Celtics 104, T'wolves 94

Kevin Garnett scored 18 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and remained unbeaten against his former team as Boston beat Minnesota Wednesday night in Rajon Rondo's return from a two-game suspension.

The Celtics improved to 10-0 since they acquired Garnett from the Timberwolves during the summer of 2007. They also won for the 11th straight time against Minnesota.

Boston went 1-1 without Rondo, suspended for his role in a scuffle during a game against the Brooklyn Nets last Wednesday.

Rondo had 17 points and 11 assists. Paul Pierce scored 18, Jason Terry 17 and Brandon Bass 12.

Kevin Love led the Timberwolves with 19 points and 13 rebounds. Nikola Pekovic had 14 with nine boards.

Minnesota went just 6 for 19 from 3-point range one night after hitting a season-high 13 3s in a win over Philadelphia.

Boston, which led by seven entering the final quarter, scored 11 of the initial 14 points in the fourth and opened a 90-75 lead on Terry's 3 from the left wing with 7:50 to play. The Timberwolves went nearly 5 minutes without a basket.

The Celtics maintained between a 14 and 12-point lead over the next 3 minutes, keeping the Timberwolves from making a run by nailing a handful of free throws before a spinning, crowd-pleasing basket by Rondo made it 100-85 with 3 1-2 minutes left.

Knicks 100, Bobcats 98

With Carmelo Anthony nursing a sore finger, the New York Knicks turned to J.R. Smith for the last shot and he delivered.

Smith hit a fallaway jumper from the left wing as time expired to give the Knicks a victory over Charlotte.

Anthony scored 20 of his 23 points in the first half, but went cold in the second half and wasn't on the floor for the final 2:10 after injuring his right hand diving into the Knicks' bench for a loose ball.

Knicks coach Mike Woodson said Anthony received five stitches in the middle finger of his right hand.

Tyson Chandler had 18 points and 17 rebounds for the Knicks. Smith finished with 13 points.

Former UConn star Kemba Walker had 25 points and 11 rebounds for the Bobcats (7-10), who have lost five straight games since equaling last season's win total. Gerald Henderson scored 11 of 18 points in the fourth quarter in his second game back after a 13-game layoff.

The Bobcats appeared in position to win late in the game after a miss by Raymond Felton with 14 seconds left, but rookie Michael Kidd-Gilchrist made an ill-advised pass toward the top of the key and Smith stepped in front of it to intercept it.

After a timeout, Smith drove to the left side and hit an 18-footer over Kidd-Gilchrist.

Anthony came in averaging 30.6 points over the past six games and sharp early, hitting seven of his first 11 shots from the field for 20 points.

But he missed his first 10 shots of the second half.

Anthony drove hard to the lane at one point and put up a layup but was blocked by Bismack Biyombo, who gave him the Dikembe Mutumbo finger wag as Anthony pleaded for a goaltending call. Anthony didn't hit his first field goal of the second half until 2:35 remained in the game.