Jefferson's night is brief, but game shows little rust

MILWAUKEE - Ryan Gomes spoke and Timberwolves teammate Al Jefferson presumably listened before a 117-79 victory in the preseason opener Monday night at Milwaukee.

"I told him to throw some WD-40 on his game," Gomes said. "Either he did, or he didn't need it."

Jefferson returned from a knee injury for the team's final four practices and he played in Saturday night's scrimmage after sitting for more than two weeks because of a sprained medial collateral ligament suffered in a preseason workout.

On Monday, against a Bucks team missing half of its regular rotation, Jefferson scored the Wolves' first 10 points and left late in the third quarter of a runaway victory with 18 points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots in less than 19 minutes on a night when his team led by as many as 45 points.

"More my lungs than my knee," he said afterward, referring to any pain he might have felt. "But putting the ball in the basket? That's kind of like riding a bike."

The Wolves shot 58.2 percent from the field and held the Bucks to 33.8 percent.

Bucks center Andrew Bogut was sent home before the game because of a migraine. Rookie Joe Alexander and guards Luke Ridnour, Tyronn Lue and Charlie Bell didn't play because of nagging injuries, and veteran forward Richard Jefferson was shut down after only eight minutes of action.

The Wolves, meanwhile, started Al Jefferson alongside veteran Mark Madsen in the frontcourt, and he looked like he had never been away, except for when he was searching for air to breathe.

"He sure didn't look rusty, but he was a little winded," Wolves coach Randy Wittman said.

New Bucks coach Scott Skiles might have been saving his best players for the team's trip to China later this month.

"It doesn't matter who they played," Wittman said. "This isn't a game of wins and losses. The score doesn't mean anything to me. This is a practice to me. Like I told our guys after the game, the good thing about tonight was we got to practice against somebody else. It was a good first test for us."

Rookie Kevin Love was the first player off the Wolves' bench. He made a three-point shot, scored 13 points, had five rebounds, two turnovers and blocked shot in nearly 23 minutes. He also had a dunk attempt get stuck between the rim and the backboard.