Love Triumphant in Head-to-head 'kevin' Showdown

Kevin Love had 17 points, 16 rebounds and four assists in just 28 minutes, and the Timberwolves beat Kevin Garnett for the first time since he left Minnesota in a 111-81 victory over the woeful Brooklyn Nets on Friday night.

Nikola Pekovic had 15 points and seven boards and the Wolves blew the game open after Garnett received a technical and a flagrant foul for getting physical with Love in the paint. The testy exchange ignited Minnesota's 16-0 run in the third quarter.

Garnett finished with eight points and eight rebounds in 21 minutes. He had been 7-0 against the Wolves since being traded to Boston in 2007. But these aging, banged-up Nets were no match for the Timberwolves. Mikhail Prokhorov's US$190 million team has lost four in a row and seven of its last eight to fall to 3-9.

Pacers 97, Celtics 82

Paul George scored 27 points and led a comeback from an eight-point halftime deficit to help Indiana improve on the best record in the Eastern Conference with a win over Boston.

Trailing 50-42 at halftime, Indiana outscored Boston 25-8 in the third quarter to take a 67-58 lead. It was the Celtics' lowest scoring quarter of the season. The Pacers kept rolling with a 30-24 fourth quarter and improved to 11-1.

George had 22 points in the second half.

Jordan Crawford had a season-high 24 points, but just five in the second half, and Jeff Green added 20...