Lakers Rebound In First Game Since Mike Brown Firing, Beat Warriors
The Los Angeles Lakers fired head coach Mike Brown on Friday, seeking a change to boost the team from its sluggish 1-4 start.
Friday night they found that boost, blowing out the Golden State Warriors 101-77 behind 27 points from Kobe Bryant. The win comes as a relief to the team, which had looked sloppy in its first five games and was failing to meet the lofty expectations placed on it by many NBA analysts.
The Lakers had fired Brown earlier in the day following reports of tension between him and Kobe Byant. Though the San Jose Mercury News reported that Kobe denied these reports, it became clear to Lakers management that the team couldn’t continue with Brown at the helm.
The Lakers win on Friday marked the debut of interim head coach Bernie Bickerstaff, who said he will only be staying on for a few games. Meanwhile the team is engaged in a search for a new coach that has reportedly narrowed down to Mike D’Antoni and Phil Jackson.
Jackson is seen as a good fit for the Lakers, having coached there before and handled many teams loaded with superstars. The Lakers in the offseason acquired Dwight Howard and Steve Nash to go along with Bryant, making a superteam not unlike the Shaquille O’Neal-Kobe Bryant teams Jackson coached in his previous tenure.
In the win over the Warriors, Pau Gasol added 14 points and 16 rebounds, Metta World Peace ended with 10 points, and backup center Jordan Hill had 14.
