Laker Defense Already Got Its Wake-Up Call

Defense wins championships, as Phil Jackson well knows, but only the type that ended the San Antonio series.

As the Lakers enter the preparation phase for the Minnesota Timberwolves -- Kevin Garnett shoots, Kevin Garnett rebounds, Kevin Garnett passes -- the emphasis is on better defense earlier.

Say, early enough to avoid another 0-2 deficit.

As if the Lakers needed a reminder, San Antonio shot 49.3% in the first two games of the conference semifinals -- but only 35.6% in the last four, all Laker victories.

Credit Karl Malone, elbows, growls and all, his jersey somehow remaining intact against the Spurs, along with his pride, after he slowed Tim Duncan in the final four games.

Credit Shaquille O’Neal, for simply opening his mouth, communicating with Gary Payton from Game 3 onward whenever a pick-and-roll began to develop.

And credit Payton, for mentally discarding the 50-11 scoring edge Tony Parker held on him after two games, for looking more like The Glove than The Holey Mitten with every passing game.

“If somebody scores 30, so what, as long as we win the basketball game,” Payton said Wednesday after practice. “That’s not how we were thinking the first two games against San Antonio. Everyone was worried about their man, their man, their man. It’s not about that. It’s about us helping each other and winning basketball games. We did that in the last four games and we won four games in a row.”

To prevent Parker and Duncan from ending the Laker season in mid-May, simple adjustments were made: Parker was doubled whenever he tried to drive, the lane was plugged down low and the Spurs were forced to shoot from long distance.

Parker missed 16 of his last 19 three-point attempts, Robert Horry missed 10 of 12 from behind the arc and Hedo Turkoglu missed 20 of 28.

The Spurs shot 30.2% overall in Game 6, their worst performance ever in a playoff game, leading to Coach Gregg Popovich’s postgame proclamation that outside shooting “was really our demise in the series.”

The Lakers were strong in post defense as well, sending enough arms and legs at Duncan to cut his scoring average from 27 points the first two games to 17.5 over the final four.

The Lakers now get the Timberwolves, who beat them three out of four this season, including two games at Target Center by 16 and 10 points.

Whereas the Spurs were the Big Two and the Houston Rockets were the Big One-and-a-Half -- Steve Francis and Yao Ming -- the Timberwolves are the Big Three.

Garnett, Latrell Sprewell and Sam Cassell combined to average 65.5 points against the Lakers this season. Backup guard Fred Hoiberg, perhaps the best three-point shooter left in the playoffs, gives the Timberwolves another outside threat.

“There’s a lot of spot-up shooters that we have to be aware of because I don’t think they will miss as many shots as San Antonio did,” said Laker assistant Jim Cleamons, who was in charge of scouting the Timberwolves this season. “We’ve got to play a nice steady game. Make their shooters work for their points, contest their shots and stay in their faces.”

Cassell tends to be the key player in the Timberwolves’ pick-and-roll, spotting up for short jumpers instead of driving to the basket.

“They’re not necessarily pick-and-roll, they’re pick-and-poppers,” Cleamons said. “They’re going to be more apt to look at jump shots than to roll a guy back to the heart of the defense because they’re good shooters and they like the thought of having open jump shots when they are available.”

Pick-and-pop or pick-and-roll, it’s nothing the Lakers haven’t already seen in the playoffs.

“We’ve covered wing, we’ve covered pinch post, we’ve covered top-of-the-key screen-and-roll scenarios,” Jackson said. “Cassell has a little bit of a twist. I think we can cover that and I think Shaquille will be confident he can cover that. That’s where Gary gets his confidence, once he knows Shaquille is going to be involved and where he’s going to be involved, he knows how to get into the mind and the body of the player he’s against.”

Perhaps Payton said it best, summarizing the Lakers’ plan against Minnesota.

“Minnesota’s got their three guys,” he said. “We’ve got our four.”

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‘D’ for Difference

After falling behind 0-2 against San Antonio, the Lakers tightened their defense, and the result was four victories and a berth in the Western Conference finals. A look at the Spurs offensively in games 1-2 and 3-6.

*--* GAMES FG PCT. 3-pt. M-A 3-pt. FG% TO 1-2 49.3% 10-33 30.3% 23 3-6 35.6% 28-83 33.7% 62

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