Scorers, Just Not Enough of Them

The book on attacking the Laker defense has read much the same since Phil Jackson took over as coach five seasons ago. Just run one pick-and-roll play after another until they bleed.

For teams such as San Antonio, Sacramento and Dallas, this approach has been an offensive mandate against the Lakers, but that’s not true with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Because of the versatile talent of forward Kevin Garnett, the Timberwolves use more offensive sets than most teams in the NBA and like to spread the wealth.

This style gave the Lakers trouble in Game 2, but not so much in Tuesday night’s 100-89 victory at Staples Center.

Although Timberwolves’ Sam Cassell, Latrell Sprewell and Wally Szczerbiak put up good numbers in Game 3 by combining for 57 points, the Lakers never seemed worried about Minnesota’s perimeter offense.

“I give those guys a lot of credit in that locker room, they never give up,” Laker forward Karl Malone said about the Timberwolves, who trail the best-of-seven series, 2-1. “I think we got out to a 15-point lead on a couple of threes and they just hung in there.”

But in order for Minnesota to win the series, more players will have to be consistently involved.

Garnett had 22 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists, while Szczerbiak had 21 points off the bench. But Cassell only had three points after halftime and played less than a minute in the fourth quarter because of a bad back.

And Sprewell had 18 points, but 12 came in the fourth quarter when the Lakers were content to trade baskets.

“I’m sure that they probably did make some adjustments but nothing that really affected us,” said backup point guard Darrick Martin, who had only one assist and did not score on Tuesday after finishing with 15 points and six assists in Game 2.

“On different nights, we’re going to have different guys carry the load. What makes this team special is that we have so many weapons [with] different options off of different sets. It’s a good offense because it enables everyone to touch the ball, so you can’t just always key in on one guy.”

But when the Lakers are playing solid defense, the Timberwolves have found it difficult to get on a scoring run. And while Jackson may not have been pleased with the 15 fouls the Lakers committed in the second half, he was happy with how Malone defended Garnett.

“He really got into the defensive aspect of his game,” Jackson said about Malone, who had 11 points, six rebounds and five assists. “Obviously, he didn’t have the greatest offensive game, but he really expended a lot of energy out there in the defensive end.”

Slowing Garnett is key to beating the Timberwolves, who rely on their captain to not only score, but to help his teammates get points. When Garnett is taken out of the offense, Minnesota struggles.

“We didn’t play exceptionally well but I think we played hard,” Minnesota Coach Flip Saunders said. “We didn’t always execute well.”

When the Timberwolves’ offense did work in Game 3, it was usually off of one-on-one moves. Cassell did damage early with his perimeter shooting, scoring 15 points in the first half, and Szczerbiak beat the Lakers with an assortment of difficult shots.

But it was not enough.