It was happening again. You were sitting in the same chair, in the same room, watching the same television, and there were the same Lakers, the three-peating Lakers, getting all the calls down the stretch, apparently rescuing a game you thought was long over.

This was deja Laker blue. Los Angeles was creeping back into Game 3 of this series with Minnesota, the same way it crept into Game 6 last year in Los Angeles when it was playing the Sacramento Kings.

Different year. Different officiating crew.

In the most important game in their history, the Timberwolves tried to beat the Los Angeles Lakers with three-fifths of their starting lineup tied behind their backs.

No go: They failed miserably, getting blown out 120-90 at Target Center in Game 5 of their best-of-seven Western Conference playoff series.

The insult, perhaps, was the injury.

Kobe Bryant's right rotator cuff didn't seem to be bothering him much Tuesday night when he drove past Timberwolves forward Kevin Garnett on the baseline and made a gravity-defying reverse dunk in the third quarter. Only later, when an ice pack stopped him from slapping a few high-fives as his team left the court, was the soreness in his shoulder more obvious.

Forget about Waldo. Where's Wally?

At times during the Timberwolves' playoff series with the Los Angeles Lakers, Wally Szczerbiak has been harder to find than a sumo wrestler on the Atkins diet.

It's not that Wally has been on the bench. He has been in games. He just hasn't been the score-aholic it appeared the Wolves would need him to be for them to be successful in this best-of-seven series.

Starting a playoff game in his hometown isn't a big deal to Devean George.

He's only concerned about the finish.

George, who played his college basketball at Augsburg, replaced 11-year veteran Rick Fox in the starting lineup for Game 5 on Tuesday night and scored 12 points in the Los Angeles Lakers' 120-90 victory over the Timberwolves at Target Center. He also had eight rebounds and six assists.

The plan seemed like a brilliant idea. Apply full-court pressure to the Los Angeles Lakers and limit the effectiveness of their triangle offense, particularly the work of Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant.

Timberwolves coach Flip Saunders' strategy worked as the team took a 2-1 lead early in their best-of-seven NBA playoff series with the Lakers. But Tuesday night at Target Center, the tactic might have run its course.

Well, it doesn't appear that they needed the Laker Rule.

Back at the All-Star break, when the Lakers were still in the process of yawning through the winter and ripping off their ticket holders, the NBA suddenly announced that the first-round series would now be best-of-7 instead of best-of-5.

As promised, Rick Fox was right there with them as much as he could be.

With 3:22 left in the third quarter of the Lakers' victory Tuesday night, Fox didn't even need the help of his crutches to leap to his feet despite the big boot on and ongoing pain in his left foot.

Lakers guard Derek Fisher, with a tribute to the fallen Fox written on his right wrist, had just tossed in a zone-busting three-pointer for an 84-67 lead. And Fox could not contain his joy.

Even while Karl Malone is still playing for the Jazz in the playoffs, Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson is publicly discussing the Mailman's pending free agency and the Lakers' potential interest in him.

According to a transcript sent via e-mail in a news release from Sporting News Radio, Jackson on Monday used his own radio show ? "The Phil Jackson Show with Chris Myers" ? to discuss the possibility of Malone joining the Lakers.
     
Said Jackson, in part: "Karl has sort of broached this subject himself. I think that he wants to break Kareem (Abdul-Jabbar's) record of all-time points in the NBA. He's got two seasons, pretty good seasons of scoring 20-plus points a game for the next two seasons, and he would break it. I think that Karl is interested in doing that, so I think he will play a couple of more years.
     
"There's some game left in Karl and I think that my owner, in talking about personnel, has mentioned it to me. Do I think that Karl would be a good make for the Lakers? Obviously any player that is that good will find a way to play for a basketball club."

In the throes of yet another postseason series in which the point guard has carried much of the opposing offense, Kobe Bryant volunteered late Sunday afternoon to defend Troy Hudson.

Instead, Brian Shaw, seeing the need to keep Bryant fresh on offense, insisted on the responsibility. And, while it wasn't only Shaw who guarded Hudson at the end, Hudson did not score in the fourth quarter and the Lakers evened the series, two games apiece.