Lakers find many ways to give it up

The chances came one after another as the Minnesota Timberwolves put Tuesday’s game in a box, wrapped some pretty paper around it, and handed it to the Lakers.

But then the Lakers dropped it, shattering whatever was inside, thanks to a series of staggering late-game collapses that left behind a trail of blown opportunity.

A chance to win on the road, short-handed, and end another losing streak eventually fell apart in the second overtime of a 117-107 loss to the Timberwolves at the Target Center.

A comfortable 13-point lead in the second quarter was still a six-point edge with 2:35 left in the fourth quarter, but a third consecutive loss slowly appeared amid a series of turnovers, blown defensive assignments and missed free throws that would make a junior high coach shake his head in disbelief.

There were plenty of cost-them-the-game moments from which to pick.

* Minnesota center Mark Blount, who made five three-point shots all season, hit three mostly wide-open attempts from behind the arc in the final 2:20 of regulation.

* Smush Parker made only one of two free throws with 5.2 seconds left in the fourth quarter, leaving just enough of an opening for Ricky Davis to answer with two free throws at the other end after being fouled with 3.1 seconds left.

* Parker, a 63% shooter on free throws this season, missed three of four in the first overtime, including a pair with 1:24 to go that could have put the Lakers up four.

* Fatigued, perhaps even “despondent” as Coach Phil Jackson put it, the Lakers scored two points in the second overtime.

All in all, a bad night for the Lakers, for obvious reasons.

“I think everybody’s upset,” Kobe Bryant said. “It’s frustrating because of the little things that beat you. You’ve got to step to the line and knock down the free throws, make sure you don’t give guys open looks at the basket.”

At least the Lakers don’t play again until ... tonight against Milwaukee. Ouch.

“This is the worst possible situation that you can have, the front end of a back-to-back that you go to a double overtime and you lose it,” Jackson said.

It looked as if the Lakers would win, ending their modest losing streak.

They led by 13 in the first quarter, lost almost all of it early in the second quarter, worked it back up to 13 a few minutes later, but led only 53-50 at halftime.

The Timberwolves never led until Davis made two free throws for an 81-80 edge with 8:33 left in the fourth quarter.

Bryant played well, finishing with 40 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists in a whopping 53 minutes. Parker had 24 points on eight-for-14 shooting but made only six of 10 free throws.

A career 74.6% free-throw shooter before this season, Parker may have developed a mental or physical hitch when he gets to the line this season.

“It’s both. How about that?” Jackson said. “Smush is a guy that makes foul shots in practice and then in a game has some difficulty. Some of it is fundamental, just the skill of shooting the ball and doing it the right way.”

Parker spoke matter-of-factly when asked about it afterward.

“It needs work,” he said, shrugging. “It just needs work. I was confident. I want to step to that line. I want that ball down the stretch to get fouled. I’ve just got to knock them down when I get there.”

The Lakers even had problems inbounding the ball.

Sasha Vujacic’s pass in the Lakers’ end with 3.1 seconds left in regulation was stolen by Davis, leading to a half-court heave by Randy Foye that rimmed out at the buzzer.

With the Lakers down, 111-107, in the second overtime, Maurice Evans’ inbounds attempt under the Lakers’ basket was stolen by Foye.

These are the times the Lakers miss Lamar Odom, or even Luke Walton, players who could inbound the ball without incident. “We had a few things that went awry for us at the offensive end,” Jackson said.

And with that, the Lakers headed to Milwaukee, for whatever awaited them there.

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mike.bresnahan@latimes.com

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KEYS TO THE GAME

* Smush Parker missed four key free throws -- one with 5.2 seconds left in the fourth quarter and another three in the first overtime.

* The Lakers were outscored in the second overtime, 12-2, making only one of seven shots.

* The Lakers lost numerous statistical categories to the Timberwolves -- including rebounds (58-46) and assists (29-17). They made only 39.8% of their field-goal attempts and 72.2% of their free throws.

--MIKE BRESNAHAN