Saunders Is Not Flip About Series

The Minnesota Timberwolves’ defensive pressure has shooed the Lakers from their comfortable stations in their half-court offense and their inside-outside combination of Kevin Garnett and Troy Hudson has been devastating. But the Timberwolves said Saturday that they have miles to run before taking their first playoff series victory.

“We know that by no means should we be celebrating,� Wally Szczerbiak said after Minnesota’s workout at El Segundo. “We know that by no means is our work done.�

The Timberwolves lead the Lakers, two games to one, in their best-of-seven opening-round playoff series, with Game 4 today at Staples Center. Minnesota has made six consecutive first-round exits. The Lakers have won three consecutive NBA championships.

“I think our players understand the urgency of every game,� Coach Flip Saunders said. “Until someone defeats them, the Lakers are the team to beat. They’ve been in situations like this, although maybe not in the first round. But they were down, 2-1, last season against Sacramento.�

The Lakers also were down, three games to two, against the Kings last spring and rallied to win Games 6 and 7 in the Western Conference finals before sweeping the New Jersey Nets in the NBA Finals.

“I think Rudy Tomjanovich said it best when he said, ‘Never underestimate the heart of a champion,’ � Saunders said, referring to the Houston Rocket coach. “All year, we’ve shown our resiliency. It would have been very easy with the calls not going our way and K.G. fouling out [in Game 3] for our guys to say, ‘It’s not our night.’ But we didn’t.�

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Even if the Timberwolves don’t often take the ball from the Lakers while employing a half-court trap, their strategy has paid off well enough for Saunders to continue using it for the duration of the series.

“We’ve done more with the traps to eat up the clock and force them to take bad shots,� he said. “We’ve extended our defense and made them move their offense up [and away from the basket] even more.�

Instead of letting the Lakers set up on the low block, as is their preference for center Shaquille O’Neal, the Timberwolves have forced O’Neal to move to the free-throw line to help break the trap. That’s fine with Saunders.

“He’s pretty effective as a feeder and the Lakers say they don’t mind having him there, but I don’t mind either,� he said.

Saunders said he expects the Lakers to run their offense through O’Neal and Kobe Bryant today for Game 4 more often than they did in the first three games of the series, but added, “I don’t anticipate them doing anything else differently.�

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Rick Fox of the Lakers, on Szczerbiak’s complaint that he’s being held by Fox: “It must be the playoffs. Everybody’s complaining.... He has to understand, if he’s going to put his hands on me, I’m going to put my hands on him.