Lakers too tall an order for Wolves

Bruce Bisping, Star Tribune

Lakers' Kobe Bryant drives on Minnesota's Randy Foye.

The Wolves got lost amid a forest of L.A. defenders that included two long-armed 7-footers, making Al Jefferson's 34 points not nearly enough to measure up.

By JERRY ZGODA, Star Tribune

Last update: January 31, 2009 - 9:46 AM

An ocean of faces came to Target Center on Friday night to see the surging hometown team and the flashy and famous opposition.

All the Timberwolves saw were a sea of arms in a convincing 132-119 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.

That's the imagery Wolves coach Kevin McHale uses to describe a long, lean Lakers team that started 7-footers Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol in the frontcourt against his 6-6 Craig Smith and 6-9 Al Jefferson and brings 6-10 Lamar Odom off the bench.

Lakers star Kobe Bryant got his 30 points and two quick fouls called on defender Randy Foye, but it was the Lakers' physical dominance -- and 19 offensive rebounds -- that determined a game that gave the Wolves their first consecutive losses in a whopping 37 days.

And 19,111 spectators -- the biggest Target Center audience of the season -- watched the Lakers use a 15-2 third-quarter run to turn a four-point game at halftime into a lead as many as 20 points early in the fourth quarter.

"How big and long do they look?" Jefferson said when asked about the Lakers' size. "Shoot. They're long. They're big. And they play smart."

The Wolves started January with an NBA-best 10-2 record, then ended it with home losses to Detroit on Wednesday and the Lakers on Friday, when they surrendered a season-high number of points.

"We can score against one of the best teams in the league," McHale said. "We just have to figure out how we're going to defend them."

The Lakers hoisted 27 three pointers and made only 10, but they used those tall bodies and long arms to outrebound the Wolves 53-43, including 19-16 on the offensive boards. That's only the third time in 14 January games that the Wolves have been outrebounded overall.

Bynum is the 21-year-old center blossoming before everybody's eyes. He's also a guy the Wolves considered rebuilding around when they decided to trade Kevin Garnett two summers ago and opted to deal with Boston instead.

On Friday, eight days after he scored a career-high 42 points, Bynum grabbed 15 of the Lakers' 53 rebounds, including seven offensive boards. His 27 points didn't hurt, either. Wolves rookie Kevin Love fouled out with more than six minutes left in the game trying to defend the Lakers' big men down low.

"It's like one big sea of arms out there sometimes," McHale said.

The Wolves finish January 10-4 after going 2-14 in December and 4-11 in November (and October).

"I've told our guys the way to make the playoffs is to have winning months, not winning days or winning weeks," McHale said. "There's a pretty good chance if you put together four months of over-.500 ball, you're going to have a great chance of making the playoffs.

"Every night is a challenge in this league. There are road bumps all over the place. We'll hit a few more along the way. But we'll have a few autobahns where we get out and go, too."

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