LONDON - Ray Allen scored 28 points and Kevin Garnett chipped in against his former team in the Boston Celtics' 92-81 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves in an NBA pre-season game Wednesday.</p> 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.</p> 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.</p> 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 off-season addition, had nine of the 15 points at the beginning of the third.</p> 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.</p> 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 three-pointers.</p> The Timberwolves started the game with three former Celtics on the court - Ryan Gomes, Theo Ratliff and Sebastian Telfair.</p> 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 travelling several times, including two straight infractions that were followed by a bad miss from the field.</p> 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.</p> 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 centre court during the second quarter along with Rick Barry and B.J. Armstrong.</p> Wednesday'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.</p> 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.</p> The Canadian Press</p>
