Milwaukee ? Kevin Garnett and Wally Szczerbiak made sure Gary Payton didn’t enjoy his home debut.

Garnett had 34 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists, helping the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Milwaukee Bucks 117-114 Monday in Payton’s first game in Milwaukee since joining the team.

Szczerbiak made all 12 of his free throws and added 26 points for Minnesota, which has won four straight and 10 of 11 overall. Garnett and Szczerbiak combined to score 13 of the Timberwolves’ final 16 points.

“With Gary here now, they’re a little more edgy, a little more aggressive, a little more feisty,” Garnett said. “If I was to credit anything, it was our defense. Our defense is what’s winning games for us.”

Minnesota led 89-72 at the start of the fourth quarter and took a 112-104 lead when Troy Hudson made two free throws with 43.2 seconds left.

But Milwaukee rallied, tying a season high with 42 points in the fourth, and cut the lead to two, 116-114, when Sam Cassell stole a pass and fed Desmond Mason for a layup with 2 seconds left. Hudson, who had 21 points, made one free throw and Garnett stole the inbounds pass to seal the victory.

Garnett, averaging 28.2 points and 14.2 rebounds in February, now has an NBA-best 47 double-doubles. He was also 12-of-16 from the free-throw line.

“We were able to exploit some things inside,” Minnesota coach Flip Saunders said. “We’ve got an MVP player in Garnett that’s playing at an extremely high level, and Wally’s playing like an All-Star.”

Payton, a nine-time All-Star, finished with a team-high 21 points and nine assists. It was his first game in Milwaukee since he and Desmond Mason were traded Thursday from Seattle in exchange for Ray Allen, Kevin Ollie, Ronald Murray and a conditional 2003 draft pick. In his first game with the Bucks, a 93-90 win Saturday at Portland, Payton led the Bucks with 22 points.

“I think we all know we’ve got to play a little better defense than what we’re doing,” Payton said. “We play better defense we win this basketball game.”

Minnesota's Kevin Garnett, left, is fouled by Milwaukee's Ervin Johnson. The Timberwolves beat the Bucks, 117-114, Monday in Milwaukee.

It was Minnesota’s eighth consecutive victory over Milwaukee.

The Bucks, who lost for the fifth time in six games, also got 19 points from Michael Redd and 18 points and seven assists from Cassell.

“It’s a loss, and it’s always hard to feel good about a loss,” Milwaukee coach George Karl said.

Rockets 101, Celtics 95

Boston — Cuttino Mobley had 31 points and 10 rebounds, hitting a three-pointer to send the game into OT and another to give Houston the lead for good.

Steve Francis returned after missing a game because of a sore back and scored 33 with nine rebounds and nine assists, hitting two free throws with 20 seconds left in overtime.

A sellout crowd turned out for Asian-American Night but saw Yao Ming held to nine points on two shots in his first-ever game in Boston.

Antoine Walker had 22 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists, and Eric Williams had 11 points and 11 boards as the Celtics lost to the Rockets for the fifth consecutive time.

Grizzlies 103, Jazz 92

Memphis, Tenn. — Wesley Person scored 27 points and shot 6-of-10 from three-point range, helping Memphis beat Utah for the first time in four tries.

Karl Malone scored 22 points to lead the Jazz, and Matt Harpring added 21. John Stockton had 13.

Bulls 90, Suns 87

Chicago — Jalen Rose recorded his first career triple-double and scored the final seven points, helping Chicago beat Phoenix.

Rose had 19 points, 11 assists and 14 rebounds as Chicago snapped a three-game losing streak. Phoenix extended its losing streak to four.

Warriors 94, Nuggets 89

Denver — Gilbert Arenas had 19 points and Golden State got 56 points from its bench in handing Denver its ninth straight loss. Reserves Earl Boykins and Chris Mills had 14 points each as the Warriors bench outscored Denver’s by 26.

Sonics 86, Pistons 79

Seattle — Ray Allen, playing his first game in Seattle since being traded for Gary Payton last week, scored 14 of his 23 points in the second half as the SuperSonics beat Detroit.

Allen, a three-time All-Star, also had eight assists.

Richard Hamilton scored 22 points and Ben Wallace had 17 rebounds for the Pistons.