They Get Their Magic Moment

Over the years, the greatest problem facing the Timberwolves’ franchise was that it has had little mythic lore from which to draw.

And what little it had tended to chronicle the franchise’s dysfunction or tragedy: Isaiah Rider inventing new and unusual excuses for tardiness, Christian Laettner offending everybody he worked with, Joe Smith getting under-the-table sweetheart deals, Terrell Brandon getting money for nothing, Malik Sealy getting killed by a drunk driver after celebrating Kevin Garnett’s birthday.

You’ll notice that none of these matters has much to do with any single playoff game. There is no Havlicek-stole-the-ball or Magic-hits-a-sweeping-hook shot moment.

Nothing that dramatic, unusual or exhilarating.

That is what makes the Wolves’ 114-110 overtime victory over the Lakers in Game 3 so intriguing. The victory does not guarantee the Wolves a place in the second round, but for the first time it not only gives them legitimate hope, it gives the franchise its first mythic playoff signature. Given that it takes place in round one, it wouldn’t exactly send shivers down the spines of fans following teams of considerably greater accomplishment. Jack Nicholson would barely suppress a yawn.

Yet for the Wolves in the playoffs, it’s still about baby steps, so they must take their mythic lore where they can get it. It had all the requisite characteristics: The Wolves so dominate the three-time defending champion Lakers that the home fans rain down boos on their heroes. The Wolves blow a five-point lead in the final 22.8 seconds.

Kobe Bryant misses a free throw with 12.1 seconds left. Garnett fouls out 12 seconds into overtime. And, at about 1:30 a.m. Central Daylight Time, with Garnett watching from his knees on the bench, and Anthony Peeler becoming an offensive rebounding fool, the Wolves found a way to hold off Shaq and Kobe, 114-110.

“We’ve won it, then we’ve lost it, and I’m thinking to myself, ‘What are we going to say to the players to get them back up for Sunday?’ and then we’ve won it,” Kevin McHale said. “There were so many surprises, it was draining. It was almost like reading one of those mysteries where you say, ‘Wow. I never thought that guy could be the murderer.’ ”

The Lakers will not think of it in such mythic terms. They generally treat first-round series with the back of the hand.

Yet that is precisely why it will be as intriguing to observe how they respond to Game 3 as it will the Wolves. In their three championship runs under Phil Jackson, the Lakers never have trailed in a first-round series.

If this is new territory for the Wolves, it is also new ground for the Lakers. They still might beat the Wolves, but clearly they no longer have them terrified. The Fear Factor, the thing that often has Lakers opponents beaten before a series begins, has shriveled up. The Wolves followed an unlikely blowout victory at home with an even more unlikely overtime victory on the road, on a night when the Lakers clearly wanted to re-establish their dominance.

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Dan Barreiro is a columnist for the Minneapolis Star Tribune and can be reached at dbarreiro@startribune.com

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THE SCHEDULE

Best-of-seven series (* if necessary)

Game 1;LAKERS 117, at MINNESOTA 98;

Game 2;at MINNESOTA 119, LAKERS 91;

Game 3;MINNESOTA 114, at LAKERS 110;Timberwolves lead series, 2-1

Game 4;at Lakers;Sunday;Noon Ch. 7

Game 5;at Minnesota;Tuesday;6:30 Ch. 9, TNT

Game 6;at Lakers;Thursday*;TBA TNT, FSN

Game 7;at Minnesota;May 3*;TBA TNT or ESPN; Ch. 9