Win Today and Get Ready to Lose It All

Now comes a test of competitive will that might be the most difficult of all for the NBA’s MVP and his energetic co-workers.

Now comes a survival game that must be won against a superior opponent, and it must be won with Sam the Man, their best shooter, still hobbling.

Now comes a game when they must conjure an effort previously unmatched in these playoffs, and they must do so knowing the only award for victory will be delaying the inevitable.

The Timberwolves return to Target Center tonight to play the fifth game of the Western Conference finals against the Lakers, who have closed out 11 consecutive series on their first try.

The series lead is 3-1, with the Timberwolves trying to become the first team since Indiana in the 2000 Finals to win a game after Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant and the Lakers had reached three victories in a best-of-seven.

This could be it for the Lakers’ quarrelsome and unstoppable twosome, since Bryant could be elsewhere next season. He could be with the Clippers, the Atlanta Hawks or maybe the Cellblock B All-Stars in a Colorado prison.

The Lakers did not bring their best in Games 2 or 3. The Timberwolves won Game 2 but they missed an opportunity to win Game 3 when Bryant was scoreless in the first half and O’Neal made eight of 22 free throws.

Thursday, the Timberwolves came out with ferocity. Garnett brought everything he had for 47 1/2 minutes and went against his preferred style and tried to crash to the rim.

All he wound up with for those drives was the opportunity to get squeezed between O’Neal and the knees and elbows of the rugged (dirty?) Karl Malone. No matter the level of contact, the officiating crew of Jack Nies, Bernie Fryer and Mike Callahan preferred no-calls.

Garnett was led to the postgame interview room a half-hour after the loss. There was one word for his words and body language: depressed.

He was asked about the no-calls that came on those first-half drives and said:

“That’s when I was thinking to myself, ‘We’re playing eight tonight.’ ... You have to put yourself in position for the officials to make the call. I thought we did that, and they didn’t make the call. At that point, I felt like we were playing against eight people.”

Coach Flip Saunders also was fired up, yapping at the officials. By game’s end, the Lakers had all the technicals (four) and Saunders was saying he thought the officiating was consistent:

No calls either way when players were mugged going to the basket.

Garnett’s unhappiness with the officials was part of a greater frustration:

He had given an enormous effort -- 28 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists -- and it was not nearly enough.

“We got to win at home,” Garnett said.

If the Timberwolves do so, it will be a triumph for competitive spirit but it will not change the eventual outcome of these Western finals.