Suns-Lakers Preview

By BRETT HUSTON
Posted Nov 15 2012 9:57PM

Mike D'Antoni is already making his mark on the Los Angeles Lakers, but it doesn't look like he'll be ready for his debut on the Staples Center sidelines for a few more days.

As long as Kobe Bryant's there, the Lakers may not have too much trouble.

Bryant has averaged 42.0 points in his last three home games against the Phoenix Suns, who have lost seven of eight on the road in this series and could have trouble faring better Friday night if they can't improve their Western Conference-worst defense.

D'Antoni formally took over the Lakers (3-5) on Thursday, four days after being hired to replace Mike Brown, and he watched as his new team went through drills orchestrated by his assistant coach and brother, Dan.

The former Knicks and Suns coach is still on crutches and pain medication after having knee surgery, and said he'll likely wait until Los Angeles hosts Houston on Sunday to make his official coaching debut. But D'Antoni couldn't hide his enthusiasm in his debut press conference.

"I'm really happy to be here - excited," D'Antoni said. "(We're) starting to put stuff in now. Might take a little bit, but (general manager) Mitch (Kupchak) has said, and I'm sure you guys know, we're built to win this year. This is not a five-year project. We have a window, and we're going to try to get through it."

The Lakers' three wins have come at home against teams that are a combined 7-18, though it looked like they might take down a contender on Tuesday. Los Angeles couldn't close, however, letting San Antonio's Danny Green hit a 3-pointer with 9.3 seconds left in an 84-82 loss.

Even after another defeat, Bryant was pleased with the Lakers holding the Spurs to 38.9 percent shooting. Los Angeles is allowing opponents to shoot just 41.9 percent - among the five stingiest marks in the league.

"We're playing much, much better," Bryant said. "We're being much more aggressive on both ends of the floor. We're doing a good job communicating during the game, pushing guys and making them take tough shots."

Bryant is shooting a startling 55.1 percent from the field, and it'd be no surprise to see him continue his early surge Friday. The 14-time All-Star has shot 54.0 percent in the Lakers' last three home wins against Phoenix (4-5), and Los Angeles has averaged 117.6 points and shot 50.5 percent while going 7-1 in its last eight at Staples in the series.

The Suns' defensive woes continued Wednesday, as Chicago shot 50.0 percent in a 112-106 overtime win at US Airways Center. Phoenix is letting opponents shoot 49.7 percent - 47.5 from 3-point range - and average 108.6 points in its last seven contests.

Wednesday marked the third time in four games the Suns fell behind by at least 18 points.

"It's been happening to us every game, it's very difficult to play that way," said forward Luis Scola, who had 24 points and 14 rebounds. "... You're going to come back eventually every once in a while, but you are going to lose most of those games."

Scola has scored 20 or more points in four straight games against the Lakers - all with Houston - but Phoenix hasn't had much luck with him putting up big numbers thus far. The Suns are 4-0 when he scores 13 points or fewer and 0-5 when he scores 15 or more.

Steve Nash (leg) will have to wait to until at least Jan. 30 to face his former team, and backup Steve Blake (abdomen) is questionable after missing Tuesday's game. Forward Jordan Hill (wrist) is probable.

Phoenix center Marcin Gortat has averaged 19.2 points and 13.6 boards in his last five games against the Lakers.

Up-tempo Lakers race to 114-102 win over Phoenix

By GREG BEACHAM
Posted Nov 17 2012 2:14AM

LOS ANGELES (AP) Mike D'Antoni spoke to the Los Angeles Lakers before the game and then retired to the training room, getting treatment on his surgically replaced knee. After a few more words at halftime, D'Antoni went to the players' lounge to watch the second half.

Although it's not the easiest way to take charge of an NBA team, the Lakers are pretty sure their new coach was pleased by what he saw from a short distance.

Kobe Bryant had 31 points, Metta World Peace hit five 3-pointers while scoring 22 points, and the Lakers played D'Antoni's style of up-tempo basketball in a 114-102 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Friday night.

