Supporting Cast Works Overtime

The Timberwolves lost Kevin Garnett, and his 33 points, 14 rebounds, four assists and four blocks, a mere 12 seconds into overtime Thursday in Game 3.

Instead of resigning themselves to a 4-minute 48-second march to a loss, the Timberwolves’ support crew took the game to the Lakers and seized a two-games-to-one lead in their best-of-seven playoff series.

“I’ve said all along that one of the reasons K.G. has had an MVP-type year is that the players around him have played at a high level,” Minnesota Coach Flip Saunders said late Thursday and again Friday morning after the team’s workout at Loyola Marymount. “They pulled out a very big game on the road in a big situation.”

Troy Hudson made four free throws without a miss in overtime. Anthony Peeler made two baskets without a miss. Gary Trent made two free throws and Marc Jackson hit three of four as the Timberwolves outscored the Lakers, 13-9, during the five-minute extra period and took a 114-110 victory.

“We got a big lift from our bench,” Hudson said. “But you have to give Kevin a lot of credit. As a superstar, he puts a lot of confidence in his teammates. He’s been knocked in the past for giving up the ball to his teammates, but right now it’s paying off. He’s put a lot of confidence in the rest of us.”

Hudson, a former Clipper who is averaging 27 points in the three games of playoffs, has been an X-factor in the series. The Lakers simply haven’t been able to slow him, continuing a string of postseason mismatches at the point guard position.

*

Wally Szczerbiak felt as if he had a target on his back in Game 3, and he wasn’t happy about it. He drew a technical foul after an overtime collision with Rick Fox. He drew a phantom foul on Jannero Pargo’s driving layup attempt and he questioned the call against him that led to Kobe Bryant’s four-point play late in regulation.

“I don’t know what the referees have got against me,” he said. “It’s ironic that Phil Jackson says the Lakers are the ones who aren’t getting the calls and Fox is [mad], but he’s the one holding me all game long.

“I didn’t touch Pargo. I didn’t touch Kobe. And I got pushed out of bounds” on a pivotal play that set up Bryant’s free throw that sent the game to overtime.

In a meeting Friday in New York with Associated Press sports editors, NBA Commissioner David Stern sided with Szczerbiak.

“Guess what -- we miss calls,” he said.

Stern, who said he watched the last 20 minutes of the game on television, spoke specifically about the foul of Pargo.

“I’d like to see the other angles, but from the angles that I saw, going up against the backboard, I didn’t see Szczerbiak touch him.”

Associated Press contributed to this report.