Szczerbiak Steps It Up but Gets Little Help

Wally Szczerbiak finally cooled off.

It took two ice bags on his knees and a bucket of ice water for his left ankle, but the closest thing the Minnesota Timberwolves had to a hot hand finally wound down in the locker room.

The Timberwolves, actively seeking a complement to Kevin Garnett and Latrell Sprewell if Sam Cassell continues to be a part-time player, might have found their guy in Szczerbiak, who scored 21 points and kept the Timberwolves in Game 3 with 14 third-quarter points.

The Timberwolves lost to the Lakers, 100-89, but Szczerbiak found his shooting touch after an inconsistent postseason.

That Szczerbiak is even on the court is something of an accomplishment after an ugly fall in the first round against the Denver Nuggets. While attempting a dunk, Szczerbiak grabbed the rim for a split second, lost his balance and fell directly on his back.

The doctors had bad news: Three cracked vertebrae.

He sat out six games, returning for Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Sacramento Kings.

He averaged 7.3 points against the Kings and was not a factor in Game 1 against the Lakers, but he burst free with 16 points and seven assists in 39 minutes in Game 2.

After Tuesday’s game, Szczerbiak sat awkwardly in a chair in front of his locker, dipping his left hand into the ice bucket with his left ankle. He also has a sprained finger.

“I feel great,” Szczerbiak said, without a trace of sarcasm. “I feel like I’ve really worked to get back, and I’ve got myself physically right for the playoffs. I can put points on the board and that’s what this team asked me to do off the bench.”

Last season, he couldn’t do much against the Lakers in a first-round series. The Timberwolves’ No. 2 option behind Garnett at the time, Szczerbiak was frustrated, if not humbled as the Lakers won in six games. He worked during the off-season on dribbling and quick pull-up jumpers to create more space between himself and a defender.

“I learned a little bit from last year,” he said. “I’m staying aggressive. I worked on some things during the off-season and they’re paying off.”

In the third quarter, Szczerbiak made seven free throws and all three of his shots, including a three-point basket. Szczerbiak scored nearly half of the Timberwolves’ 30 points in the quarter.

The starters weren’t much help. Garnett made nine of 21 shots for 22 points, and Cassell scored 18 points but played only one minute in the fourth quarter because of recurring back spasms.

“You get to the line and you get your stroke down and you get your aggressiveness and then you just start rolling,” Szczerbiak said. “Hopefully I can keep it up for the next game.”

The Timberwolves hope so. They needed his offense on a night when the rest of their bench totaled all of two points.

“We’ve got guys who are capable of going on streaks, so we’ve just got to maximize those streaks when a guy’s hot, put them all together and play a good, solid game,” Szczerbiak said.