KG's 1st game in Target Center is a rout

MINNEAPOLIS(AP) Kevin Garnett has moved on.The
championship trophy he earned with Boston last season made it all too
easy to put 12 years of mostly mediocre basketball in Minnesota behind
him.
The Timberwolves are trying to move on as well without the
only star the franchise has ever had. They have jettisoned all but four
of his former teammates in the last 16 months, changed the look of
their home court and redesigned their uniforms in the massive makeover.
But moving on is hard to do when KG still owns Target Center.In
his first game on the court since being traded before last season,
Garnett scored 17 points to help his Celtics cruise to a 95-78 victory
Friday night.
Every bucket he scored was cheered by the
Timberwolves faithful who latched on to him as a skinny 18-year-old kid
drafted in 1995 and still are coming to grips with the fact that he's
now frolicking in greener - literally and figuratively - pastures.
"It's
always good to go somewhere and feel the love in the building,''
Garnett said. "It's even better to win in the place I used to play. It
was a good feeling. There was a lot of great energy in the building. I
was just blessed that the people came out, so thank you, fans.''
Al
Jefferson scored 23 points for the Timberwolves. But he shot just
8-of-20 and the Timberwolves were shooting a jaw-dropping 23 percent
heading into the fourth quarter before finishing at 31 percent.
The
Celtics outscored Minnesota 35-10 in the decisive third quarter, with
Garnett putting away two alley-oop passes and throwing down two more
dunks to the delight of hundreds of fans wearing his No. 5 Celtics
jersey and still more sporting his old blue No. 21.
"We just
relented into it,'' Wolves coach Randy Wittman said. "We didn't try to
fight through and find ways to get to the free throw line more.''
Garnett
was injured in Boston's only game here last season. That kept him from
playing in the arena he called home for 12 brilliant seasons.
He
was fully healthy this time around - and carrying a little extra bling
with him. The Celtics captured that long-sought NBA title for Garnett
in his first season in Boston, giving him a big, shiny ring to match
the huge diamond studs he wears in his ears.
Garnett shot 8-of-12 and did all the little things he excelled at in his beloved 'Sota.
In
the middle of the 11-0 run that closed out the third period, Garnett
delivered a teeth-rattling pick on Wolves guard Randy Foye, then
swatted away a jumper by Sebastian Telfair.Still searching for
an identity in the post-KG Era, Minnesota made only two field goals in
the period and fell to 2-9 on the season.
Jefferson, the lynchpin
of the seven-player package Boston sent to Minnesota for Garnett, was
no match. He missed 11 of his first 15 shots as the Wolves wilted.
"He's
a competitor. I'm a competitor,'' Garnett said. "He's trying to make
his franchise better. I'm trying to win another championship. Two
different players at two different stages in their career.''
There
were plenty of empty seats in the house, perhaps the most concrete sign
yet that Minnesota has finally come to grips that the only pro
basketball star this generation of fans has ever known is gone and not
coming back.
Stone-faced, Garnett went through his warmups as if
it were any other game in any other venue, with that trademark
intensity smoldering from the moment he stepped on the court.He
was introduced first and received a standing ovation, but nothing
compared to the thunderous welcome he got in his first game back in
this building last February, though he did not play with an abdominal
injury.
"It's just another team that I play against,'' Garnett said. "I don't put no more or no less than that into it.''But Boston coach Doc Rivers wasn't buying that for one second.
"Obviously
this one is special,'' Rivers said. "His job is to try to stay as
focused as possible for a game, but clearly this is special for him. He
knows that. We all know that.''Notes: Before the game, the
Celtics sent rookie F Bill Walker down to Utah in the NBDL. Walker has
not appeared in a game this season. "We just want him to play,'' Rivers
said. ... Wolves G Rashad McCants sat out the game with back spasms.
... Newly crowned UFC heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar, a former wrestler
at the University of Minnesota, was in attendance.