Lakers Do Guest Work

On the road, beneath a Minneapolis Laker banner, with Bill Russell in the third row and 1,900 empty seats up above, the Lakers retook home-court advantage Sunday afternoon, with hardly an effort at all.

Kobe Bryant set up the Minnesota Timberwolves with 28 first-half points and Shaquille O’Neal knocked them down with 20 in the second, and the Lakers, on the first day of the rest of their four-peat, won, 117-98, at Target Center.

They took Game 1 of the best-of-seven series with a complete effort but for about six minutes of the third quarter, when the Timberwolves rushed to within four points, then went away. Game 2 is here Tuesday night.

Bryant had 39 points and eight assists. O’Neal, who boarded a private jet and joined the team late Saturday night after witnessing the birth of a son, had 32 points, 10 rebounds and five blocked shots. The Lakers shot 55% from the field, made 10 of 19 three-point attempts and reiterated their interest in a fourth consecutive championship.

“The moment of truth is here,” Bryant said. “It’s an immediate threat, an immediate danger, because they can knock us out of our title run. That’s something we have to deal with and we have to deal with right now.”

After 50 regular-season wins were good only for a No. 5 seeding in the Western Conference playoffs, the Lakers braced themselves for the Timberwolves, opening the playoffs at home for the first time in franchise history, said history composed so far of six qualifications and six first-round exits.

Thus inspired, the Timberwolves fell behind by 18 points in the first quarter and 20 in the second, Bryant hanging and scoring, O’Neal passing off for open jumpers, Rick Fox three for three from the three-point arc in the first 10 1/2 minutes. Derek Fisher, who scored 17 points, made five of six three-point shots.

Kevin Garnett scored 23 points and took 14 rebounds, but Wally Szczerbiak, who scored 15, was responsible for Bryant, and by the time the Timberwolves made Bryant their defensive emphasis, he’d already started looking for O’Neal.

“When Kobe’s space went away,” Laker Coach Phil Jackson said, “Shaq had space and was able to carry us.”

After not getting to the free-throw line in the first half, O’Neal made 10 of 13 free throws in the second, and made some turnaround jumpers, and pointed to Russell, who smiled back.

“We need to make some defensive adjustments,” Minnesota Coach Flip Saunders said.

O’Neal spent a tortuous weekend, marked by the birth of a son and the death of a favorite grandfather on opposite coasts. He intended to leave the team again today, head to South Carolina, then return in time for Tuesday’s game. Still, he had lift in his legs, and his early-game scowl eased into a smile by the middle of the fourth quarter, when the arena began to empty.

“I’m OK,” he said afterward.

OK enough.

“With the circumstances of his grandfather passing away, he told myself, told Derek, told Rob [Horry], told Mad Dog [Mark Madsen] he wanted and needed this game today,” Fox said. “At the end of the day he said, ‘Thanks, you guys, you carried me.’ It’s difficult ... and he’s about to do a little more.”

As the Timberwolves came to the aid of young center Rasho Nesterovic, O’Neal pushed the basketball off to his teammates, and typically one more pass was enough to find a lonely Fox, or Fisher, or Devean George.

Or Bryant. He made 12 of his first 16 shots, some fadeaways over Szczerbiak, a floater over Garnett, whoever met him at the rim. When the Timberwolves stayed true, Bryant just flicked a jump shot, and the people in the crowd held their heads, and Bryant skipped from the floor, past Saunders’ cries for timeouts.

“My teammates played well,” Bryant said. “They played excellent. They played great. If we keep playing like this, we’ll be fine.”

The Timberwolves had lost eight times this season on that floor; make it nine, twice in a row to the Lakers, who had promised it would not be an issue. Counting the regular season, the Lakers have won three in a row against the Timberwolves. They are 20-8 on the road in the last three-plus postseasons, including 16 wins in their last 18 road playoff games.

They played cleanly enough and made their shots for long enough to convince the Timberwolves, for at least a day, that the venue wouldn’t much matter. They played just enough defense on Garnett, ran off 12 consecutive points (eight by O’Neal) late in the third quarter and early in the fourth, and found their postseason edge right where they’d left it.

“It’s not the first time we’ve swum in the deep end of the pool,” Fox said. “We’re comfortable this time of year.

“Everyone in this locker room will tell you this is what we’ve been about and what we’ll continue to be about.”

Beyond that, Fox said, “You gotta ask the people that doubted. We didn’t doubt. We were just waiting for the opportunity to get back out there and play this time of year.”