The Los Angeles Lakers came to Target Center on Sunday for their second and final visit of the season on a night the Timberwolves brought back Minnesota's own Randy Breuer all the way from his suburban Minneapolis home as part of the franchise's continuing 20th-anniversary season celebration.
That confluence summoned what would be one of the team's most unforgettable moments if it hadn't been lost in the mists of time: A December night during the Wolves' second season when coach Bill Musselman assigned the 7-3 center to defend the Lakers 6-9 superstar point guard, Magic Johnson. The Wolves lost by 10, but Musselman's unorthodox strategy first bemused Johnson, then left him 6-for-22 from the field on a night when Breuer -- a former University of Minnesota center whom the Wolves acquired from Milwaukee midway through their inaugural season -- played the entire game until he fouled out with eight seconds left.
At the time, Breuer said he thought he had slept right through to April Fool's Day when Musselman told him his mission.
Eighteen years later, he still smiles in disbelief.
"I thought he was joking, I really did," Breuer said. "I sat back and said, 'Well, this won't last very long.' Thank goodness Magic missed a bunch of shots and it kept going that way. When I first went out there, I asked Magic not to laugh and he was like, 'Seriously, you're going to do this?' I told him it wasn't my choice."
Breuer is now three years older than the uniform No. 45 he wore during his playing days. He was asked if he might be activated Sunday because Wolves star Al Jefferson is out for the season because of a torn knee ligament and newly acquired Shelden Williams was inactive because he hadn't practiced with the team yet.
"I could play the first game," said Breuer, who now lives in Eden Prairie, Minn., and helps coach his son's high-school team. "But not the second one."
LAKERS 111, WOLVES 108: The Timberwolves have defined themselves since Kevin McHale became coach by attempting to turn their size limitations into assets, a philosophy that proves particularly problematic when the Los Angeles Lakers come to town.
The Wolves surrender height and reach nearly everywhere to a visitor with the NBA's best record, from Kobe Bryant's 3-plus-inch advantage over Randy Foye at one guard spot to Pau Gasol's lengthy presence.
On Sunday, the Lakers won at Target Center for the second time in three weeks.
This one was a three-point decision on a night when the Wolves led by a point midway through the fourth quarter and five times got within one point in the final 3:20.
Both Lakers star Kobe Bryant and Lamar Odom wouldn't allow it, not even after the Wolves made three three-pointers in the final two minutes. The pair combined to score 18 of the Lakers' fourth-quarter points.
Bryant's driving layup put them ahead for good with 3:40 left, and Odom reached over everybody for a crucial tip-in basket that kept them there with 20.5 seconds left. Foye's potential tying three-pointer at the buzzer came up well short.
Bryant scored 28. Pau Gasol and Odom each had 25, and Odom had 14 rebounds.
