Szczerbiak Will Have an Outside Chance

Without Rick Fox to hound him on the perimeter, Wally Szczerbiak should expect to shoot at least 20 times a game, Minnesota Coach Flip Saunders said Monday.

The Timberwolves’ second-leading scorer in the regular season, when he made 42.1% of his three-point attempts, Szczerbiak has cut back on his shooting in the first four games and Troy Hudson has taken a greater offensive role on the perimeter.

Part of Szczerbiak’s problems -- he’s two for 13 from the arc and has committed a team-high 13 turnovers -- has been Fox, a fearless, physical defender.

“He has a hard time against Fox,” Saunders said.

Devean George will take Fox’s place in the starting lineup, Laker Coach Phil Jackson said Monday, and although he is more athletic than Fox, he is not as game defensively or as polished in the triangle.

“That’s a big impact,” Szczerbiak said. “Rick’s a quality player. He goes out and plays hard. Those intangible players are tough to replace.... We’ll see how it pans out.”

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Saunders saw Shaquille O’Neal go for 15 points and eight rebounds almost before “The Star-Spangled Banner” had died out in Game 4, and was sure he’d seen it before.

“I thought I was watching ‘Blue Chips,’ like we were down in Louisiana,” he said. “He was doing whatever he wanted.”

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In Games 2, 3 and 4, the Lakers shot 36.3%, 39.8% and 39.8%, the first time they’d failed to make 40% of their shots in three consecutive games since Nov. 16-19, 1993.

The last time it happened to them in the playoffs was in the Western Division finals against Detroit in March 1962.

The Timberwolves have nagged the Lakers with full-court pressure and they’ve tried to trap Kobe Bryant and O’Neal every time they touch the ball.

The strategy has left open shots, but the Lakers have missed lots of them, and Bryant is shooting 37.8%, O’Neal 50%.

“It’ll be interesting to see, no matter how this series plays out, how this will affect the way people play them down the road, like next year,” Saunders said.

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Hudson is averaging 27.3 points in the series, many of them coming off the high pick and roll, a common scheme against the Lakers. But Hudson has a knack for it the Lakers haven’t seen since, well, the last Western Conference series they were in.

“He’s been spectacular, reminiscent of [Sacramento’s] Mike Bibby against them last year,” Szczerbiak said.

“We’re taking what they’re giving us ... because Shaq isn’t coming out and helping much.”

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The Timberwolves’ 27 three-point shots Sunday were the most of any game, regular season or playoffs, in franchise history.