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 Jefferson had 26 points and 20 rebounds, and Gomes added 25 points and 10 rebounds to help the Timberwolves to a 83-67 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday night.
After a horrendous start to the night on offense for both teams, the Wolves closed the third period with an 11-0 run and added a 15-6 spurt in the fourth to avenge a loss to the Bulls on Tuesday night.
Jefferson made 10 of 20 shots and Gomes was 12-for-24, but their teammates were a combined 12-for-49 (24 percent) from the field.
Kirk Hinrich had 14 points and nine assists for Chicago, but was just 5-for-17 from the field and the Bulls committed 22 turnovers and shot 33.3 percent. Their 67 points were a season low.
The banged-up Bulls are still missing guard Ben Gordon, who was out for the fifth straight game because of a sprained right wrist. Luol Deng hasn't played in more than a week due to an injured left Achilles tendon and Joe Smith didn't make the trip because of the flu.
Since Gordon has been out, Hinrich has found an offensive rhythm. He scored a career-high 38 in the first game without his backcourt mate and had 27 in a victory over the Wolves on Tuesday.
It was a rare home-and-away, back-to-back series. The two teams played in Chicago on Tuesday night, when the Bulls held the Timberwolves to a season-low 15 points in the first quarter and cruised to a 96-85 victory.
Frigid temperatures and high winds delayed both teams' flights out of the Windy City, and to say they looked ragged at the start of this one would be putting it kindly.
It would be more accurate to say the start of Game 2 set offensive basketball back decades.
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Both teams missed their first nine shots of the game, and the score was 3-2 at the 5:25 mark of the first quarter.
The Wolves scored a season-low eight points, shooting 14 percent (3-for-21) and committing seven turnovers. Sebastian Telfair missed two open layups and Jefferson missed a wide open dunk during their 0-for-9 start.
The Bulls made just two of their first 14 field goals, were 5-for-19 from the field and had five turnovers, including a double-dribble call on Joakim Noah, on their way to 14 points.
Things got back to normal in the second quarter, with the Wolves making their first three shots and scoring eight points in the first 1:07.
But still, the Bulls led just 34-33 at halftime.
Notes: Noah got his second straight start in place of Smith. He had 10 points and eight rebounds. ... Timberwolves G Rashad McCants also missed the game with the flu. ... Wolves G Randy Foye played his first home game of the season and got a nice ovation when he entered five minutes into the game. ... The Wolves' eight first-quarter points tied a franchise low for points in a first quarter.
[Associated Press; By JON KRAWCZYNSKI]
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