NOT ON TARGET POOR FOURTH QUARTER DOOMS LAKERS IN LOSS TO T'WOLVES; BRYANT'S 30-POINT STREAK SNAPPED MINNESOTA 88, LAKERS 74.Byline: Ross Siler Staff Writer MINNEAPOLIS - On the third stop of the Phil Jackson
Philip Douglas "Phil" Jackson (born September 17, 1945 in Deer Lodge, Montana) is the current coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, an American professional basketball team. and Kobe Bryant Kobe Bean Bryant (born July 23 1978) is an American All-Star shooting guard in the National Basketball Association (NBA) who plays for the Los Angeles Lakers. reunion tour came a stark reminder Wednesday night at Target Center. As one of the NBA's youngest teams this season, the Lakers will have plenty of growing pains grow·ing pains pl.n. Pains in the limbs and joints of children or adolescents, frequently occurring at night and often attributed to rapid growth but arising from various unrelated causes. to go around. They learned two things in an 88-74 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves are a professional basketball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. Their organization is a member of the National Basketball Association (NBA). : Bryant will not finish with 30 points every night and few games will end with a stirring fourth-quarter comeback capped by a Bryant last-second jumper in overtime. That was the case for the Lakers on opening night in Denver a week earlier. It was anything but in a forgettable for·get·ta·ble adj. Fit or apt to be forgotten: a movie with very forgettable characters. Adj. 1. forgettable - easily forgotten unforgettable - impossible to forget fourth quarter Wednesday in which they managed just 13 points and watched as Bryant missed all five shots he took with two turnovers. ``We had mental lapses in our execution in the fourth quarter, which comes from us not really playing together for a long period of time,'' said Bryant, who finished with 28 points on 12-for-26 shooting. ``We're doing pretty well, considering the circumstances. ``It was a close ballgame up until a certain point. It comes from inexperience. The more games we have like this, the better we'll be off then.'' The Lakers (3-2) totaled only 29 points in the second half. Their offensive woes were magnified by the fact that they raced to an 11-2 lead to start the game, scoring just 64 points in the 44-plus minutes after that. Even with forward Kwame Brown recording his first double-double - 10 points and 13 rebounds - and playing strong defense on Minnesota's Kevin Garnett Kevin Garnett (born May 19, 1976) is an American professional basketball player for the NBA's Boston Celtics. The 6 ft 11 in, 220 lb (0 kg) power forward is regarded as one of the best all around players in the game today. in the first half, the Lakers' shortcomings A shortcoming is a character flaw. Shortcomings may also be:
Bryant forced his shots late and saw his streak of consecutive 30-point games come to an end at four. Center Chris Mihm Christopher (Chris) Steven Mihm (born July 16, 1979 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA. He stands 7 feet tall (213 cm) and weighs 265 pounds (120 kg). was called for a foul only 22 seconds in and was a non-factor with just two points and three rebounds in 22 minutes. After causing a minor sensation in his first four games with the Lakers, guard Smush Parker William Henry "Smush" Parker (born June 1 1981, in New York, New York) is an American professional basketball player, currently with the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association.[1] Parker played shooting guard in college, but moved to point guard in the NBA. finished scoreless. Even when Parker stripped Garnett just before halftime, teammate Devean George failed to give the ball back to Parker on the fastbreak. ``That was very inconsiderate in·con·sid·er·ate adj. 1. Thoughtless of others; displaying a lack of consideration. 2. Not well considered or carefully thought out; ill-advised. basketball,'' Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. The play of the game, in Jackson's mind, came with a little more than seven minutes left. Minnesota's Mark Madsen came up with the ball from a scramble and found Anthony Carter alone at the top of the key with the shot clock expiring. The Lakers froze and Carter drilled a 3-pointer that put the Timberwolves back up 74-67. ``Everybody hangs their heads and we just played terrible after that,'' Jackson said. ``That took all the steam out of the team. I was feeling like they were going to hang on and give themselves a chance to at least be in it at the end. They just couldn't do it after that.'' The end came quickly as Bryant forced a shot along the baseline, Parker was blocked by Carter and Bryant stepped out of bounds along the baseline. Bryant went on to have a shot blocked by Garnett and the ball stripped from him by Carter. The Lakers are the league's sixth-youngest team this season, with an average age of barely 25, and have played together for little more than a month. But Odom felt that wasn't a satisfactory excuse for what happened down the stretch Wednesday. After coming back from five points down in the final minutes at Denver, then flattening the Nuggets Nuggets can refer to several branches of interest:
``This game we just didn't handle everything not going the right way,'' Odom said, later adding, ``Sometimes you have to handle adversity.' Ross Siler, (818) 713-3610 ross.siler(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 2 photos, box Photo: (1 -- color) The Timberwolves' Troy Hudson, right, is called for an offensive foul after crashing into the Lakers' Brian Cook. Ann Heisenfelt/Associated Press (2) The Timberwolves' Kevin Garnett goes for a shot between Lakers center Chris Mihm, left, and forward Kwame Brown on Wednesday. Getty Images Box: STORY LINES |
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