Posted at 11:37 a.m., Wednesday, October 10, 2007
NBA: Garnett helps Celtics beat former team in London
By Chris Lehourites
Associated Press
Garnett, the 2004 MVP and 10-time All-Star, scored only nine points, but did enough off the ball to help the Celtics win in his first game against the Timberwolves. He joined the Celtics in a 7-for-1 trade after 12 seasons in Minnesota.
The Celtics ran away from the Timberwolves late in the second quarter. A 15-6 run gave Boston a 50-43 lead at the half, and a 15-5 run to start the third pushed the lead to 65-48 at London's O2 Arena.
Garnett scored only two points during the stretch before halftime, but he set up Kendrick Perkins for two straight dunks and had a steal in between. Allen, Boston's other big offseason addition, had nine of the 15 points at the beginning of the third.
Boston's new "Big Three" of Garnett, Allen and Paul Pierce sat out the fourth quarter, and the Timberwolves went on an 8-0 run to cut the lead to 80-75 with 6:53 to go.
The teams traded the lead throughout the first quarter and the start of the second. Ricky Davis scored 16 of Minnesota's 22 points in the first quarter, hitting four 3-pointers.
The Timberwolves started the game with three former Celtics on the court — Ryan Gomes, Theo Ratliff and Sebastian Telfair.
Garnett made his first field goal late in the first quarter, dunking from the baseline to give the Celtics an 18-17 lead. But he also got called for traveling several times, including two straight infractions that were followed by a bad miss from the field.
The Celtics were 11-of-21 from the free throw line in the first half, with Pierce going 4-for-9. Boston's leading scorer last season was 2-for-2 in third, however.
Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton drew one of the biggest cheers of the night when he was shown on the video screen. Celtics great Bill Russell also drew a huge cheer when he was introduced at center court during the second quarter along with Rick Barry and B.J. Armstrong.
Today's game was part of NBA Europe Live, which also includes the Toronto Raptors and the Memphis Grizzlies. The Celtics beat the Raptors 89-85 Saturday in Rome, and the Wolves beat Turkish team Efes Pilsen 84-81 in Istanbul.
Late last month, the NHL opened its regular season at the O2 Arena. The Stanley Cup champion Anaheim Ducks and the Los Angeles split the home-and-home series in the first regular-season games to be played in Europe. On Oct. 28, the NFL will play a regular-season game at the rebuilt Wembley Stadium when the Miami Dolphins face the New York Giants.
