Still a Chance of Reign

The Lakers play every game now, it seems, on the edge of their championship guile. They were pushed again by the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday afternoon, then pushed back for the first time in a week.

Out of other ideas and faced with an opponent that had played so hard it practically had tears rolling from the corners of its eyes, they handed the basketball to Shaquille O’Neal and defeated the Timberwolves, 102-97, at Staples Center.

The best-of-seven, first-round series is tied, two games apiece. Game 5 is Tuesday night in Minneapolis, Game 6 here Thursday night.

O’Neal scored 34 points and took 23 rebounds in 46 minutes, all 24 in the second half. Kobe Bryant, whose sore right shoulder has taken the accuracy from his jump shot, had 32 points, 13 in the fourth quarter, when he was 10 for 10 from the free-throw line.

Behind by six points five minutes into the fourth quarter, and that close to having to fend off elimination in Game 5, the Lakers rushed the rim, generally made their free throws, and then hoped Kevin Garnett and Troy Hudson missed.

They did. Garnett scored 11 of his 28 points in the final quarter, but missed two free throws with 15.7 seconds to play that could have pulled Minnesota to within a point. Hudson scored none of his 28 points in the fourth.

“We had them on the ropes too,” Garnett said. “They know it.”

Bryant, from behind sunglasses, said: “Foreman had Ali on the ropes.”

The two ran into each other outside of the interview room, Bryant in a gorgeous blue-brown suit, Garnett in a white Oxford draped with a baggy sweater, and they brush-hugged without making much eye contact.

“What’s happenin’, man,” Bryant said.

“Good game,” Garnett answered wearily, his head already turned down the hallway.

It appears to most that the series will cost somebody something. The Lakers have paid with Bryant’s tender shoulder and Rick Fox’s strained left ankle, which took him from Game 4 in the first quarter and could cause him to miss Game 5, at least. Coach Phil Jackson, who generally shortens his rotation this time of year, rode Mark Madsen and Brian Shaw through the entire fourth quarter.

So when Devean George scored seven late points and Bryant made each of eight free throws in the last four minutes -- four in the final 12.8 seconds -- the Lakers had outscored the Timberwolves, 31-23, in the final quarter, and 6-2 after a Garnett three-pointer with 35 seconds remaining.

No one ran from the floor. Exhausted, they nodded to each other, touched hands, moved on. It has been a grind already, and they’ve covered only four games, and still must win another game in Minneapolis, at least, if they are to advance on their fourth consecutive championship.

“The key,” Derek Fisher said, “is to win 16 games. If it takes 28 games to do it, so be it.”

It has not been their style lately. In the last two seasons, when championships cost 15 wins, they blew through those in 16 and 19 games. They also have ridden O’Neal in the most critical of periods, and he arrived Sunday morning having chosen Game 4 as his.

In the minutes before it, at the Laker bench, a fan walked up to O’Neal, held out his fist, and O’Neal met it. Bill Sharman, the Hall of Famer, shook O’Neal’s hand, leaned into him, clapped his hands, and O’Neal nodded.

Four rows up, across from where he sat, his wife, Shaunie, sat in her usual place. She hadn’t been in the arena since Shaqir was born eight days before.

The Lakers had been holding on against the younger and more aggressive Timberwolves, having been blown out in Game 2 and outlasted in overtime of Game 3, pecking at the Timberwolves when only a sledgehammer would do.

“I told the guys before the game, get me the ball and move out of the way,” O’Neal said. “That’s what they did and I set the tone and we picked it up.

“We talked about doing the things we’re supposed to do, like get the ball inside, getting the ball to me in a position where I can do something. Or, I could try to make my move before the quadruple-team came.”

Not nine minutes into the game, O’Neal had 15 points and eight rebounds. He blocked a shot; he, along with Bryant, doubled Garnett in the corner; and he moved his feet to defend the high screen-and-roll, long the bane of the Laker defense.

And yet the Timberwolves led by a point after the first quarter. The Lakers went 11 consecutive possessions in the second quarter without scoring a point, stuck at 33 points for nearly seven minutes, and yet the Timberwolves led by only four, and so there would be little to distinguish the two, other than O’Neal.

He made 13 of 26 shots, and his rebounds helped the Lakers score most of their 29 second-chance points, and his attitude helped focus them again.

“It’s like we came into a war we expected to dominate and not get as much resistance as we’ve been getting,” Shaw said. “We have to wake up and realize they’re not going to back down.

“One of the things that was good tonight was the look in the Big Fella’s eyes. ... Nothing but good things happen when we let the big guy get as many touches as he did.”

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

The Series

Best of seven (* if necessary)

*--* Game 1 LAKERS...117 at MINNESOTA...98 Game 2 at MINNESOTA...119 LAKERS...91 Game 3 MINNESOTA...114 at LAKERS (OT)...110 Game 4 at LAKERS...102 MINNESOTA...97 Game 5 at Minnesota Tuesday, 6:30, Ch. 9, TNT Game 6 at Lakers Thursday, 7:30, TNT, FSN Game 7 at Minnesota* Saturday, TNT or ESPN; Ch. 9

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The Half and the Halves Not

Kobe Bryant’s statistics in the first half of Game 1 in the Western Conference playoff series against Minnesota, those in the next seven halves and his average for that time (*includes overtime):

*--* MIN PTS PTS/ MIN FG M-A FG PCT 3PT M-A 3PT PCT FT M-A FT PCT Game 1 First 21 28 1.33 12-16 750 1-2 500 3-3 1.000 Half Game 1 Secon 23 11 0.48 4-14 286 0-1 000 3-3 1.000 d Half Game 2 First 22 15 0.68 6-14 429 0-1 000 3-4 750 Half Game 2 Secon 24 12 0.50 3-14 214 2-5 400 4-5 800 d Half Game 3 First 22 10 0.45 5-14 357 0-2 000 0-0 000 Half Game 3 Secon 29 20 0.69 5-14 357 1-3 333 7-9 778 d Half* Game 4 First 23 11 0.48 4-11 363 1-2 500 2-2 1.000 Half Game 4 Secon 24 21 0.87 3-14 214 1-1 1.000 14-15 933 d Half Avg Half Since 23.6 14.3 0.60 4.3-13.5 316 0.7-2.1 333 4.7-5.4 868 Game 1

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