Writing Is on the Wall, and It Says ‘Done Deal’

Game 3 goes down as the night when all parties involved realized the Lakers were simply the better team than the Minnesota Timberwolves, that the Timberwolves might extend this series, but they won’t win it.

The Lakers were good but not great on a night greatness wasn’t required to win. All they needed was enough guys doing enough things correctly to produce a 100-89 victory that felt inevitable for most of the night.

The Lakers shared the ball (29 assists) and the scoring duties (all five starters between 11 and 22 points) and now they own a two-games-to-one lead in the Western Conference finals.

“I’m sure a lot of people think this thing’s done,” Minnesota Coach Flip Saunders said. “It’s far from done.”

If by “far” he means the round-trip distance to Minneapolis for Game 5 is 3,700 miles, then he’s correct. Otherwise he’s whistling past the graveyard.

Saunders has to say those words to keep his team motivated. But his actions spoke much louder.

He deviated from his normal strategy and went to the Extreme Hack-a-Shaq after a Latrell Sprewell hoop cut the Laker lead to eight points with less than three minutes remaining in the game. This was the sign that the Timberwolves were getting desperate. Twice they fouled Shaquille O’Neal when he was nowhere near the basket or the ball.

Ask Mike Dunleavy or Gregg Popovich if that’s ever worked in the playoffs.

If the Hack-a-Shaq was out of character for Saunders, so was his postgame hauling out of the fishing pole to join Phil Jackson in the referee-baiting.

“I think it’s very ironic that all of a sudden now in 42 minutes [Kevin Garnett has] got six fouls, where in [the first] two games he’s got two fouls,” Saunders said. “I’ve never been one to overreact to those situations, but I think that’s pretty ironic.”

He alluded to the 43-14 discrepancy in free-throw attempts the Lakers enjoyed, including only four attempts by Garnett, and how all of this came after the Lakers had complained about Minnesota’s physical play and Garnett’s foul-free evening in Game 2.

“Just because Kevin’s 7-1 and he faces up, that doesn’t mean that Karl Malone’s allowed to have two hands on him,” Saunders said. “From that standpoint, that’s extremely disappointing. We didn’t get to the line, and they did.”

So now he’s baiting. That’s the last stand. It’s only one step from there to going fishin’ with the TNT crew.

It’s feeling as preordained as the outcome of this game.

Certainly it was only a matter of time after the Lakers took a nine-point lead in the first quarter without a single point from Kobe Bryant. Or when they led by 10 in the second quarter and Bryant still hadn’t scored.

Bryant said the left ankle he sprained in the first game wasn’t a problem and laughed off any suggestion of subterfuge, a la that Sacramento Sunday. “I was sabotaging the game, come on,” he joked.

In reality, the Timberwolves did their best to remove Bryant from the equation by sending a second defender at him whenever he came off screens. Besides, he deserved some time off since he was the only one who showed up on Sunday.

Minnesota’s plan is to make the Laker role players beat them. Unfortunately for the Timberwolves the list of role players now includes Gary Payton and Karl Malone. Payton finally joined the series, with 18 points and nine assists, and Malone wound up with 11 points even though his primary concern was guarding Garnett.

The Lakers wanted to establish O’Neal early. He played “quickly,” Jackson said, a good word to describe the way he spun from the free-throw line and exploded to the hoop for a dunk in the first half. Bryant scored 22 points after halftime, Devean George produced 12 points and not even 14 missed free throws by O’Neal could undo it all.

“We played OK today,” O’Neal said.

That’s all it took to beat a Minnesota team with a wobbly Sam Cassell.

The Lakers scored only two points in the first four minutes of the second quarter and the Staples Center crowd didn’t fret.

Wally Szczerbiak microwaved his way to 14 consecutive Minnesota points in the third quarter, and the fans yawned and passed the popcorn.

Yes, the Lakers got the benefit of the calls, most notably when Bryant got a trip to the free-throw line when Trenton Hassell cleanly blocked his shot.

But the Lakers will continue to shoot more free throws as long as the Timberwolves keep running centers in for the sole purpose of fouling O’Neal and Garnett does most of his attacking from the perimeter

And they’ll continue to have a head start as long as Cassell can’t go all-out.

Cassell’s ailing back improved enough for him to play 26 minutes and score 18 points, after he limped to the sidelines in the opening minute of Game 2. But by the time he’s ready to play through the fourth quarter -- when he’s needed most -- it will be too late for this series.

Saunders wondered what would have happened if Darrick Martin had made a three-pointer in the final minute with the Timberwolves down by six.

He should have wondered what it would be like if Cassell had shot it instead.

Martin was the story of Game 2 when he filled in for Cassell and scored 15 points without a turnover.

But there’s a reason that was such a surprise. If the Timberwolves could count on that type of performance every night they wouldn’t have sat Martin for the previous three games. Tuesday he had no points and one assist.

Sprewell was a non-factor for the first three quarters. Garnett had to shoot 21 times to get his 22 points.

And even if Szczerbiak goes for 21 points again, isn’t Bryant about due to go for 40?

Remember, he has another court date Thursday before Game 4.

And the Timberwolves have a date with destiny.

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J.A. Adande can be reached at j.a.adande@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Adande, go to latimes.com/adande.