Utah Jazz: Gomes, Love lift Wolves to 3rd win of season

MINNEAPOLIS — Kevin Love hasn't shown any signs of rust from five weeks on the sideline.

In his second game back, Love had 18 points and 10 rebounds to help the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 108-101 victory over the Utah Jazz on Saturday night.

Ryan Gomes scored 23 points on 9-of-10 shooting and Jonny Flynn had 16 points and four assists for the Timberwolves, who won for just the third time in 20 games this season.

Carlos Boozer had 21 points and 13 rebounds, and Deron Williams had 18 points and 11 assists for the Jazz, who had a season-best four-game winning streak snapped.

Love missed the first 17 games of the season after breaking his left hand in a preseason game. He posted a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds in 24 minutes of a loss at New Orleans on Friday night and was even better against the Jazz.

His putback of a miss by Flynn gave Minnesota a 101-93 lead with 1:43 to play, putting the game out of reach for the Jazz, who allowed the Wolves to shoot a season-high 57 percent.

The Timberwolves trailed by 14 in the first half and three at halftime, but put together their most complete second half of the season to pull out a rare victory. Love added two 3-pointers, and Gomes and Al Jefferson each scored nine points in the final period.

Jefferson finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds. He only made four of his first 15 shots, but went 3 for 4 down the stretch.

The Jazz were playing without Andrei Kirilenko, who missed the game with a sore lower back that has been a problem for the last two weeks. He played 14 minutes in the victory over Indiana on Friday night, but missed his second game this week on Saturday.

With rookie point guard Eric Maynor controlling the action like a veteran, the Jazz took a 12-point lead midway through the second period. Maynor had six points, four assists and a steal in seven minutes and knifed through the lane for a layup that gave Utah a 44-32 lead.

But Love fueled an 11-0 run to end the quarter, keeping the Timberwolves in the game with some tough offensive rebounds and a soft touch from the perimeter.

The Wolves trailed 50-47 at halftime, then overcame one of their biggest bugaboos of this season — the third quarter. Time and again the young team has come out flat after the break and fallen behind big. This time, with Love hitting a baby hook and a 3-pointer and Flynn pushing it on the break, the Wolves outscored Utah 26-23 to go into the final quarter tied at 73.

NOTES: Jazz F Kyle Korver, who has not played this season after having knee surgery, was a game-time decision but did not play. ... Jazz F Mehmet Okur added 16 points, eight rebounds and four assists. ... The 6-foot-10 Love hit two more 3-pointers, pushing his season total to four in two games. He only made two all last season. ... Gomes has topped 20 points in three of the last four games.