The Leaders of the Hack

The floor was Shaquille O’Neal’s, the basketball game was all but done, and he found Flip Saunders in his suit on the sideline and he shook his head.

O’Neal is again in the middle, on the floor and in the game plan, and the Lakers are again leading the Western Conference finals.

They defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves, 100-89, on Tuesday night at Staples Center, riding O’Neal, clearing out for his short jumpers, leaning into his wayward free throws, and are ahead, two games to one, in the best-of-seven series. Game 4 is here Thursday night.

“I did OK,” O’Neal said, “except for the free-throw line. This was an opportunity to get 40 tonight, but I missed a couple throws.”

After a so-so Game 2 won by the Timberwolves in Minneapolis, O’Neal scored 22 points, took 17 rebounds and blocked four shots. He found shooters on the perimeter and chased guards midrange and did not relent until he walked from the court and mouthed at the Timberwolves’ bench, “It won’t work. It ain’t gonna work.”

After two days spent feeling put upon by the more determined Timberwolves, Game 3 wasn’t football at all, not until the end, when Saunders, the Minnesota coach, ordered his men to hack Shaq, and Shaq generally complied with the strategy, and then stared at Saunders. O’Neal was eight for 22 from the line, which is where the Lakers spent most of the second half.

By the end of a game spent in O’Neal’s vicinity, the Lakers had attempted 43 free throws and the Timberwolves had tried 14. Minnesota, with a cast of thousands at center and an MVP -- Kevin Garnett -- who faded away more often than he attacked, were not awarded a free throw until Kobe Bryant was called for a technical foul nearly halfway through the third quarter.

The Lakers shot 40 free throws in the second half, four by O’Neal out of Hack-a-Shaq fouls, and 26 in the fourth quarter. Of course, they sent their offense toward the rim and the Timberwolves shot 22 three-pointers, making nine.

“If we have to foul Shaq 50 times,” Saunders said, “we’ll foul him 50 times, if that’s what it takes.”

In that case, said O’Neal, who rarely thinks he receives the benefit of referees’ judgment, “I’ll probably only go to the line 15 times.”

Beyond that, it was simply basketball, which the Lakers can do on occasion. Bryant scored 22 points, all in the second half, after missing his only two attempts in the first half.

“I’m sabotaging the game, man,” Bryant said with a wry smile. “They did a good job defensively. They were just crowding me and trapping me.... We were playing so well as a team, everybody was contributing. We had a nice lead. There was really no reason for me to push through it or force shots. Second half, they looked to stop everybody else and I got going. I picked up the momentum and was able to break the game open.”

The Lakers left the Timberwolves at 13-13, never to be caught again. They led by as many as 10 points in the second quarter and nine in the third before a 13-2 run in the middle of the fourth finished the Timberwolves. Garnett had 22 points and Wally Szczerbiak had 21, 14 in a row in the third quarter. But Garnett fouled out late in the fourth, his first fouls since Game 1, a subject Karl Malone had broached two days before and Saunders developed further Tuesday.

“I think it’s very ironic,” he said.

The Lakers, probably, would call it justice.

“I didn’t dwell on it,” Malone said. “Just, I wish I could go three games almost without a foul.”

After a fairly submissive effort in Game 2, the Lakers appeared to have their legs and minds together again. Against a wobbly Sam Cassell, Gary Payton scored 14 of the Lakers’ first 18 points. He then scored four of their next 82, but had nine assists and five rebounds in his most effective game of the series.

Payton sat out some late minutes when Coach Phil Jackson desired a longer defender against Szczerbiak, saying later, “As long as we win a basketball game I’m fine. Phil must have seen something that he wanted to see.... I hope I’m not playing just because of one player. I don’t want to just guard Sam Cassell.”

Cassell’s sore back left him out of all but 43 seconds of Game 2, and he played 26 minutes in Game 3. He was sharp and accurate early, scoring 15 points on six-for-10 shooting before halftime. But he stiffened and played only seven minutes of the second half, one minute in the fourth quarter. So instrumental in Game 2, Darrick Martin, Cassell’s replacement, did not score in Game 3.

Afterward, O’Neal leaned into the microphone and promised more like it.

“I’m still angry,” he said.

Asked until when, he smiled and said, “Until we win the series. Or until you stop asking me dumb questions.”

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On the Line

The Lakers are getting to the free-throw line much more than Minnesota:

*--* Lakers Minn. Game 1 17-23 14-15 Game 2 15-29 16-19 Game 3 25-43 12-14 Total 57-95 42-48 AVERAGE 19.0-31.7 14.0-16.0

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