CHICAGO (AP) - Corey Brewer scored 11 of his 15 points in the second half, and the Minnesota Timberwolves shook off poor early shooting and beat the Chicago Bulls 96-86 Tuesday night in a preseason game.
The Timberwolves (3-1) made just five of 20 shots (25 percent) in the opening quarter but ended up with six players in double figures.Brewer also had a game-high nine rebounds for Minnesota. Al Jefferson scored 13 points, Rashad McCants had 12, forward Ryan Gomes added 11 and forwards Craig Smith and Kevin Love each scored 10.
Timberwolves guard Sebastian Telfair, who will begin serving a three-game suspension later this month, scored seven points in nearly 20 minutes of play.
Telfair pleaded guilty last month to possession of a handgun in an April 2007 incident and was sentenced to three years' probation. The NBA announced his suspension Tuesday. It is set to begin with the Oct. 29 regular-season opener at home against Sacramento.
The Bulls (0-3) pulled within two points with about three minutes to play on forward Andres Nocioni's 3-pointer, but managed just one field goal the rest of the way as Minnesota closed with an 11-2 run.
Chicago set a brisk early pace, including 11 straight points late in the opening quarter as it opened a 30-13 lead. But the Bulls shot just 5-of-15 from the field in the second quarter and the Timberwolves used a 23-5 surge over the final 7:07 to take a 46-45 halftime lead.
The Bulls led for more than six minutes in the third quarter, but fell behind for good on Randy Foye's 19-foot jumper at the 4:57 mark.
Chicago center Drew Gooden scored 20 points, Nocioni had 18 off the bench and forward Luol Deng added 15.
