Green's 3-pointer pushes Spurs past Lakers 84-82

By GREG BEACHAM

LOS ANGELES (AP) Danny Green hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 9.3 seconds left, Tony Parker scored 19 points and the San Antonio Spurs beat Los Angeles 84-82 Tuesday night in the Lakers' first loss since firing coach Mike Brown.

After Pau Gasol missed a 3-pointer, Tiago Splitter's hustle prevented the Lakers from controlling the rebound before the buzzer sounded on Los Angeles' first game since hiring Mike D'Antoni late Sunday night. Interim coach Bernie Bickerstaff ran the team for the third straight game.

Tim Duncan had 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Spurs, who improved the Western Conference's best record to 7-1 thanks to Green's third 3-pointer of the night.

Kobe Bryant had 28 points and eight rebounds for the Lakers, who dropped to 3-5 after committing 17 turnovers on a poor shooting night. Dwight Howard had 13 points and 15 rebounds.

The Lakers found another kind of drama in their first game since the club surprisingly bypassed 11-time NBA champion Phil Jackson to hire D'Antoni, who is expected to arrive in Los Angeles on Wednesday. The Lakers' crowd cheered for Bickerstaff, but never broke out into the "We want Phil!" chants that occurred in their past two games.

Both teams struggled with poor shooting until the final minutes, when Antawn Jamison's 3-pointer from the corner put the Lakers ahead 78-77 with 2:10 to play. Duncan reclaimed the lead with a jumper, but Gasol hit two free throws with 1:36 left and added an elbow jumper.

Duncan trimmed the lead to one point before Metta World Peace missed an open jumper in the final minute. The Spurs worked the ball to Green out of a timeout, and the guard confidently drained his 3-pointer, accidentally bumping Bryant during his celebration.

The Lakers' final possession developed poorly, and the 7-foot Gasol had to force up a 3-point attempt.

Despite the loss, several days of upheaval finally abated Tuesday for the Lakers - even though their new coach still isn't in town. The Lakers haven't said when D'Antoni will formally take over the team, and Bickerstaff could still be running the bench Friday when the Phoenix Suns visit Staples Center.

And though Jackson has criticized the Lakers' handling of his candidacy, the players who had been eager to play for the Zen Master seem equally eager to line up for D'Antoni. Bryant and Steve Nash enthusiastically endorsed D'Antoni's hiring at the morning shootaround, with Bryant downplaying the notion that the Lakers' defense would suffer during the offense-minded coach's tenure.

The Lakers played without point guard Steve Blake, who has a minor abdominal strain. Blake had started the Lakers' last five games in place of Nash, who will be out for another week or more with a small fracture in his leg.

Darius Morris had one point on 0-for-5 shooting in his first career NBA start in Blake's place, while veteran backup Chris Duhon managed five points. The Lakers played without a point guard down the stretch, with World Peace defending Parker while Bryant largely orchestrated the Lakers' offense.

While the Lakers wait for a regime change on the bench, they've improved the effort that partly led to Brown's firing - and the Lakers aren't running Brown's much-debated, Princeton-based offense, sticking largely to pickup-ball sets on offense since the coach's departure.

NOTES: The Lakers barely exceeded the 80 points they scored in February 1999 during their lowest-scoring performance ever in their first 146 meetings with the Spurs. ... DeJuan Blair scored six points for the Spurs while playing on a bruised left knee. ... World Peace celebrated his 33rd birthday. The eccentric forward said he has enjoyed multiple birthday parties over the past few days. ... Floyd Mayweather Jr., Minnesota Vikings lineman Matt Kalil and David Beckham attended the game.

POSTGAME QUOTES



Bernie Bickerstaff:

On if there was confusion in the final possession:
“It wasn’t confusion. They took and put two guys on Kobe and took him out, and when he drove late he took two people with him, and I don’t know how there’s confusion when a guy gets a wide open shot. That’s definitely what happened to Gasol he had a wide open shot. I’ll take that any day.”

On the game’s 4th quarter:
“We had two wide open shots going down the stretch. Metta had a good look that he’s been making. Pau had a good look that he’s been making. But the game was coming up with the garbage plays when we had had gotten really good stops defensively. I think they swiped one from Pau. They took one from [Dwight Howard]. So we did a good job defensively, we just didn’t finish with the play.”

