London ? Kevin Garnett will face his past before he gets on with his future.

The 2004 MVP and 10-time All-Star, who left the Minnesota Timberwolves to join the Boston Celtics in a huge offseason trade, will play against his former team for the first time today in an NBA preseason game at the O2 Arena in London.

“I haven’t really thought a lot about the past,” Garnett said. “I’m enjoying this journey. … That’s the focus now.”

Garnett came to the Celtics in a 7-for-1 deal – the NBA’s biggest trade for a single player. Ray Allen, another former All-Star, joined Boston in a separate deal, raising hopes that the team can add to its record 16 NBA titles.

All that is good news for Paul Pierce, the Kansas University product who has been Boston’s star player in recent years.

“I don’t have to score as much this year,” said Pierce, who led the Celtics with 25 points per game last season. “I don’t have to handle all the pressure every night.”

Garnett spent 12 years playing for the Timberwolves, leading Minnesota to the Western Conference finals in 2004, but he’ll face a team Wednesday that has very few familiar faces.

“A lot of players are gone now,” Garnett said. “It makes it a little more easy just knowing that a lot of people I did grow with are not there.”

The Timberwolves are starting over with a young core, coach Randy Wittman said.

“We’re not going to be able to plug one guy in to cover all the things he was able to do,” Wittman said of Garnett. “We’re not asking anyone to come in and be KG.”

Both teams already have played one preseason game in Europe, and both won. The Celtics beat the Toronto Raptors, 89-85, on Saturday in Rome, and the Wolves beat Turkish team Efes Pilsen, 84-81, in Istanbul.

Pierce, who scored a game-high 21 points against Toronto, thinks the trip to Europe is just the thing to help the team mesh ahead of the regular season, which will start Oct. 30.

“It seems like we’ve been teammates forever,” Pierce said. “I feel like it’s all coming together.”

The Celtics will open the regular season at home Nov. 2 against the Washington Wizards. Minnesota will play host to the Denver Nuggets the same night.

Today’s game is part of NBA Europe Live, which also includes the Raptors and the Memphis Grizzlies.

Late last month, the NHL opened its regular season at the O2 Arena. The Stanley Cup champion Anaheim Ducks and the Los Angeles Kings split the home-and-home series in the first regular-season games to be played in Europe.

On Oct. 28, the NFL will play a regular-season game at the rebuilt Wembley Stadium when the Miami Dolphins face the New York Giants.

Although the NBA game in London doesn’t count toward the regular season, it still has some cachet because of the Garnett factor.

Ryan Gomes, one of the players going in the opposite direction in the Garnett deal, is taking all the frenzy in stride.

“It’s part of the business. I guess I had to learn that firsthand,” the Timberwolves forward said.