Bodog Beat

Leon Powe puts in the winning hoop for Boston on Friday night. (AP Images)

The fans at the Target Center came to see Kevin Garnett play. Instead they got to watch their former star watch one of the most exciting games the Minnesota Timberwolves figure to play this season.

With Garnett sitting out with an abdominal strain, the Boston Celtics struggled to the end against lowly Minnesota before pulling out a 88-86 victory. The underdog Timberwolves covered the point spread, which favored the Celtics by six.

Leon Powe recovered the ball underneath the Minnesota basket and laid in the winning basket at the buzzer as Boston escaped what would have been an embarrassing loss, K.G. or no K.G. Paul Pierce had 18 points and Ray Allen added 17 for the Celtics.

Garnett received a standing ovation from the crowd, many of whom watched him rise to the top of the NBA during his first 12 seasons in the league.

In other notable NBA games on Friday:

Denver 111, Washington 110: Carmelo Anthony scored a career-best 49 points and the Nuggets every single one to edge out the Wizards. Denver was favored by 12.5 at home but didn't come close to covering the spread.

Los Angeles Lakers 117, Orlando 113: The Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol Show is a hit for the Lakers. Bryant had 36 points and 10 boards and newly acquired Gasol scored 30 in Orlando. The Lakers were one-point favorites.

Cleveland 100, Atlanta 95: LeBron James scored 26 points to lead the Cavaliers on the road. The Cavs barely managed to cover the spread, which favored them by 3.5.

Phoenix 96, Seattle 90: Amare Stoudemire put up a double-double (31 points, 11 rebounds) as the Suns won at home, but the SuperSonics beat the 12-point spread.

Detroit 91, Portland 82: Chauncey Billups scored all 17 of his points in the first quarter as the Pistons took advantage of a Portland team missing star Brandon Roy. The visiting Trail Blazers beat the spread, which was 11 in Detroit’s favor.

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