On Spurs’ guard Danny Green’s game-winning shot:
“I think they ran a nice play, and he knocked his shot down. He did what we had an opportunity to do and we just didn’t make our shots. We had the shots. It was a good basketball game against a very good basketball team. We had an opportunity to get it done and it’s simple we didn’t get it done.”

On having Metta World Peace guard Tony Parker:
“I thought with Kobe and Metta in the back court, and Metta on [Tony] Parker, they didn’t really get much going there in the [end of the game]. I thought about it and I thought about the size that we brought, and we thought that Metta could play the position. In the past we’ve always thought about putting a bigger guy on [Tony] Parker, to make him shoot over in those situations.”

On the team’s effort:
“I think the kids have been reaching out. When you talk about, there’s Kobe who doesn’t get an opportunity to practice, but he’s out there gutting it out and playing. You’re talking about a young man [Dwight Howard] who’s coming back from back surgery, he’s out there playing. I don’t buy into that theory on a lack of effort. I haven’t seen that.”

On discouragement of game:
“I think we did a lot of good things. We held San Antonio below 40 percent shooting, we held their bench. Guys that have been having great games like Gary Neal, Manu, took to low percentage and low production. We did a pretty solid job throughout the game. It just came down to a tough shot and missing the last one on the other end.”

On Bernie’s approach:
“His approach has been keeping it simple and letting us play. He’s just setting a simple game plan defensively and offensively. He is just playing out of pretty simple actions. It is nothing fancy but enough for us to be productive because we do have the personnel to get stuff out of other sections.”

On his shots and effort of the night:
“They were great looks. I made some, missed some. I wish I could have made a couple, maybe one or two more, that would have been nice. Hopefully I’ll get closer looks to the basket. Most of my looks are made outside the key and I would like to mix it up a little more, make it a little more balanced.”

On improvements:
“We played much much better. We played more aggressive on both ends of the floor. I feel like defensively we were going in. Communication is where it should be defensively. We are doing a good job communicating during the game, during time outs. We’re pushing guys where we need to push them and making them take tough shots. Shots that percentage wise normally hit.”

On last 30 seconds of the game:
“I don’t think it was confusion. I think Green hit a big shot. He shot 4 for 12 tonight but he had the guts to take that shot, which was a tough one. It was a contested shot and he knocked it down. And we just came down to the end of the floor and had a brain fart and wound up losing the game.”

On not having Nash or Blake:
“It makes a huge impact. But out guards are playing pretty well. Darius struggled a little bit tonight but he’s been playing well for us. Duhon was constantly professional. He came into the game and played extremely well. We came into a big lineup which was very effective for us but obviously you miss those guys. I miss Steve because during games you see me initiating offense and making plays for others, which I’m capable of doing but with Steve in the game, I finish the plays.”

On the tough loss:
“I was discouraged that we lost but I was happy with our effort, we just got to come up with those possessions late in the game, especially on defense. I think we had a couple of possessions where we played some great defense and they came up with the rebound, so we got to do a better job”

On the amount of touches:
“All that stuff will come with time. We just got to keep going to the boards hard, just keep playing hard, keep playing through every situation on the court. My touches and everything else will come but I just got to continue to play hard and on the defensive end, be there for my teammates.”

On tonight's performance
“Kobe is doing his thing, I think once we get to full strength we’ll be a lot better than we are now. I think we’ve been doing a good job the last couple of games of just playing and not just going through the motions sometimes.”

On the game:
“Any road win is always sweet, as we all know in the NBA […] We’re thrilled with the win. We hung in there for 48 minutes and found a way.”

“We have been concentrating on our defense this year […] Making steals is part of it, but digging and helping in the post, small guys rebounding. All of those things add up and we did a pretty good job of it.”

On the last play by Danny Green:
“We executed the play very well. Of course you still have to knock it down and Danny did. Timmy set a great screen. It worked out for us."

On Kawhi Leonard:
“Well think about it…A young guy. This was his first training camp and he guards Ron Artest and Kobe Bryant. That helps you learn real quick. And he loves it. He is really a sponge when it comes to information and trying to do the right thing.”

