Garnett back with Boston crowd after knee injury

BOSTON—Kevin Garnett had 10 points and eight rebounds in his first game at the Boston Garden in more than seven months, and the Celtics beat the New York Knicks 96-82 in an exhibition game on Friday night.

Rasheed Wallace played his first game for the Celtics in Boston and had 13 points and 12 rebounds. He even avoided drawing a technical foul from the replacement referees after picking one up in the preseason opener.

There were no apparent issues with the substitute officials, who called 75 fouls in Boston’s 96-90 loss to Houston in Hidalgo, Texas, on Wednesday night. The BA has locked out its regular referees because of a labor dispute.

Kendrick Perkins scored 14 points, Ray Allen had 13 and Paul Pierce scored nine on 4-for-12 shooting for Boston.