No Biggie Effort Is No Surprise at All

The worst part of this shocking night was that nobody who knows the Lakers was shocked.

The ugliest part of this unexpected embarrassment is that everyone who understands the Lakers expected it.

How shameful that what should be one of the best teams in basketball history barely shows up for a conference finals game, and people shrug.

Phil Jackson said this about Sunday’s 89-71 loss to the desperate, backs-against-the-summer Minnesota Timberwolves:

“I don’t think we expected them to come out with that much bravado.”

Incredible.

Shaquille O’Neal said this about making only two baskets in the first three quarters against a team he dominated two nights earlier:

“They played a little bit harder than we did.”

Unbelievable.

The legacy of this Laker team -- heck, of much of this entire Laker era -- showed its maddeningly dispassionate face again Sunday by countering must-win with oh-well.

When they aren’t playing for their lives, they’re playing for the exits.

When the stakes aren’t genuine, they give a costume effort.

On nights like these, with a 1-0 lead in the Western Conference final series and home-court advantage secured and minimal instant gratification, the Lakers are the anti-Lombardi.

Apathy isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.

Except, of course, to those countless Laker fans who blew a good Sunday night watching their guys sleep through it.

If the Laker season was a reality series, it would be called, “My Big Fat Obnoxious Basketball Team.”

Lovable in the end, but a journey beyond irritation.

“Guys are upset,” said O’Neal, calmly. “I know how we will react on Tuesday.”

Duh. So does everybody else. Tuesday is Game 3. The series is now tied at one game apiece. The Lakers need Tuesday.

This being an outmanned Timberwolf team without its playmaker or a pedigree, the Lakers will probably own Tuesday by double digits.

They will probably win this series in six games, tops. Then they will go to the NBA Finals, crawl down in the mud with those Eastern Conference grunters and probably win that series just as fast.

Sunday was probably not about anything that will cost them a championship.

But it was about everything that would make them a great champion.

Now, those 2001 Lakers, losing only one of 16 playoff games, that was a great champion.

In winning their other two titles in the Phil Jackson era, the team was memorable, but not dominant.

This team was supposed to be both.

A nutty regular season changed that, and then the necessity of a two-games-to-none comeback against San Antonio sealed it.

So Sunday, really, sadly, was no surprise.

The Timberwolves lost their playmaker Sam Cassell just 43 seconds into the game, yet it was the Laker intensity that disappeared with him.

Two minutes later, Kevin Garnett won a jump ball with Gary Payton in which Payton didn’t even jump, and Latrell Sprewell eventually grabbed the ball and threw it in for a three-pointer.

Wally Szczerbiak sneaked inside to grab an offensive rebound and followed with a basket to tie the game, 7-7. The Lakers only led twice more, 9-7 and 11-9.

They trailed for 42 minutes 27 seconds of a 48-minute game against a team that wasn’t sure who would run its offense or how.

They were never competitive against a team that they could have swept with their bristles closed.

In a Target Center hallway early Sunday evening, TNT commentator Charles Barkley -- now he plays hard every game -- was entertaining a crowd about the Timberwolves’ chances.

“I have to apologize to Minneapolis because they’ve put on a good show, that’s the good news,” he said. “The bad news is, tonight’s our last night here.”

Not so fast, as this loss ensures that at least a Game 5 will be played here Saturday, and the Timberwolves deserve as much.

“I told the guys coming into the game that we had to find a way to play hard,” said Minnesota Coach Flip Saunders, and his players listened.

As for those gutty little Lakers ...

“We weren’t desperate,” said Kobe Bryant. “They were.”

Actually, Bryant was desperate, playing hard at both ends, but he was one of the only ones.

O’Neal was invisible, being outplayed by Ervin Johnson, dunked on by Oliver Miller, and even occasionally danced around by Mark Madsen.

Yeah, that dance.

“Just blame it on the rain,” said O’Neal, and if he was talking about his free throws, it was hailing bricks.

After finding the right touch Friday by making nine of 11 free throws, he quickly lost it again Sunday by connecting on only six of 14, including one stretch in which he missed seven of eight.

One attempt was so bad, the fans were chanting “airball” even during the ensuing timeout.

“It was just one of those days,” said O’Neal, who made only four of 10 field-goal attempts. “I missed too many chippies. It happens.”

Karl Malone, who outplayed Garnett in Game 1, succumbed to early foul trouble and was outscored, 24-5, in 14 fewer minutes.

Payton, who should have dominated Darrick Martin after Cassell left, was felled by poor shooting -- he was just three for 10 -- and had not a single steal.

And then there’s the Laker bench, outscored, 16-14, by Minnesota reserve Szczerbiak alone.

The only thing many of the Lakers did well was howl and throw elbows resulting in technical fouls, all after it was much too late.

In all, not only a losing night, but a passionless one.

“It’s not about the Timberwolves or the officials or anything else,” said Derek Fisher. “It’s about the way we play the game as a team.”

A good thing, and a scary thing.

Bill Plaschke can be reached at bill.plaschke@latimes.com. For more Plaschke columns, go to latimes.com/plaschke.