BOSTON (AP) – Kevin Garnett is at a loss to explain the Minnesota Timberwolves’ home-court struggles and road-game success.

Sam Cassell had 27 points and nine assists and Garnett added 27 points and 12 rebounds for Minnesota in a 116-95 win over the Boston Celtics on Monday night, the Timberwolves’ fifth straight road victory.

“We’re in a rhythm on the road and I’m not sure why,” Garnett said. “For whatever reason, we’re playing better on the road right now. It’s unexplainable like a lot of things in this league.”

The win snapped Minnesota’s three-game losing streak against the Celtics and also ended Boston’s season-high five-game winning streak.

“They’ve got a very good team,” Boston’s Vin Baker said. “We pushed our way back, but they made some shots and it was tough for us to recover. They’re an excellent team, one of the better teams we’ve seen all year – if not the best team.”

Paul Pierce finished with 15 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds for the Celtics. Walter McCarty led Boston with 17 points.

Boston was without three players after making a trade with Cleveland prior to the game that sent Eric Williams, Tony Battie and Kedrick Brown to the Cavaliers for Ricky Davis, Chris Mihm and Michael Stewart.

Boston cut a seven-point halftime lead to 57-55 on Vin Baker’s layup one minute into the third quarter, but the Timberwolves responded with a 14-5 run over the next four minutes to take control. Latrell Sprewell and Cassell each scored four points in the spurt.

The Celtics were held to less than 100 points for the first time in seven games. The Timberwolves, who are 4-5 at home, improved to 10-4 on the road and have won 10 of their last 12 away from the Target Center.

Minnesota set a franchise record with 33 home victories last season and won 17 consecutive games at the Target Center.

Center undergoes

knee surgery

Raef LaFrentz will be lost indefinitely to the Boston Celtics after undergoing knee surgery on Monday.

The forward-center had been on the injured list because of tendinitis in his right knee. The surgery went “better than expected,” said Danny Ainge, Boston’s executive director of basketball operations.