On the last offensive play:
“Pop ran a play for Danny, and I think that was a great call because Kobe always has a tendency to stay in the paint and think it was a play for me or for Timmy. Danny was wide-open and he knocked it down. It was a big shot for us. Then we finished it off with a great play defensively. Kawhi did a great job denying Kobe, and we got the shot that we wanted.”

On Danny Green:
“Danny does a little bit of everything. He’s pretty good defensively; he can guard 1, 2, and 3. On offense he’s a very good shooter, very good 3-point shooter, so he can space the floor. He’s becoming pretty good at penetrating. He’s improving and he’s got a great attitude. He’s a great guy and I’m very happy for him that he made that shot, it was a huge shot for us.”

On the last play offensively:
“Great play call on his part. In that situation we want to move people around and see what we can get open shot wise. Honestly, the play was called and it was run great, but I missed a screen. Kobe faked me off of one side, I went to that side, he came up the inside and I didn’t actually hit him, then Danny came off and decided to shoot anyways; so that was all Danny on that one.”

On getting a “gritty” win:
“It’s good for us. We didn’t shoot the ball well. We had a lot of open shots, and we actually worked the ball pretty well and got the shots we wanted, we just didn’t knock them out. They did the same, they pounded it inside, they moved the ball around, and they stayed in the game. But, to get a win like that in this situation is very fortunate, especially on the road trip.”

On having Popovich drawing plays up for him, over the veterans:
“When he does draw up plays for young guys like us it is very surprising, we don’t expect it. This is only my 3rd year, so for him to draw up a play for me is a lot of pressure on you, but you just take the shot with the confidence he gives you. He encourages you, we all encourage each other and it’s easy for me to just take the shot and not think about it so much. So when he calls plays for me it’s very rare and unexpected, so you have to take advantage of it.”

On etting 3 wins in a row on the road trip:
“It’s good for us; it was a good road trip for us. We just continue to grow, we want to get better. Now we have to take it out east, we come home first, but then we take it out east. We want to continue to stay consistent on the road and make the best of these trips. It’s still early in the season, but each game we try to make strides to get better even when we’re not making shots like tonight.”

SPURS-LAKERS PREVIEW

By JORDAN GARRETSON

The Los Angeles Lakers will no longer be searching for a new coach when they take the floor Tuesday night, but their newest employee won't be on the bench quite yet.

Two days after hiring Mike D'Antoni as their new head coach, the Lakers will face the San Antonio Spurs at Staples Center.

Los Angeles made the hire late Sunday night, though it remains uncertain when D'Antoni - who underwent knee replacement surgery recently - will join the team. His first game likely won't be until at least Friday against Phoenix, one of his former teams.

"Dr. (Jerry) Buss, Jim Buss and Mitch Kupchak unanimously agreed that Mike was the best coach for this roster at this time," Lakers spokesman John Black said.

D'Antoni most recently coached New York before resigning in March. His hiring by Los Angeles brings him together with Kobe Bryant, who idolized the former Olimpia Milano star while growing up in Italy.

The new coach will likely have to wait a while to utilize point guard Steve Nash, who is expected to miss at least another week due to a small fracture in his leg. Nash, who won two NBA MVP awards while running D'Antoni's offense with the Suns, has missed the last five games.

Steve Blake, who started those games in place of Nash, will miss Tuesday's contest with a minor abdominal strain.

The Lakers also met with former coach Phil Jackson on Saturday, but decided to go with D'Antoni.

Los Angeles (3-4) has already smoothed things out a bit after a 1-4 start under former coach Mike Brown - their worst beginning to a season since 1993-94. The Lakers are 2-0 under interim coach Bernie Bickerstaff, though those wins came at home against Golden State and Sacramento, teams with a combined 5-9 record.

Dwight Howard tallied 23 points and 18 rebounds in a 103-90 win over the Kings on Sunday.

"I've been around a lot of teams, and this is the consummate professional group," Bickerstaff said. "No one's naive. They've been around a long time and we've been around a long time, so they understand."

They could face a greater challenge against a Spurs team coming to Los Angeles to finish a four-game road trip, although San Antonio hasn't been playing the polished brand of basketball that its 6-1 record might indicate.