Dwight Howard had 18 points and 12 rebounds as the Lakers improved to 3-1 under interim coach Bernie Bickerstaff, who filled in because D'Antoni wasn't quite ready for sideline duty while recovering from surgery earlier this month. The Lakers don't have D'Antoni's offense figured out after just one practice, but they played with an aggression and urgency they had lacked during their early season stumbles.

The result was more than Phoenix could handle.

"That really is his offense, for us to kind of read each other and react to each other, kind of go out there and play on the fly," Bryant said. "He has certain things that he wants to put in that gives us some framework to try to get some easy opportunities, but for the most part, he wants us to go out there and play."

Even though it happened against the defensively questionable Suns, the Lakers quickly lived up to D'Antoni's bold Thursday prediction about their offensive capabilities: "If we're not scoring 110, 115 points, we need to talk."

Los Angeles took charge of an entertaining game with a 17-2 run spanning the final two quarters led by Bryant and Jordan Hill. The Lakers surpassed 100 points with 9:26 to play on a three-point play by Howard, who is widely expected to thrive in a pick-and-roll offense.

While World Peace relished his 3-point attempts, Pau Gasol scored 12 points on a series of spot-up jumpers in the first quarter before finishing with 16 points and 10 rebounds.

"Not as many post-ups," Gasol said in describing the offense. "More transition and quicker shots, I guess. Also against a team that plays that pace, it helps your offense, let's say. ... We played pretty simple basketball and just played off each other."

D'Antoni is still on crutches after surgery earlier this month, but he's expected to debut on the Lakers' bench Sunday night against Houston. Bickerstaff pledged to run elements of the new coach's offensive sets against the Suns, who still follow many of D'Antoni's tenets under coach Alvin Gentry.

The night was a pleasure for Bickerstaff, who joined fired coach Mike Brown's staff in September and then agreed to preside over the transition period.

The veteran coach's .750 winning percentage with the Lakers "will get me a Popsicle," Bickerstaff said.

"I (think) it would be a footnote, and it would be something that's in history that maybe my grandkids can talk about," added Bickerstaff, who hasn't said whether D'Antoni will keep him around. "It's all fun, and that's what life is about. Don't take yourself too seriously, and enjoy the ride."

Goran Dragic scored 22 points for the Suns, who have lost three of four.

Luis Scola scored 18 points, while Michael Beasley added 14 points and a career-high nine assists. The game is Phoenix's only road contest in a six-game stretch through Thanksgiving, but the Suns must rush home to face defending champion Miami on Saturday night.

"That team is in another area as to where we are and where we're trying to get to," Gentry said. "They've got much bigger fish to fry, and we've got to get ourselves to the point where we become significant again. And the only way to do that is to be consistent."

Steve Nash missed his seventh straight game for the Lakers with a small fracture in his left leg, keeping him out of his first potential matchup with the franchise with which he spent the past eight seasons, winning two NBA MVP awards and reaching two Western Conference finals with D'Antoni on the bench.

During the third quarter, the Lakers announced Nash will miss at least another week before getting re-examined next weekend. The Lakers are in the midst of a heavy slate of games, meaning the point guard is likely to miss 12 straight games before the Lakers' next projection on his return.

The results of D'Antoni's arrival seemed obvious from the opening quarter, when the Lakers scored 35 points and ran the court with an urgency they haven't consistently shown in years. Both teams traded significant runs in the second quarter, with the Lakers taking a 62-57 lead at halftime after closing with a 12-2 surge.

"We gave ourselves a chance, but we had a lot of unforced turnovers," said Jermaine O'Neal, who scored 12 points. "They capitalized on the turnovers that we had in that one spurt in the third, and they scored in transition. That was the difference-maker."

NOTES: The Suns have trailed by double digits in nine of their 10 games this season. ... Eddie Murphy, Andy Garcia, Los Angeles Kings forwards Jarret Stoll and Trevor Lewis, and "2 Broke Girls" stars Kat Dennings and Beth Behrs attended the game.

