LOS ANGELES: Los Angeles made Mike D’Antoni’s debut behind the Lakers’ bench a successful one by beating the Brooklyn Nets 95-90 on Tuesday night at Staples Center arena.
D’Antoni, limping after undergoing recent surgery, had been unable to take over behind the bench until Tuesday because of discomfort and tightness in his knee.
“It is great be out there,” D’Antoni said. “That’s what you coach for. I feel pretty good. It (tightness) is starting to wear off.
“This feels good. Pressure is there, but this feels great.”
Kobe Bryant scored 25 points and Dwight Howard finished with 23 points and 15 rebounds for the Lakers who are now 5-1 since sacking Mike Brown.
“We did a good job taking care of the ball and being in sync with each other,” Bryant said. “He (D’Antoni) is always calm but he as an undertone edge to him.”
The 26-year-old Howard was just seven-of-19 from the free throw line Tuesday as the Nets tried to take advantage of his struggles from the foul line.
Howard, who can become a free agent at season’s end, is not panicking though.
“It was cool. We got the win,” Howard said of D’Antoni’s debut. “It was a tough win. We battled it out. We got better tonight as a team.
“The free throws will come. I am still going to be aggressive.”
The Lakers even rubbed it in. At one point in the final quarter Metta World Peace, who used to be known as Ron Artest, sank a three pointer then walked over and rubbed the head of Brooklyn coach Avery Johnson, who just stood there.
The Lakers started the season 1-4 under Brown but have gone 5-1 since his departure.
The Lakers passed on the opportunity to bring back 11-time NBA champion Phil Jackson after they hired D’Antoni November 12.
“That’s a good offensive team,” D’Antoni said of Brooklyn. “We weren’t clicking offensively and didn’t play well overall but we had some good individual plays.
“Kobe was terrific. A lot of good stuff. We can go from here.”
Even before D’Antoni took over, the Lakers had already begun to run his offense over the last two games, including a 114-102 win over Phoenix on Friday.
“He is still limping a bit but we appreciate his effort to be out there,” Lakers forward Pau Gasol said of D’Antoni.
Deron Williams had 22 points and 10 assists for Brooklyn, who saw their five-game winning streak snapped.
The Nets have lost their last nine games to the Lakers, going back to 2007.
They were hoping post their longest winning streak since a six-game run from March 12-21, 2006.
D’Antoni wins his Laker debut
D’Antoni wins his Laker debut
Guardiola hails Man City’s ‘massive’ win over Newcastle
- Guardiola’s second-placed side closed the gap on leaders Arsenal to just two points with their tense victory at the Etihad Stadium
MANCHESTER, United Kingdom: Pep Guardiola labelled Manchester City’s 2-1 win over Newcastle on Saturday as a “massive” moment in the Premier League title race.
Guardiola’s second-placed side closed the gap on leaders Arsenal to just two points with their tense victory at the Etihad Stadium.
Nico O’Reilly put City ahead in the first half and restored the lead before half-time after Lewis Hall had equalized.
City weren’t at their best in the second half, but they held on to pile pressure on spluttering Arsenal, who travel to Tottenham for the north London derby on Sunday.
Guardiola knew it was essential to make Arsenal sweat.
“Massive. Newcastle is an incredible team, awesome in physicality and speed they have up front. Physicality in the middle. Really tough but the team was unbelievable,” he said.
“It’s coming in best part of the season. Every single game will be similar to today.”
After finishing without a trophy last season, City are back in the hunt for the seventh English title of Guardiola’s reign.
They will have a game in hand on Arsenal after this weekend and are guaranteed to win the title if they win their last 11 league matches.
Guardiola has embarked on an expensive overhaul of City’s squad in the last 12 months, shedding aging stars like Kevin De Bruyne, Ederson and Kyle Walker and bringing in the likes of Marc Guehi, Antoine Semenyo and Rayan Cherki.
The Spaniard is well aware that his new generation largely lacks the experience of winning under the pressure of a title race, which made their gritty success against Newcastle even more meaningful.
“70 percent of the players have never been in that situation, and I don’t play. So we have to live it, they know that every game will be like this,” he said.
“Especially at home, with five home games left. Today was the best crowd of the year, it was unbelievable with our people, really proud to be manager of these incredible people and fans.
“Of course in terms of points it’s important, but we have to improve to have chance to compete until the end. Now we deserve three more days off. Then another battle in Leeds.”
Guardiola singled out O’Reilly for praise after the young England midfielder’s pair of clinical finishes showed he won’t be affected by the strain of chasing Arsenal.
“Nico give us in the middle that physicality that we need. He now plays in his position,” he said.
“He has always played that, he is so complete and so young. I am really pleased the academy produced these incredible players, Nico, Phil (Foden), Rico (Lewis).”
