Garnett has a ball in a big comeback

Maybe Kevin Garnett’s slump really was caused by the NBA’s synthetic ball.

Garnett had 32 points and 14 rebounds in the NBA’s return to the old leather ball, and the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves rallied to beat Charlotte, 102-96, on Monday night.

Garnett was one of the most vocal critics of the NBA’s decision to go with the microfiber composite ball at the start of the season, and his numbers had dipped as well.

Garnett made nine of 29 shots in the previous two games with the synthetic ball.

In the first game with the old leather ball, Garnett made 12 of 18 shots and scored 13 points in the fourth quarter.

“There is a God,” Garnett said.

So is that really the reason Garnett broke out of a funk that saw him shoot 38% in the past four games?

“It looked like it,” guard Ricky Davis said. “Let’s just say, yeah.”

Davis added 25 points for Minnesota, and Mark Blount had 21. The Timberwolves trailed by 20 in the second quarter and by 12 early in the fourth.

Matt Carroll led the Bobcats with 23 points.

Boston 89, Portland 81 -- Tony Allen had 22 points and eight rebounds and the visiting Celtics ended a six-game losing streak by exploiting a 9:46 stretch in the fourth quarter in which the Trail Blazers went 0 for 11 from the field with five turnovers and only six points.

Boston led, 68-67, through three quarters.

Ryan Gomes added 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Celtics, who ended a five-game trip.

Rookie Brandon Roy had 18 points to lead the Trail Blazers, whose leading scorer, Zach Randolph, had only nine points on four-for-11 shooting in the team’s fifth loss in its last six games.

Traded to Boston last season, Sebastian Telfair had an uneventful return to Portland with two points and three assists in 17 minutes.

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Charlotte forward Gerald Wallace will be out at least a week because of a separated right shoulder suffered in Saturday’s victory at Indiana.