Lakers-Timberwolves Preview

By MATT BECKER
Posted Mar 08 2012 4:23PM

Meetings between the Los Angeles Lakers and Minnesota Timberwolves have resulted in nothing but wins for Kobe Bryant and company for quite some time.

With the way the Lakers' three-game road trip has started and the Timberwolves' recent success at home, however, Minnesota seems capable of earning its first victory in the series in five years.

Bryant and the Lakers try to bounce back from another loss to an inferior opponent Friday night when they face the Timberwolves, who are seeking its first six-game home winning streak in eight years.

The Lakers (23-16) are percentage points behind the Clippers in the Pacific Division, but would be in first place if they could find ways to win on the road. They're tied for the league's second-best home record at 17-2, yet have the ninth-worst road mark at 6-14.

Los Angeles hit the road after Sunday's 93-83 victory over Miami, but any momentum gained from that win quickly disappeared in an 88-85 overtime loss to Detroit on Tuesday. It looked like the Lakers would easily put that behind them the next day in Washington, taking a 21-point lead in the third quarter. Los Angeles stunningly fell apart, however, and the Wizards rallied to hand the Lakers a 106-101 defeat.

Bryant finished with 30 points but missed nine of 10 shots in the final quarter for Los Angeles.

"Our mindset right now to play on the road is not what it should be," said coach Mike Brown, whose team allows an average of 96.2 points on the road - 9.3 more than it gives up at home.

It typically hasn't mattered where Los Angeles faces Minnesota (21-19), however.

The Lakers have won 17 straight over the Timberwolves since a 117-107 double-overtime loss March 6, 2007. It's the NBA's longest active winning streak by one team over another.

Los Angeles beat the Timberwolves 104-85 on Feb. 29 in its first game after the All-Star break. Bryant was cleared to play shortly before the opening tip after sustaining a broken nose and a concussion in the All-Star game, and wearing a protective mask, piled up 31 points, eight assists and seven rebounds.

Andrew Bynum added 13 points and 13 boards and Pau Gasol scored 15 against a Timberwolves team playing without Kevin Love (flu).

The Lakers also won in Minnesota on Jan. 29, but it wasn't easy. Bryant had 35 points and 14 rebounds along with two clutch jumpers in the final 1:16 of a 106-101 victory. Gasol added 28 points and Bynum chipped in 21.

Minnesota is 7-3 at the Target Center since that defeat and riding its first five-game home winning streak since 2006-07.

The Timberwolves, 22-60 at home over the previous two seasons, defeated Portland 106-94 on Tuesday and are trying to win six in a row in Minneapolis for the first time since March 21-April 12, 2004.

"I don't think anybody can really say that we're the laughingstock of the NBA anymore," swingman Wes Johnson said. "If you come in here thinking that, you're going to catch an 'L' real quick."

Johnson had a season-best 19 points and shot 8 of 11 on Tuesday while Love finished with 29 points and 16 rebounds for Minnesota, which has won three in row to move into eighth place in the Western Conference. Love is averaging 36.7 points and 14.3 boards in the last three and had 33 and 13 against the Lakers in January.

"We're talking about the fact that we're relevant right now," coach Rick Adelman said. "We've made a run here that got us to that position. We can win games and we can stay right there."

Adelman is hopeful starting center Nikola Pekovic, averaging 12.3 points and 7.1 rebounds, can return after missing two games with a sore right foot.

Bryant's 34 points lift Lakers over Wolves

By JON KRAWCZYNSKI
Posted Mar 10 2012 1:36AM

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) Kobe Bryant and the reeling Los Angeles Lakers desperately needed some kind of break to help them out of a miserable stretch of performances on the road.

They got a dandy just before tipoff on Friday night when Timberwolves All-Star Kevin Love was scratched because of back spasms.

Bryant scored 34 points and Andrew Bynum added 26 points and 10 rebounds and the Lakers outlasted upstart Minnesota in a 105-102 victory.

"Anytime you lose two in a row, you want to bounce back and win," Bryant said. "It was a tough couple of games, but we wound up not losing any ground standing-wise."

Bryant made four free throws in the final 16 seconds for the Lakers, who beat the Timberwolves for the 18th straight time. They outrebounded Minnesota 45-34, grabbed 17 offensive boards and had a 54-40 advantage on points in the paint.

Derrick Williams had 22 points and 10 rebounds and Nikola Pekovic added 25 points and 13 boards for the Wolves.

Love's injury is not considered serious, but the Wolves are holding their breath for an entirely different reason now. Ricky Rubio had 15 points, 10 assists and four rebounds, but had to be helped off the floor in the final 16 seconds after his left knee buckled before a collision with Bryant.

