The Kevin Garnett era, Vol. II will wait, but his Minnesota Timberwolves will visit the Toyota Center Monday night to battle the Houston Rockets.
Garnett, who was acquired at the trade deadline in exchange for Thaddeus Young, will make his Minnesota re-debut at home Wednesday night against the Washington Wizards. Garnett spent the first 12 seasons in the league with the Timberwolves.
Despite missing the game, Garnett's T-wolves defeated the Phoenix Suns, 111-109, Friday night at home.
Kevin Martin scored 28 points with six rebounds to lead Minnesota. Andrew Wiggins tallied 20 points and Ricky Rubio checked in with 10 points and 14 assists for the Timberwolves, who snapped a two-game losing streak.
"We're a special team, we're getting better every game," Wiggins said.
Nikola Pekovic, who had 16 points with 11 rebounds, netted a pair of baskets over the next two-plus minutes to give the hosts a 106-103 lead.
Each team traded free throws before Markieff Morris knocked down two free throws to cut the deficit back to one with 34.3 seconds on the clock. Rubio found Wiggins inside at the other end for a layup that kept Minnesota up three with 17.6 ticks left.
Bledsoe missed a point-blank layup out of a timeout, Gorgui Dieng corralled the rebound and the Timberwolves held on.
The Rockets snapped a two-game losing streak on Saturday night with a 98-76 home drubbing of the Toronto Raptors. Houston fell in Dallas on Friday night, but pulled away in the third quarter on Saturday.
Corey Brewer had 26 points, 10 rebounds and five steals to pace the Rockets. James Harden posted 20 points and seven assists, while Donatas Motiejunas added 12 points and 11 boards for the Rockets, who had dropped three of their last four games.
After Patrick Patterson's tip-in pulled Toronto within 56-52, Houston closed the frame on a 12-1 run. Harden netted seven points during the surge, which was capped on Brewer's reverse layup for a 68-53 cushion.
A 7-0 Rockets spurt extended the margin to 75-55 with 8:49 remaining and they cruised to the victory from there.
"Last night was a rough game," Brewer said. "We didn't have any energy coming back from the break and it bit us pretty bad. So, tonight I felt like personally I had to bring energy because last night I didn't have any energy myself. So, I just tried to come out and play hard and everything worked out tonight."
Houston will host the LA Clippers, Brooklyn Nets and Cleveland Cavaliers during this residency.
The Rockets won both meetings this season and three straight at home in this series.
[SportsNetwork.com]
