Lakers Blow Lead in Final Minute to Spurs
11.13.12

Dwight Howard dunks amongst three Spurs on Tuesday.
The By The Numbers recap for the Lakers’ 84-82 loss to the San Antonio Spurs at Staples Center on Tuesday night. The Lakers are now 3-5, and next play home to Phoenix on Friday night.
503
The Lakers regular season winning percentage against the Spurs after Tuesday night’s loss. They’re now 74-73 all-time against San Antonio, but 34-18 against them in the playoffs.
98
The number of missed shots the two teams had combined Tuesday, in what was a very ugly offensive game. The Lakers shot just 41.9% from the field and the Spurs an even worse 38.9%.
69
The Lakers free throw percentage as a team after eight games…not good. They were awful on Tuesday again, hitting just 14-22 (63.6%). Those things matter in close games.
55
Kobe Bryant’s field goal percentage this season after eight games. He hit 12-19 shots on Tuesday against the Spurs for 28 points. He’s also hitting 92% of his foul shots and 44.1% from the three-point line. Basically he’s on fire.
33
The age Metta World Peace turned today. He scored 12 points on his birthday, but missed a wide-open three near the end of the game that would have sealed the win for the Lakers.
33
The amount of rebounds Dwight Howard has grabbed combined the last two games. He had 18 against Sacramento on Sunday and 15 more on Tuesday against San Antonio.
18
The amount of points the Lakers bench scored Tuesday. Nobody shot a particularly horrible percentage, they just didn’t get up a lot of shots. Jordan Hill looked good again with eight points and six rebounds, and lots of great hustle.
8
The number of turnovers the Spurs committed Tuesday. Want to know how to stay in a game you’re shooting under 40% in? Well here’s one way, don’t turn the ball over. Conversely the Lakers turned it over 17 more times Tuesday.
Looking for a bounce-back on Friday against Phoenix, see you then.
ESPN: Lakers Hire D’Antoni!
11.12.12

The Lakers hire Mike D’Antoni as their new head coach.
In an unexpected twist, ESPNLA.com is reporting the Lakers have hired Mike D’Antoni, not Phil Jackson, to be their next head coach.
From all accounts Phil was just “asking for the moon” and the Lakers were unable to come to an agreement with him.
For the complete story, check it out at ESPNLA.com.
http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/story/_/id/8622773/mike-dantoni-hired-next-coach-los-angeles-lakers-sources-say
Lakers Breeze By Kings For Second Straight Win
11.11.12

Dwight Howard grabs a rebound against Kings.
The By The Numbers recap for the Lakers’ 103-90 win over the Sacramento Kings at Staples Center on Sunday night. The Lakers are now 3-4, and next play home to San Antonio on Tuesday night.
18,997
The number of free tacos Jack in the Box will have to give out after the Lakers held yet another opponent under 100 points on Sunday in the win.
143
The number of rebounds Pau Gasol and Dwight Howard have grabbed combined this season. Just looked like a nice number to mention. That is of course over 10 per game, and is sure to improve as Howard gets his legs back. He had his Laker career-high with 18 boards Sunday.
102
To keep in the rebounding mode, the number offensive rebounds the Lakers have grabbed this year through the first seven games. That’s nearly 15 a night…impressive. Jordan Hill grabs 3.5 off the bench alone.
79
The combined number of points the Lakers starting five scored minus Steve Blake scored. Even more impressive was they shot 27-54 (50%) from the floor as well. Dwight Howard led all scorers with 23 points, to go along with his 18 rebounds and three blocks.
60
The percentage of shots the Kings missed on Sunday, hitting only 36-90 from the floor, including a miserable 1-10 from Marcus Thornton. Laker opponents are shooting just 42.4% from the field for the season.
34
The number of minutes it took Jason Thompson to foul out against Dwight Howard. I know that’s a lot minutes, but so what, it’s a fun stat to mention.
22
In one of the poorer stats of the night, the amount of points the Lakers bench scored. They struggled again except for Jordan Hill and Darius Morris, who continue to lead the reserves with solid play. Antawn Jamison had another tough night…no points and only two shot attempts.
11
The number of minutes it took the Kings’ Jimmer Fredette to score 18 points…wow! He went 7-9 from the floor, 3-5 from beyond the arc, and 1-1 from the line. Pretty impressive stat line.
2
The Lakers current winning streak. Hey it’s better than a two-game losing streak.
More numbers after San Antonio on Tuesday!
All Signs Point to Phil Jackson Return
11.10.12

Phil Jackson speaking at a Lakers press conference.
There have been several reports from different media outlets this morning, regarding the possible return of Phil Jackson to the Lakers to coach them for a third stint. Here are some of the recent media comments from Saturday morning.
From LA Times Mike Bresnahan’s Twitter…
“Lakers are moving quickly to hire Phil Jackson, one person in the organization calling it ‘95%’ sure PJ’s the next coach of the Lakers. The Lakers plan on meeting with Phil Jackson this morning, The Times has learned. It’s his job if he wants it.”
More from Bresnahan’s Twitter…
“The Lakers have not contacted Mike D’Antoni, The Times has learned, increasing the already strong chances of the return of Phil Jackson.”
From Yahoo! Sports NBA guru Adrian Wojnarowski’s Twitter…
“As Lakers meet w/ Phil Jackson today, they’ve declined meetings w/ any other candidates, source says. They’re all in on Phil,’ source says.”
From ESPN basketball analyst Jim Bowden’s Twitter…
“The process and expected return to the Lakers by Phil Jackson could happen as soon as Sunday in time for game against Kings #Lakers.”
We’ll put up more info as we find it.
Lakers Pummel Warriors in First Game Without Brown
11.10.12

Kobe Bryant takes shot against Warriors.
The By The Numbers recap for the Lakers’ 101-77 win over the Golden St. Warriors at Staples Center on Friday night. The Lakers are now 2-4, and next play home to Sacramento on Sunday night.
100
Bernie Bickerstaff’s winning percentage as Laker coach after Friday’s game, good for the best winning percentage in Laker coaching history! Yes we know it’s only one game, we’re only joking.
90
The amount of shots the Lakers took on Friday night, a season high. They only hit 40% of them, but were much more aggressive offensively and had far better spacing at that end of the floor than the first five games. Seems just Mike Brown leaving already led to some better offensive flow.
58
The amount of rebounds the Lakers pulled down Friday. They have now outrebounded every opponent this season by an average of 47-37. Pau Gasol led everyone in the game with 16 boards, four at the offensive end.
54
The amount of points the Lakers scored in the second half Friday, their best second half output this season. They also held the Warriors to under 40 points in both halves.
37
The total points the Lakers’ bench players scored against Golden St., which marked a season-high. Two players scored in double figures…Jordan Hill had 14 and Darius Morris continues to play well off the bench, he scored 10. Hill was also a perfect 5-5 from the field. Golden St.’s bench scored just 23 points and shot a horrid 9-33 (27.3%) from the floor.
34
The Warriors’ field goal percentage on Friday, as the Lakers defense continues to hold teams to dismal shooting from the floor. Golden St. made just 29 of their 86 shots, and were held under 20 points in two of the four quarters.
19
The amount of turnovers Golden St. committed Friday. Finally someone turned the ball over more than the Lakers, who still had 16 miscues themselves.
5
The number of Lakers in double-figures, let by Kobe Bryant’s 27 points on 10-18 shooting from the field and 5-6 from the line. Kobe is averaging 27.2 points, on 56% shooting from the floor, and 91% from the line through the first six games. Not bad for #24 at 34.
Lakers look for two straight on Sunday against Sacramento at Staples Center. See you after the game!

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