Notebook: Lakers 114, Suns 102

Dan Arritt, for NBA.com
Posted Sat Nov 17, 2012 2:12 AM - Updated Sat Nov 17, 2012 2:12 AM

THE FACTS: The Lakers showed off their new look Friday night, even with new coach Mike D'Antoni watching the game with his leg propped up in a back room. They ran, they rebounded and, most of all, they seemed to score at will in the 114-102 victory against the visiting Suns at STAPLES Center.

QUOTABLE: "We saw attempts at trying to do the things that were implemented. ... I thought the spacing was pretty good."

--Lakers interim coach Bernie Bickerstaff

THE STAT: D'Antoni said during his first news conference Thursday that if the Lakers didn't average 110 to 115 points a game in his up-tempo offense, "then we need to talk." The Lakers seem to be on the right track so far, scoring their most points in a game since a 120-112 win against Golden State on April 1.

TURNING POINT: The Suns used a 15-0 run to erase an early 10-point deficit, but didn't have a response for a second surge by L.A. With the score tied, 84-84, the Lakers reeled off 12 straight points in a run that stretched into the fourth quarter. Phoenix never climbed back within single digits.

HOT: Lakers forward Pau Gasol seemed to be an immediate beneficiary of D'Antoni's system. He sank five consecutive shots from the perimeter in the opening quarter before Phoenix finally began rushing out to defend him. He scored 12 of his 14 points in the first quarter. Gasol came into the game 28 points short of 15,000 for his career. If he gets there, he would become the 10th foreign-born player in the NBA to reach that milestone.

NOT: The Lakers announced during the game that Steve Nash will miss another five games with a non-displaced fracture in his lower left leg. Nash was injured in the first half of the second game this season. When the Lakers finally get him back running the offense, one he's familiar with while playing for D'Antoni in Phoenix, the Lakers should find it easier to take their game to another level.

GOOD MOVE: D'Antoni has also given Metta World Peace the green light to shoot whenever he's open. He did just that against the Suns. World Peace scored a season-high 22 points. He made five of his first seven 3-point attempts before finishing 5-for-10 from beyond the arc. World Peace has shown he can score in the past, averaging better than 15 points in eight consecutive seasons from 2002-09.

BAD MOVE: Phoenix back-up forward Jermaine O'Neal got a chance to play after missing the last six games→five to attend to personal business→but it didn't take long for Dwight Howard to get under his skin. Howard inadvertently hit O'Neal in the face after his shot was blocked by O'Neal midway through the second quarter. While Shannon Brown was scoring on a fast-break layup on the other end, O'Neal was taking a swipe at Howard from behind. Lakers forward Jordan Hill stepped in and confronted O'Neal, leading to technical fouls for all three players.

QUOTABLE II: "We've got to be much better in our execution. ... We are still trying to find each other, still trying to figure out rotations."

--Suns coach Alvin Gentry

NOTABLE: D'Antoni, who underwent knee surgery two weeks ago, is expected to be on the bench when the Lakers host the Rockets on Sunday. ... Former Lakers center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had his statue unveiled before the game outside STAPLES Center and he was honored again at halftime, drawing a standing ovation. ... Suns forward Michael Beasley had a career-high nine assists to go along with 14 points and five rebounds.

UP NEXT: For the Lakers, Sunday vs. Houston, Tuesday vs. Brooklyn, Wednesday @ Sacramento. For the Suns, Saturday vs. Miami, Wednesday vs. Portland, Friday vs. New Orleans.

• Suns: Frye, Garrett
• Lakers: Blake, Nash

• Suns: O'Neal, Tucker
• Lakers: Hill, Howard, World Peace

• Lead Changes: 4
• Times Tied: 7

• Arena: Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA
• Officials: #43 Dan Crawford, #16 David Guthrie, #58 Josh Tiven
• Attendance: 18997
• Duration: 2:13