.

Two days after the Wolves declined to pick up his $2.3 million contract extension for 2010-11, Pecherov delivered the performance of a young career with a 24-point night that lapped KG’s mere 12 (although he did have 11 rebounds to Pech’s 8).

It wasn’t enough to keep the Celtics from overcoming a 10-point third quarter deficit with a fourth quarter in which the Wolves scored just twice in the final five minutes and starters Al Jefferson, Jonny Flynn and Ryan Gomes all went scoreless.

Garnett, of course, ultimately provided the winning play, tying up Corey Brewer for a jump call called by referee David Jones with 3.6 seconds left as Brewer drove toward the tying hoop.

Rajon Rondo knocked the jump-ball tap back over halfcourt and out of bounds, but only nine-tenths of a second remained and all the Wolves could get from there was Jefferson’s desperation three-point heave at the buzzer that was partially blocked.

Afterward, the normally mild mannered Brewer stood at midcourt and stared down Jones because he, his teammates and the Target Center announced near-sellout crowd that wasn’t wearing green No. 5 Garnett jersey were screaming for a foul call.

They never got it.

In the locker room, Flynn suggested he knows first hand about the league’s star treatment, although he did say one call does not win or lose a game.

The Wolves had their chances, with Pecherov and Brewer each trying to carry them down the stretch with efforts that were both bold and out of control. In an attempt to win, they each made decisions that Kurt Rambis later said caused him to bite his lip.

Btw, they call it shooting guard for a reason, don’t they?

Brewer shot the ball 16 times against the Celtics, one time fewer than Jefferson.

On Monday in L.A., he shot it 21 times, five more than Jefferson. On Sunday in Phoenix, he shot it 18 times.

That’s 55 times in three games.

He made 20 of them. That’s 36.3 percent, pretty close to his career shooting average.

Before the game, somebody asked Wolves coach Kurt Rambis if he likes Brewer shooting that much and if those shots are good shots.

“Most of them, yeah,” Rambis said. “Sometimes, I disagrees with the shots. But I don’t want to take away his aggressive nature.”

The Wolves now have lost four straight after winning their season opener against New Jersey. They’ll practice today at Target Center and play Milwaukee at home on Friday night.

One last thing: Kevin Love got his stitches out of his hand during halftime and remains hopeful an xray two weeks from Friday will show his surgically repaired hand has healed enough for him to start practicing again.

That would be well ahead of schedule. He was expected to miss six to eight weeks when he broke that left hand Oct. 16 in Chicago.

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