Rubio was in pain in the locker room after the game, but did not talk to reporters. A team spokesman said he would be evaluated on Saturday before they play the Hornets.

The Wolves had a chance to win it down one with 16 seconds to go, but Williams' drive to the basket was blocked by Pau Gasol. Williams wanted a foul but didn't get the call.

"The ref said he jumped straight up in the air, but I thought he came down on my arms," Williams said. "I just tried to make a good play and try to get to the basket and not settle."

Gasol finished with 12 points and 11 boards on a night where his name was floating around in trade rumors once again.

"People already assumed I was basically gone," Gasol said. "There were some thank you tweets for your services and good luck and all that. Then there were all these people saying it's not confirmed yet."

For Gasol and the Lakers, the March 15 trade deadline can't get here fast enough.

"I adore Pau," Bryant said. "So it's tough to see him go through this (stuff). ... I wish I could do something. It's tough."

Gasol could only shrug, as he has so many times before.

"Nothing surprises me anymore," Gasol said. "I guess it's easy to start a rumor. Anybody can start a rumor. It's never pleasant because it puts you a little bit on edge, but it's going to be like that, I think, for the next six days."

At 33 years old and in his 16th season, Bryant doesn't dunk as often as he used to. But he broke out a couple in the second half to energize the Lakers. The first came on a fastbreak in the third quarter that got them rolling. Then he blew by Luke Ridnour for another with 3:06 to play that put them up 97-95 and set up a heart-pounding finish.

Bynum converted an alley-oop to make it 99-95, but the Wolves came right back with a layup from Pekovic and a 3 from Ridnour that gave them a 100-99 lead with 1:33 to play.

Bynum was credited with a bucket on a goaltend from Williams with 34 seconds to go.

Pekovic tipped home a missed layup from Williams and Bryant hit two free throws for a one-point lead with 16.4 seconds to go.

Williams crashed the lane and appeared to draw some contact from Gasol, but Bryant corralled the rebound to save the Lakers.

When asked if he saw any contact, coach Rick Adelman said "Does it matter? They'll say they were in great position. I'll say there was contact. They'll say there was goaltending, I'll say I'm not sure about that. But that's the way it is."

The Lakers limped into Target Center on Friday night with a 6-14 record on the road, including ghastly losses at Washington and Detroit earlier this week. They gave away a 21-point lead against the Wizards on Wednesday night, with Bryant missing more shots than Bynum and Gasol attempted in the game combined.

They were just as sluggish early against the Timberwolves, falling behind by 14 points in the first quarter.

"It was two embarrassing losses, but it could have been worse," Bryant said. "We could've lost at home to Cleveland like OKC did. It happens."

NOTES: The Lakers play at Boston on Sunday. "We're going at the Celtics' head. We're going at their rack," Bynum said. Why? "We don't like those boys." ... Bryant surpassed 29,000 career points with 12 in the first half. ... Wolves PG J.J. Barea missed the game with a sprained left ankle. ... Michael Beasley scored 15 points for the Wolves.

Notebook: Lakers 105, Timberwolves 102

Posted Saturday March 10, 2012 12:32AM

By Phil Miller, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: Kobe Bryant scored 34 points and the Los Angeles Lakers salvaged the final game of a three-game road trip by beating the Timberwolves for the 18th straight time, 105-102 in Minneapolis.

The Wolves found out just before tipoff that forward Kevin Love, their leading scorer and rebounder, would not be able to play because of back spasms. Derrick Williams scored 22 points in Love's spot, and center Nikola Pekovic returned to Minnesota's lineup with 25 points and 13 rebounds, yet it was the Lakers' front line that controlled the game. Andrew Bynum scored 26 points with 10 rebounds, while Pau Gasol added 12 points and 11 rebounds, giving the Lakers their ninth straight victory in Target Center.

Bryant, who scored his 29,000th career point earlier in the game, scored the game's final four points at the free-throw line to pull out a back-and-fourth duel in the final period. His free throws with 16.2 seconds left, earned when Wolves guard Ricky Rubio jumped in front to draw a charging foul but instead injured his left knee, put the Lakers ahead for good.

Williams tried to answer for the Wolves, but his six-foot shot in the lane was stuffed by Gasol. After two more Bryant free throws, Luke Ridnour missed an open 3-pointer at the buzzer.

