RESTED LAKERS PREVAIL WORN-DOWN WOLVES LOSE HOME-COURT ADVANTAGE.

Byline: Howard Beck Staff Writer

MINNEAPOLIS - In the gap between San Antonio and Minneapolis, between one team's week-long nap and another's too-brief recovery, a predictable pattern of events emerged, and the Western Conference finals opened as a display of everything the Lakers and Minnesota Timberwolves carried out of the last round.

The Lakers: happy, unified and rolling.

The Timberwolves: happy to be here and really quite worn by the experience.

Whatever the Lakers wanted in the opener of this series Friday night, they got: Shaquille O'Neal dominating the paint. Kobe Bryant skillfully picking apart the defense. Derek Fisher continuing his magical ride. Karl Malone summoning up the youthful energy to outplay MVP Kevin Garnett.

The result was a 97-88 Lakers victory at Target Center, and so they will return home late Sunday with home-court advantage in the series. And if they return home with more than that, it won't be surprising.

Forty-eight hours removed from a stressful Game 7 on this same court, the Timberwolves were noticeably rubbery in the legs, aside from Latrell Sprewell, who kept them afloat with 23 points, 18 in the second half.

But Malone outscored Garnett 17-16, outrebounded him 11-10 and doubled his assist total, 4-2. Meanwhile, O'Neal moved easily to the hoop for 27 points to go with 18 rebounds, four blocks and five assists.

They got what they wanted, and what they frankly expected after watching the Wolves expend so much energy in the past few days. The Lakers had been off since closing out San Antonio last Saturday.

``That's really what it was all about if you ask me,'' said Rick Fox.

``That was too high of a place to be for them on Wednesday night, to turn around in such a short time - not only to have to prepare for another team, but to have to raise that level again to meet us after six days' rest. And that's what it looked like. It definitely looked that way.''

Happily for the Lakers, this series will be played with just one day off between games, which will leave the Wolves with virtually no time to regain whatever stamina they lost to the Kings. So the Lakers won their fifth consecutive game, and the Wolves lost Game 1 at home for the second series in a row.

Before leaving the building, coach Phil Jackson scrawled ``7 to Heaven'' on the locker-room board, continuing his countdown to the championship.

``We know they have better games than they showed tonight because they're still tired from the last series,'' Jackson said. ``But it was a good win for us, and it's a key for us to get that home court tilted in our direction. Now we have the ability to finish this with wins on our home court.''

The Timberwolves tied the game for the final time with 3:01 left in the third quarter but never had a lead in the final 22 minutes of play.

Sprewell got hot in the third quarter, dropped in 11 points and kept the Timberwolves close for nine minutes. But the Lakers closed the period with an 11-0 run, getting two 3-pointers from Fisher and another from Kareem Rush. Fisher scored the final points of the run with a short jumper, completing a personal eight-point burst and staking the Lakers to a 78-67 lead heading into the fourth.

When the Wolves knocked the lead down to four points late in the game, Fisher struck with another 3-pointer, on a feed from Gary Payton, effectively securing the win. The Lakers led 95-88 with 58.1 seconds left, and Bryant and Fisher met at midcourt to slap hands.

It would seem that Fisher's moment in the sun did not end with his Game 5 miracle shot in San Antonio.

``I think it definitely spills over from the last series,'' Jackson said. ``I think he's riding a hot hand right now. He has a reputation as a big shot-maker in games, big games.''

Minnesota's Sam Cassell sat out the final 13:27 after his troublesome back tightened up, a problem that plagued him throughout the last series.

``Sam did what he could do,'' Wolves coach Flip Saunders said. ``He was really struggling.''

Without Cassell on the floor, and lacking a decent backup, Minnesota lost the effectiveness of its screen-roll attack, and surrendered some its speed.

Fred Hoiberg and Wally Szczerbiak, able shooters but not particularly fleet, combined for 10 points in the final quarter while Cassell sat.

Complacency has a habit of traveling with the Lakers now and then, and before tipoff, Jackson worried his players could become ``fat and lazy'' in the wake of their second-round dismantling of defending champion San Antonio.

But they established O'Neal early, Malone stubbornly held Garnett in check and even the offense looked familiar again.

The triangle, warped to positive effect in the last series, was much more triangular, and the offense clearly an inside-out affair again.

O'Neal's halftime line was a clear indicator of a healthy Laker attack: 15 points, eight rebounds, three blocks.

Howard Beck, [phone]

howard.beck(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

14 photos, 4 boxes

Photo:

(1 -- color) Karl Malone turned in stellar defense on Minnesota star Kevin Garnett in Friday's victory.

Ann Heisenfelt/Associated Press

(2) Shaquille O'Neal of the Lakers goes up to dunk over Minnesota's Michael Olowokandi in the Lakers' 97-88 win in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals.

Andy King/Associated Press

(3) KOBE BRYANT

(4) GARY PAYTON

(5) SHAQUILLE O'NEAL

(6) KARL MALONE

(7) DEVEAN GEORGE

(8) DEREK FISHER

(9) TRENTON HASSELL

(10) SAM CASSELL

(11) ERVIN JOHNSON

(12) KEVIN GARNETT

(13) LATRELL SPREWELL

(14) MICHAEL OLOWOKANDI

Box:

(1) STORY LINES

(2) LAKERS vs. TIMBERWOLVES: Lakers lead best-of-seven series, 1-0

(3) A CLOSER LOOK: GAME 1

By Lauren Gustus

(4) REPORT CARD