Lakers hold off Nets, win D'Antoni's debut

D'Antoni also knows it's usually quite comfortable to be Kobe Bryant's coach.

Bryant scored six of his 25 points in the final two minutes, and the Lakers hung on for a 95-90 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday night in D'Antoni's sideline debut.

Although D'Antoni is still unsteady after knee surgery earlier this month, he coached Los Angeles to a narrow victory that snapped Brooklyn's five-game winning streak. Eight months after leaving the New York Knicks, he seemed thrilled to be in his rightful place on an NBA bench — and to watch his talented new team do its thing.

“With this team, there's no reason not to win every game,” D'Antoni said. “That's our goal. It's not, 'Let's get two out of three.' We can win every game we play. ... I feel like we're the best team in the league. We've got the most talent, so they can do what they want. We've just got to keep perfecting things.”

D'Antoni clearly isn't at full strength: He hobbled slowly on the sideline on the rare occasions he left his chair during play in the first half. He moved around with more vigor after halftime, protesting foul calls with his usual theatrical vehemence despite a slight limp in his step.

“I was a little peg-legged, but it was good,” D'Antoni said with a laugh. “Adrenalin is a great thing. I'm good, (but) jumping is a thing of the past.”

Dwight Howard had 23 points and 15 rebounds despite a horrific 7-for-19 performance at the free-throw line for the Lakers, who have won five of six and moved above .500 since firing Mike Brown. Pau Gasol and Metta World Peace scored 17 points apiece. Gasol contributed 11 rebounds and seven assists as the Lakers wrapped up a tumultuous six-game homestand that began with Brown's unexpected firing 11 days ago.

1|2|Next Page>>

SHARE CLOSE
Blogger		Google+
Live Journal		Plurk
Stumble Upon

Tweet

	PREVIOUS ARTICLE
	Richardson and Young lead 76ers over Raptors

NEXT ARTICLE
Rockets lose to Jazz for 3rd straight away defeat

Write a Comment

Terms

Enter your comments - 3000 characters max

Type in image code

 Receive China Post promos
 Respond to this email

Submit