QUOTABLE: "Twitter, Twitter, Twitter. Somebody texted me, 'Are you gone?' Stuff like that. There were some thank-yous, some 'good luck' and all that. And then people saying, 'Oh no, he's not gone yet.' I slept for another hour and a half -- I'm that kind of guy."
-- Gasol, who scored 12 points with 11 rebounds against the Wolves, on an Internet rumor Friday that he had been traded.

THE STAT: 29,022 -- Career points for Bryant, and it only seems to the Timberwolves like 25,000 of them came at their expense. Bryant, who scored exactly 100 points in the Lakers' three games against Minnesota this season, hit a pair of free throws with 2:05 remaining in the first half to become just the seventh player in NBA history to score 29,000. And despite a 4-for-14 first half, Bryant scored 22 more points after halftime to finish with 34.

TURNING POINT: The Timberwolves came in having won their past three games, and confident they could snap their five-year-old losing streak to the Lakers. But after a hard fall in Wednesday's victory over Portland, Love's back bothered him on Thursday. By Friday night, the pain had turned into spasms, Love needed treatment, and the Wolves were doomed to play without their best player, who had averaged 36.7 points in the past three games.

QUOTABLE II: "We're going at the Celtics' head. We're going at the Celtics rack. You know why? Because we don't like those boys."
-- Bynum, already motivated for Sunday's game with Boston

HOT: Michael Beasley's minutes have declined in the past couple of weeks, but the reserve forward is learning to use his playing time efficiently. Against the Lakers, Beasley played only 16 minutes, but scored 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting. Beasley hasn't played 20 minutes in any of Minnesota's five games in March, but is shooting 51.7 percent (15-for-29) in that time.

NOT: Metta World Peace contributed nine points and four rebounds, but his shot selection in the fourth quarter nearly sabotaged the Lakers. He tried three shots, two of them from 3-point range and all in the final four minutes, and each missed badly, severely hampering the L.A. offense down the stretch of a close game. World Peace, who has made only 35 percent of his shots on the season, went 5-for-21 (23.8 percent) on the Lakers' three-game road trip.

INSIDE THE ARENA: The Timberwolves promoted Friday as a "white-out" for their fans, distributing white t-shirts to each member of the 20,164-strong sellout. But the all-white effect wasn't as uniform as the team had hoped, given that roughly a fourth of the fans in attendance were rooting for the Lakers and chose not to wear the shirts.

GOOD MOVE: Bryant had victimized the Wolves for 66 points in the teams' first two games this season, so Minnesota coach Rick Adelman tried an unusual defensive weapon Friday: Luke Ridnour. Despite giving up five inches in the matchup, Ridnour hounded Bryant in the first half; in the 18 minutes they were in the game together, Bryant went 2-for-9 from the field. Still, Bryant, who was largely defended by Martell Webster in the fourth quarter, still finished with 34 points.

BAD MOVE: With the Wolves holding a one-point lead and roughly 40 seconds to play, Williams watched the Lakers swing the ball to Bynum down low, and he began to anticipate Bynum's move toward the basket. As Bynum released a short hook, Williams raced along the baseline and soared for a block, but his timing was off. Bynum's hurried shot bounced off the backboard and Williams was whistled for a goaltend that put the Lakers ahead, 101-100.

ROOKIE WATCH: Williams took advantage of Love's absence by playing a career-high 42:35, and it resulted in 22 points (only the second time he's eclipsed 20) and 10 rebounds, one short of his career high. But he tried to do a little too much in the fourth quarter, making only 1-of-4 shots, including an ill-advised short jumper in heavy traffic with six seconds remaining in the game. It was blocked by Gasol, Bryant recovered the loose ball, and the Lakers' victory was sealed.

NOTABLE: The loss dropped the 21-20 Wolves into ninth place in the Western Conference behind Houston. ... Pekovic returned to action after missing two games with a sore foot. The second-year center is averaging 16.0 points since Feb. 1. ... Love was a late scratch, and his status for Saturday's game with New Orleans is unknown. ... J.J. Barea did not suit up; he sprained his right ankle on Wednesday.

UP NEXT: For the Lakers, Sunday vs. Celtics, Tuesday @ Memphis, Wednesday @ New Orleans. For the Timberwolves, Saturday vs. Hornets, Monday @ Phoenix, Thursday @ Utah.

• Lakers: Morris
• Timberwolves: Barea, Lee

• Lakers: Blake
• Timberwolves: Rubio

• Lead Changes: 10
• Times Tied: 8

• Arena: Target Center, Minneapolis, MN
• Officials: #25 Tony Brothers, #20 Leroy Richardson, #60 James Williams
• Attendance: 20164
• Duration: 2:24