Sly prairie fox Phil Jackson tweaks his stars for dramatic results

The Timberwolves were 0-4 on the road and lost those games by an average of 30 points. They took these embarrassments into Staples Center last week to play the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers.

The Wolves played the Lakers to the final minute and lost 99-94. One reason for this effort was Kevin Love's outstanding production in his matchup with Lamar Odom, the Lakers' veteran power forward.

Love finished with 23 points and 24 rebounds -- a precursor to the 31-31 performance he would put up against the New York Knicks last Saturday night in Target Center.

This was such a monumental event that the Wolves produced T-shirts with 31-31 emblazoned and Love in action. The Wolves were back home for the first time since Love's epic effort and the T-shirts were offered as an incentive for fans in attendance to purchase a new six-game ticket package.

The Lakers were the opponents, and there was an announced sellout of 19,356. The customers came with the hope of a competitive game, considering the Wolves had played the two-time defending champions close only 10 nights earlier.

Except that long-legged, gray fox from the North Dakota prairie, Phil Jackson, pressed a button that caused Odom to arrive with considerable resolve.

"Lamar was embarrassed because of that first performance," Jackson said. "I told him after that game, 'Now I know how Love made the U.S. team; he got to practice against you every day.'"

On Friday, Odom played 39 minutes, scored 11 points and had eight rebounds. And he was mainly responsible for a shutout tossed at Love: 0-for-7 from the field and no free throws, and with a meager seven rebounds.

The Lakers were rolling to what would be a 112-95 victory throughout the fourth quarter. Coach Kurt Rambis had Love on the floor for most of the period. He finally went to the bench, scoreless, with 3:10 left.

By then, Jackson was looking at another of his veterans to agitate in Pau Gasol.

The Wolves are giving Darko Milicic, the 7-foot Serbian, a chance to put behind the ridicule and become a worthwhile NBA center. The Lakers also have a 7-foot center in Gasol, the Spaniard who arrived from the Memphis Grizzlies in February 2008.

Milicic drew a foul 12 seconds into the game. The immediate reaction was, "Darko won't be around long tonight," but then he went to work.

Milicic became the second player in the 22-season history of the Wolves to finish with as many as 20 points, 15 rebounds, five assists and five blocks. The other was Kevin Garnett -- a half-dozen times.

There was nothing wrong with Gasol, with 16 points and 14 boards, but Milicic had a career-high 23 points and equaled a career-high with 16 rebounds. And these totals were the source of another Jackson needle to one of his exceptional athletes.

"I told Gasol, 'The best European center tonight is on the other team,'" the coach said.

There were occasions when Gasol wound up guarding Love. Clearly, the Lakers were not going to allow Love, the one-year UCLA Bruin, to put on a show similar to last week for the Lakers masses watching on television back in L.A.

Jackson was asked before the game what he saw as the secret of Love's phenomenal rebounding pace (14.3 per game entering Friday). Just in case a ref happened to be in the vicinity, Jackson said:

The ex-Bruin who put on a show Friday was Matt Barnes, signed as a free agent by the Lakers in the offseason. Barnes was 7-for-7 from the field (with five threes) and 5-for-5 at the line. He needed seven shots to score 24 points, and Kobe Bryant took 27 shots to score 23.

"Is that what you expected when you got him?" Jackson was asked.

The prairie fox smirked, as he does magnificently, and said: "Going 7-for-7, with five threes ... I don't think you can hope for that from anyone."