by Andrew on Mon Apr 21, 2003 10:12 pm
While I would normally disagree and point out there could possibly be six more games to play in the series, I have a feeling after Game 1 that the Wolves will fall victim to another early playoff defeat.
Looking at the boxscores, Szczerbiak didn't step up as he should. Garnett scored 23, had 14 rebounds and 7 assists, but Wally had 15. Joe Smith played only 15 minutes and had 2. The Wolves forfeited 4 first round picks because they violated salary cap rules just to keep him. Shaq is going to play his game against Nesterovic 9 times out of 10, but surely something could have been down to contain Kobe, even if it meant putting KG on him and letting Wally play Fox.
Not to take anything away from the Lakers, but Minnesota has room for improvement on their Game 1 performance.