STARTING NOW, THIS ISN'T EASY.

Byline: PAUL OBERJUERGE

Everybody said it wouldn't be easy.

But nobody said it wouldn't be easy ... the first week of the playoffs.

The Lakers are the fifth-seeded team in the brutal Western Conference. A tough spot from which to win an NBA title.

No home-court advantage before the NBA Finals. Looking at a path that probably includes the San Antonio Spurs, winningest team in the NBA, and Sacramento Kings, most vengeful team in the NBA.

A hard road, no question. And it is. Three games into the first round.

The Lakers are in a most perilous series, folks. Today. This minute.

Forget about potential wars with the Spurs and Kings. They have one here and now with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

After Thursday's stunningly difficult game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Lakers are looking at a grinding slog of a best-of-seven - if they plan to win, that is.

Minnesota has that lean-and-hungry look, personified by long and lanky Kevin Garnett, leader of this pack of Wolves.

You may recall that the Timberwolves torched the Lakers 119-91 on Tuesday. A fanny-paddling. With extreme prejudice.

Before Thursday's game at Staples Center, where the Lakers were 26-5 all-time in the postseason, Lakers coach Phil Jackson seemed to dismiss the Tuesday game as an aberration, suggesting the Wolves were unlikely to shoot as well as they did Tuesday, ``67 percent, or whatever, in the first three quarters.''

And Phil was right. The Timberwolves shot only 59 percent in the first quarter. And 53 percent in the first half, 52 percent after three quarters, en route to an 80-71 lead.

If the Lakers thought they could coast a bit through this series, concede Garnett his points and handle everyone else, they miscalculated. Badly.

Troy Hudson is having a coming-out party at Derek Fisher's expense. Anthony Peeler and Kendall Gill are a couple of solid veterans to run at Kobe Bryant, who says his shoulder hurts and has the shooting stats to prove it. Wally Szczerbiak can hit an open jumper, and so can center Rasho Nesterovic.

And Garnett is a nightmare, a jump-shooter par excellence who can always get a good look because he's 6-foot-11 and quicker than anyone on the floor who isn't a point guard.

Jackson started Robert Horry on Garnett on Thursday, and Bob was so discombobulated, he threw away the ball three times in the first 10 minutes of the game while Garnett was scoring 14 points.

Minnesota is making life miserable for your three-time defending champions by pushing the pace, setting a tempo it likes, and the Lakers are struggling to keep up.

The Lakers prefer a half-court game, at both ends. But the Wolves are ramming the ball down their throats, then turning around and playing defense tough enough that the Lakers never seem to get a good shot, allowing Minnesota to begin its offense in transition, in which it is one very dangerous team.

Take Thursday's first half. Shaquille O'Neal, most dominant big man in the history of hoops, had four field goals and nine points in the first 24 minutes. He rarely got the ball, and he even more rarely got it in a spot where he could do something with it.

He had Nesterovic draped over him, and he had Garnett doubling down on him. If Shaq weren't allowed to travel every time he gets the ball, he might have been scoreless at intermission.

The Timberwolves are double-teaming Bryant away from the basket, then inviting him to come visit Garnett under the hole, where he seems to have more wingspan than a 747.

The Lakers, then, often are reduced to standing around at the three-point arc, hoping Fisher or Rick Fox or Horry can make a 3. They hoisted up 12 in the first half, making only five. And, tellingly, they had only two first throws in 24 minutes.

Minnesota has never won a playoff series. Not in six previous appearances. And they are not happy about that stat. In fact, they seem almost rabid in their determination to do something about it. Right this minute.

After the Game 2 blowout, Garnett vowed they would not go quietly into the night. He said the Lakers would have to cut their throats, behead them, disembowel them, draw and quarter them, take away their library cards. All manner of dire things, because they wouldn't just yield pride of place to the guys with all the rings.

That was no idle threat, and the Timberwolves proved it Thursday night. They played harder and smarter. They looked younger, quicker and more athletic. The Lakers seemed to be trying to remember how to win a pivotal game, and drawing a blank.

Sure, the Lakers still could win this series, and maybe most of the nation expects them to do just that. But most of the nation probably hasn't seen the last two games of this series.

Minnesota is on the verge of home-court advantage again, and the Lakers could advance only by winning three of the next four games. They will need Shaq and Kobe to go from interested observers to fully engaged superstars, and it has to begin in Game 4.

Everybody said it wouldn't be easy. Everybody was right. Earlier than anybody expected.

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Forget about future series, Shaquille O'Neal and the Lakers have all they can handle in the first round.