Love Is Lost on Minnesota Fans

With Commissioner David Stern and his “Love It Live Playoff Tour” featuring veterans Bill Russell, Moses Malone, George Gervin, Bob Lanier and Nate Archibald in town, Sunday’s Laker-Timberwolf opener failed to sell out by more than 1,900, who chose to love it on TV or ignore it altogether.

“That’s one of the challenges in this economy, to sell tickets,” Stern said before the game. “We’re happy we’re maintaining some of the gains of last season league-wise but it’s a struggle every single day, and will continue to be, in this economy, given the entertainment options that are available.”

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Kevin Garnett on the Lakers: “They shot the lights out of the ball. We’ll see if they do that Tuesday.”

Said Garnett, minutes later, sinking into his chair at the postgame news conference: “They just shot the ... out of the ball. They just shot the living ... out of the ball.”

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Coach Flip Saunders started 6-foot-9 Joe Smith Sunday, in what he calls his big lineup, noting 6-6 Rick Fox would have to play Smith or the 7-0 Garnett.

Fox played Smith, who didn’t post him up to press his height advantage and took only one shot in 15 minutes.

Should Saunders get imaginative, or desperate, he could try little-used Marc Jackson (6-9, 260 pounds) on a front line with Garnett and Rasho Nesterovic. Jackson was one of the Timberwolves’ bright spots Sunday, coming off the bench to score 11 points in 15 minutes, making four of five shots.

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Saunders learned some lessons from Laker Coach Phil Jackson, although he seemed to miss the part about staying seated during the game.

“When I was in the CBA and he was coaching in Chicago, I would go to their training camp a lot,” Saunders said. “He’s going to go down as one of the greatest coaches to coach the game. He’s always had a great aura about himself as far as never getting too excited when things are good and never getting too excited when things are bad. Any time as a team, you look forward to a challenge as an individual, as players, playing against the best. As a coach, you also look forward to competing against coaches that are the best.”

The Minnesota locker room even features a Rudyard Kipling quote that Jackson likes. It concludes: “For the strength of the pack is in the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is in the pack.”