<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">There were a couple of jokes made after Wednesday's game about Kevin Garnett immediately demanding a trade after the Timberwolves' implosion. A couple of jokes also were made about the Lakers showcasing the package of Vladimir Radmanovic, Maurice Evans and Andrew Bynum they would offer Minnesota for Garnett. On the serious side, that was an inspirational win for the Lakers, who won't play another set of back-to-back games on this long road trip. It had special meaning for Evans, who is close friends with Garnett from the rookie season he played with the Timberwolves. ``It was a great feeling because for me, I played here and Kevin Garnett's one of my best friends in the league and all that good stuff,'' Evans said. ``It's always great to beat a great friend and to play a good game. We needed this game. We're in the middle of a road trip, without Lamar (Odom), shorthanded. We needed a win and we got it.'' Evans finished with 15 points and hit 7 of 9 shots in 21 minutes. He also got some encouragement from Lakers coach Phil Jackson in the second half. ``At the end of the third, I thought Maurice was a little bit tentative with the basketball,'' Jackson said. ``I said, `Don't just stand there with the ball looking to make a pass in our offense.' You can active it by driving, which he did. He got going in the second half, started taking it to the hoop.'' For what it's worth, Garnett's postgame quotes made it sound as if he's done a lot of scouting and reading about the Lakers. ``Me, just being a student of the game,'' Garnett said, ``I've been reading that some of their last three games, Phil Jackson was getting mad at them because they were shooting a lot of 3s.'' Garnett was asked if he was surprised the Lakers made a run with Bryant out. He clearly saw some tape from the second quarter of Tuesday's game at Chicago, when the bench players helped build a lead. ``No,'' Garnett said, ``because they did the same thing in Chicago. When Kobe is in there he takes the majority of the shots. He tries to get the ball moving, but at the end of the day, he takes the bulk of the shots. He makes a lot of things happen with those shots. It's easy to guard a team when there's one guy and you have to focus on him and keep everybody under control. ``When you have four guys who can shoot the 3; Bynum played well, he was agressive and active in the middle. You have four shooters out there, two point guards in the game. They're scrappy, it's a good mix. You have to find a way to divert that and get them to do different things. Get them to go to the basket knowing they like to shoot 3s. It's hard to play a team that moves the ball.''</div> DO IT MITCH!!
