LAKERS NOTEBOOK: FATIGUE PERSISTS AS FACTOR.

Byline: Howard Beck Staff Writer

MINNEAPOLIS - The Timberwolves consider Sam Cassell questionable for today's Game 2 of the conference finals, but really, the entire exhausted Minnesota roster is leaning that direction and probably will be for the duration of this series.

The Lakers took a 97-88 victory from the gasping Timberwolves in Friday's series opener and said afterward they could see their opponents' fatigue. That advantage doesn't figure to abate.

The series, which continues with Game 2 tonight, is being played on an every-other-day schedule, offering no time for the Timberwolves to recover from a draining seven-game series against Sacramento.

``It works in our favor right now, doesn't it?'' coach Phil Jackson said Saturday after a brief practice at the Lakers' downtown hotel. ``To play every other day, you don't really gain any ground in rest.''

It's more of a handicap for the Timberwolves - who finished off the Kings on Wednesday - than for the Lakers, who had nearly six days of rest between series.

The Lakers are generally healthy throughout the rotation. Minnesota spent Saturday wondering if Cassell's stiff back and achy hip would be cooperative by tipoff tonight. He sat out the final 13-plus minutes of Game 1 and all of Saturday's practice.

The Timberwolves are lacking a decent backup point guard - Troy Hudson is out for the season, Darrick Martin is a short-minutes player at best - and have few alternatives.

--Big influence: Shaquille O'Neal coaxed Karl Malone into signing with the Lakers last summer and hasn't stopped chattering at him since. Almost daily now, he's reminding Malone of the pact they made and of the championship that lies just seven victories away.

Somewhere in that excitement is an implicit message: Let's do this again. With or without a championship, Malone might retire this summer, forgoing the final year of his Lakers contract and the Olympics as well.

But then there's that buzzing in his ear.

``You know what, I don't know if he's trying to hoodwink me into something or saying something,'' Malone said with a chuckle. ``But to me, it's like he's leading me up to another question.

``I always know when he's serious because he grabs my arm,'' Malone said. ``So he grabbed my arm this morning and said, `What should I do this summer? We should get together and train.' ''

Which begs the question: What exactly would Malone be training for? ``Exactly,'' said Malone, who has not yet decided what he will do.

Howard Beck, [phone]

howard.beck(at)dailynews.com