Wolfing Them Down

Playing back from the edge of implosion, the Lakers stand on the verge of the NBA Finals.

Ever dramatic, ever routine, the Lakers on Thursday night had Kobe Bryant fly in from Colorado, Shaquille O’Neal storm in from the paint and Derek Fisher step in from the bench as they defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves, 92-85, at Staples Center in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals.

They lead the series, three games to one. Game 5 is Saturday night in Minneapolis, the Lakers a victory from their fourth Finals in five years.

Six teams have come back from 3-1 deficits, none since the Miami Heat against the New York Knicks in 1997, only two since 1981, and the Lakers have won 12 consecutive close-out games.

“We can see the light to the Finals,” Rick Fox said.

That close, Bryant spent his day fighting a charge of felony sexual assault a time zone away, arrived in the arena more than an hour before the tip, and then scored 31 points, 18 in a game-turning third quarter.

That close, O’Neal took 19 rebounds and scored 19 points. It was his fifth consecutive game of at least 16 rebounds.

Phil Jackson called him “terrific” and O’Neal seemed happy to do it. After the game, O’Neal’s wife, Shaunie, changed their baby in a hallway off the press room as he looked on, the first dirty work he hadn’t done all night.

“I’m just trying to do the little things at times,” he said. “A lot of guys on this team demand shots. I don’t really get the 20 to 25 shots I used to get. I block shots, get some rebounds. Just trying to do the little things.”

That close, Fisher, who might have saved the postseason with four-tenths of a second left in Game 5 a round ago, and playing in front of handfuls of fans wearing foam fish heads, scored 15 points in 28 minutes.

Kevin Garnett, the league MVP, had 28 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists, but his Timberwolves were outplayed in the critical middle two quarters, outrebounded, 45-24, through three quarters and face the same ending to this season as last -- elimination at the hands of the Lakers.

Garnett on Wednesday called Game 4 “an absolute must-win” and now the Timberwolves must win out.

“We gotta win at home,” he said. “That is the focus.”

The Lakers won Game 1 in Minnesota, and they have that run of close-out successes, dating to Game 6 of the 2000 NBA Finals, the moment of their first title together.

Bryant, again, had incredible energy at the conclusion of a long day. After a half in which he missed some and hung back some, he made two free throws in the third quarter that gave the Lakers a 58-54 lead, beginning a stretch in which he scored 16 of the team’s 19 points. By the end of the quarter, the Laker lead was 75-60 and the Timberwolves were tugging at the bottom of their shorts.

In Game 3, a more routine day by Bryant standards, he’d also gotten more involved in the second half, when he scored all of his 22 points.

“I just read it and pace it out, collapse the defense in the first half by swinging it around and moving the ball, getting other guys involved,” he said. “In the second half, when I sense some momentum and I feel like it’s time to go in for the kill, that’s when I do it.”

The Timberwolves were never again closer than seven points, despite 10 fourth-quarter points from Garnett and seven from Wally Szczerbiak, who scored 19 points. Darrick Martin started for Sam Cassell, whose back has been sore since before the series began, and Cassell played only five minutes.

“We’re very confident,” Szczerbiak insisted. “We’ve been close. We’ve been right there.... We beat them once. We gotta find a way to do it again.”

Bryant again appeared weary, as he does at the conclusion of his travel days. In similar playoff circumstances, he scored 31 points in Game 5 against the Houston Rockets, 42 in Game 4 against the San Antonio Spurs. The Lakers have won them all.

“I just go day by day,” he said. “Whatever I have to do I will do and that’s pretty much the bottom line. Whatever I have to do, that’s what I will do, no matter what it is. Whatever it takes.”

And so the Lakers of Bryant and O’Neal, of newcomers Karl Malone and Gary Payton, are beginning to sense their championship, five wins off.

Ten months after he left Utah behind and signed with the Lakers, Malone smiled at his new place. He has played in the Finals twice, in 1997 and 1998, and lost to Phil Jackson’s Chicago Bulls. Well, Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls.

“It’s not really what I came here for,” Malone said. “I’ve been there twice. I would like to win it. But I don’t know. I’m just trying to keep all the emotions, all of that, not get caught up in all of that on the floor. I’m trying to keep an even keel. If we’re so lucky, I don’t know how I would be.

“To have it this close. I’ve been part of [being] up, 3-1, and I’ll take this any day. Having to win one game looks a whole lot better than having to win three games.”

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Closing the Deal

After winning Game 4 Thursday, the Lakers took a 3-1 series lead and can eliminate the Timberwolves in Game 5 on Saturday in Minnesota. The Lakers have won 12 consecutive games when they have a chance to end a series. The last time the Lakers were not able to win a close-out game was in the 2000 NBA Finals, when they lost to the Indiana Pacers, 120-87, in Game 5.

*--* YEAR OPPONENT RESULT ROUND GAME 2000 Indiana W, 116-111 NBA Finals Game 6 2001 Portland W, 99-86 First round Game 3 2001 Sacramento W, 119-113 Conference semifinals Game 4 2001 San Antonio W, 111-82 Conference finals Game 4 2001 Philadelphia W, 108-96 NBA Finals Game 5 2002 Portland W, 92-91 First round Game 3 2002 San Antonio W, 93-87 Conference semifinals Game 5 2002 Sacramento W, 112-106 Conference finals Game 7 2002 New Jersey W, 113-107 NBA Finals Game 4 2003 Minnesota W, 101-85 First round Game 6 2004 Houston W, 97-78 First round Game 5 2004 San Antonio W, 88-76 Conference semifinals Game 6

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