Minnesota 114, LA Lakers 110 (OT)

LOS ANGELES, April 25 (UPI) -- Clutch free throw shooting by Troy Hudson, Mark Jackson and Gary Trent in overtime Thursday night allowed the Minnesota Timberwolves to shock the Los Angeles Lakers, 114-110, and take a 2-1 advantage in their Western Conference first-round series.

Los Angeles trailed by nine entering the fourth quarter and still faced a five-point deficit with less than 30 seconds to play, but the Lakers forced overtime when Kobe Bryant produced a questionable four-point play and then made another free throw with 12 seconds to go.

A three-point attempt by Hudson missed at the regulation buzzer sent the teams into the extra session.

Los Angeles then appeared to gain a huge advantage when Minnesota superstar Kevin Garnett fouled out in the opening seconds of overtime. But the Timberwolves hung tough thanks to two key shots by Anthony Peeler and a basket by Hudson that gave Minnesota a one-point advantage with a minute to play.

"I felt miserable," Garnett said. "I didn't know if I was going to be a T-Wolve cheerleader with pom-poms. (But) The reason we're in this position is we're a team. Everyone needed to believe in one another, and we've got a lot of confidence in ourselves."

A foul called on Wally Szczerbiak enabled Bryant to complete his four-point play late in regulation.

"There were some interesting plays, interesting calls, and you can't get frustrated," Szczerbiak said. "I didn't touch the guy, what are you going to do? Even though I fouled Kobe and he made the four-point play and it went into OT, we knew we were going to win."

After two Los Angeles foul shots put the Lakers in front, Trent put the Timberwolves ahead for good with two free throws with 24.3 seconds to go.

Bryant then provided the key moment of overtime when he missed a layup with 11.6 seconds left, after which Jackson rebounded and was fouled. His two free throws made it 111-108.

Shaquille O'Neal was then fouled with 10.4 seconds left and the Lakers' center made one of two from the line. After O'Neal missed the second attempt, the ball was batted out of bounds off the Lakers and when Jackson received the inbounds pass, he was fouled.

Jackson made one of two foul shots to put Minnesota in front by three. O'Neal was again fouled with 2.6 seconds left and he once more made one out of two from the line. Hudson wrapped up the game with two foul shots with 2.1 seconds remaining.

Garnett paced the Timberwolves with 33 points, while Bryant produced 30 and O'Neal contributed 28.

"Some guys were disappointed, the guys that didn't make the free throws that could have helped us win the game didn't make plays the way they wanted to," said Los Angeles Coach Phil Jackson.

"We did not play our game tonight for some reason," O'Neal said. "We just have to get it back."