Saunders Has His Plan; Lakers Cooperate With It

Minnesota Coach Flip Saunders said the secret to beating the Lakers was holding Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant to 60 points -- a combined 60 points rather than 60 each -- then leaving the outcome of the game in the hands of L.A.’s supporting cast.

I guess Minnesota’s scouts have seen Devean George play.

The Timberwolves took a thrashing in Game 1, made some adjustments, Kobe and Shaq were held to 54 points in Game 2, and the Saunders Plan worked to perfection with the Lakers being run out of Minnesota.

Knowing this, of course, it was Phil Jackson’s turn to respond Thursday night, and he started Robert Horry in place of Mark Madsen. I guess Jackson took some encouragement in what he got from Horry in Minnesota, because Horry finally hit something. OK, it was a cameraman, and the NBA fined Horry $10,000, but after going 0 for 7 from three-point range, it was something.

“It’s time to get our best people on the court,” Jackson said, which doesn’t bode well for Samaki Walker. By the way, is he still with the Lakers?

Now at some point in the second quarter, Jackson had Jannero Pargo, Madsen, George, Brian Shaw and Kobe on the court at the same time, so I guess he gave up on the idea of playing the Lakers’ best players.

I think everybody by now had a pretty good idea what the Saunders Plan was all about -- Kobe and Shaq held to a combined 19 points at halftime -- but Jackson’s counter-punch remained hard to detect with the Lakers down by six at home.

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MY SOLUTION is always the same: Put the ball in Kobe’s hands, but Kobe had a sore shoulder and was off his game early on. That left a pretty good-sized alternative in Shaq, which might have worked had there been a Jackson Plan in place for shutting down Kevin Garnett.

At the end of three quarters, the Lakers had made their run behind Fisher and Supporting Cast and were down by nine, but it was the Saunders Plan winning the day, and who knew the Ducks might last longer in the playoffs than the Lakers?

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I FIGURED we’d see the Jackson Plan in all its glory in the fourth quarter, and overtime, of course, and the Lakers would prevail even though the Timberwolves were 46-3 this season after leading by three quarters. Why would I think anything else?

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TNT’S DANNY Ainge said of the Laker fans in Staples Center: “The crowd [noise] here is one-tenth of the decibel level in Minnesota.” As tough as things were going for the Lakers, I hope fans weren’t saving themselves for the NBA Finals.

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THE L.A. Sports Council and the Chamber of Commerce will salute the Dodgers at an “Opening Pitch” luncheon on May 1. According to the press release, the “event will serve as the traditional community kickoff to the team’s 2003 season.”

This might also be the first “Opening Pitch” luncheon to take place after the team has already been eliminated from the playoff race.

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I WAS talking to Mike Scioscia about the Angels’ poor start last year, and I said I just assumed the team turned it around after he delivered one of his stirring speeches. Scioscia nodded, and then told me what he told the team in his stirring speech. “P-l-e-a-s-e win.” I wonder if Micro-Manager Jim Tracy has thought of that.

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STAPLES CENTER announced it’s going into the scalping business to make more money off the Lennox Lewis fight. Arena president Tim Leiweke, while calling the money-making scam an “auction,” said that of the 800 seats that make up the first eight rows around ringside -- 400 have been sold to HBO and both boxing camps at $1,500 each -- and the remaining 400 will be auctioned to the highest Internet bidders -- beginning at $3,000 a pair with increased bids being accepted in $50 increments. (Hold me back).

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WHEN IT came time to explain why Mike Tyson hadn’t signed a contract to also fight here, Leiweke said, “This was never about the undercard or the other fighter.”

We’ll see.... That 1 p.m. Thursday deadline for Tyson to sign up or “risk being left at the curb,” passed without comment, which leaves the door open for him to sign next week when the scalping scam needs another boost in interest.

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FINALLY A hockey game I wish would never have ended. (Has it?)

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ASSOCIATED PRESS reported the Raiders spent $33.5 million on legal fees in 1997-2001, which doesn’t include the money the team is spending currently on a court case in Sacramento. And if you want to make something of that, then you can expect to hear from the Raiders’ attorneys.

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THE DODGERS sent out a press release listing the giveaways and special events next week when the team takes on the Pirates and Phillies. Frankly, I was surprised to see no mention of the “Name the Dodger Donkey Mascot” contest.

Word of caution to those living in Cincinnati: Guillermo Mota gave up the winning run to the Reds, which could drive some to drink, if you know what I mean.

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MY FIRST concern when I heard Kevin Brown tore up the clubhouse was that he finally received my letter.

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TODAY’S LAST word comes in e-mail from Richard Turnage:

“Just wondering ... which do you think is more annoying: athletes who constantly refer to themselves in the third person, or Tracy’s habit of asking a question, then answering it in the same breath?”

Does T.J. Simers think there is something even more annoying than that? Yes, e-mail from folks who have nothing more to do than just wonder about such things.

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T.J. Simers can be reached at t.j.simers@latimes.com.