The Associated Press reports that Lakers stars Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant had an informal get together to discuss the Lakers play in their first-round playoff series against Minnesota.

``He and I got together and we talked about the serious nature of these playoffs and how challenging it's going to be, what we need to do to help us advance,'' Bryant said. ``And he kind of has to take this team and lead this team. He's just going to come out and play Shaquille O'Neal basketball, he's going to be aggressive and he's going to help us get a win.

``It wasn't a sit-down, we shot around together. I went up to him and just started talking about it and that was it. Basketball stuff, strategy, how to get these other guys more involved, how to get him the ball on the move and some things defensively.''

With the Timberwolves leading the best-of-seven series two games to one, the Lakers realize that today's game, which starts at 3 p.m. EST, is an important one for them. However, Head Coach Phil Jackson does not believe it is a must win.

``The closeout game is a must-win game,'' he said

While many Laker fans may be worried about the sudden deficit facing the Lakers, O'Neal is quite confident that the Lakers, not Minnesota, are the problem.

``This is nothing that we've never seen before,'' O'Neal said. ``It's not what they're doing, it's what we're not doing. We just have to pick it up. It's all about us.''

Meanwhile, Minnesota realizes that being up a game over the Lakers is a great position to be in, but know the job is only halfway done.

``Until the Lakers are defeated by anybody, they're still the team to beat,'' coach Flip Saunders said. ``They have the personnel, they have the character.

``We're all aware they're going to come out with a great deal of energy. They're still a confident team. We have to establish ourselves early. They're going to try and take away two guys who are playing very well for us.''