The Spurs averaged 13.8 turnovers in their first four games - all victories, three of them at home - but they have at least 20 in each game on this trip. Opponents have taken advantage, averaging 100.3 points after San Antonio's first four foes averaged 89.5.

The Spurs needed a career-high 27 points from Gary Neal - including 20 in the second half - to manage a 112-109 win at Portland on Saturday. Gregg Popovich's team trailed by as many as 14 points in the third quarter.

Neal played 32 minutes, almost twice as many as he averaged in the first six games, as point guard Tony Parker sat out with a flu virus that has been plaguing the Spurs. Stephen Jackson missed their win at Sacramento on Friday with the bug and Tim Duncan has also been affected, though he hasn't missed any games.

"He carried us on his back," Popovich said about Neal. "Sometimes a player will do that, and he picked a good time for it."

The Spurs and Lakers have split their last 10 meetings, with San Antonio taking two of three last season - including a 112-91 road victory April 17. Parker had 29 points on 14-of-20 shooting along with 13 assists in that game, which Bryant missed with an injury.

SEASON & SERIES NOTES; CONNECTIONS
The Lakers dropped last season’s series to San Antonio 1-2 after splitting each of the previous two season series with the Spurs 2-2. In their last 10 overall games, the Lakers are 5-5 against the Spurs. At home, the Lakers are 6-4 in their last 10 games against San Antonio in Los Angeles. Overall, the Lakers are 11-13 all-time against the Spurs at STAPLES Center. In San Antonio, the Lakers are 4-6 in their last 10 meetings with the Spurs. In 53 regular season games including 48 starts against San Antonio, Kobe Bryant is averaging 24.2 points per game, the 8th lowest ppg average against an opposing team in his career. Back on February 8, 2010, Pau Gasol helped defeat the Spurs with 21 points, 19 rebounds, 8 assists and 5 blocks, marking just the 7th time a player has accomplished that feat (at least those totals in each category in a single game) in league history. Spurs guard Manu Ginobili played for Argentina in the 2012 London Olympics, facing Kobe Bryant’s United States team in the semifinals. Team USA defeated Argentina in that contest 109-83. Bryant finished with 13 points (5-10 FG), four rebounds and two steals while Ginobili totaled 18 points (7-15 FG), two rebounds and three assists. The two also met in the 2008 Beijing Olympics but Ginobili suffered a foot injury in their August 22, 2008 meeting. Bryant scored 12 points as the U.S. defeated defending champion Argentina 101-81 to advance to the gold medal game while Ginobili played just six minutes due to injury. Lakers assistant coach Chuck Person played in 222 games as a member of the Spurs (1994-98) averaging 9.7 points over that span. Spurs forward Boris Diaw played four seasons (2005-09) with Lakers guard Steve Nash in Phoenix, posting career-highs in points (13.3), rebounds (6.9) and assists (6.2) in his first season with the Suns alongside Nash. Also, Spurs forward/guard Stephen Jackson played two seasons (2004-06) with Metta World Peace in Indiana.

LAST REGULAR SEASON MEETING
Trailing by four at the half, the Lakers opened the third with a Kobe Bryant jumper to pull within two but were subsequently outscored 28-11 over the next eight minutes and never drew closer than 14 points the rest of the way en route to a 121-97 loss to the San Antonio Spurs at AT&T Center. The Lakers, who trailed by as many as 26 points in the fourth, pulled down just 29 rebounds on the night as San Antonio beat the Lakers 54-30 in the paint, 15-12 in second chance points and 22-4 on the break while connecting on 10-of-15 three point field goals. In his return to the lineup after missing seven games due to injury, Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting. Andrew Bynum (17 points, 2 rebounds), Matt Barnes (14 points, 5 rebounds), Pau Gasol (11 points, game-high 8 rebounds) and Metta World Peace (10 points, 3 steals) rounded out the Lakers in double-figures with Steve Blake adding six points and a team-high five assists in the loss. Tim Dunan led all scorers with 21 points (10-15 FG) and a game-high eight rebounds while Tony Parker (20 points, game-high 10 assists) and Manu Ginobili (20 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists) both scored 20 points to lead San Antonio to a 2-1 season series victory over the Lakers. The Lakers magic number to clinch the Pacific Division remains at two with two games to play.