Report: Mike Brown has Been Fired by the Lakers

Let’s get one thing straight: I was never in favor of hiring Mike Brown as the coach for the Lakers last season. His career regular season record is impeccable, of course, but most of that was on the merit of having LeBron James on his team and playing in the Eastern Conference. While Brown was and still is an excellent defensive coach, but there was always much to be desired offensively. The simplicity of his system was something that doomed his Cavaliers and Lakers come playoff time, when competition played smarter to the simple isolation based system he would run with James and Kobe Bryant. This is the main reason he brought in Eddie Jordan to be his assistant and run with the Princeton Offense.

I’m also not against firing him now, although firing him 5 games into the season would be the NFL equivalent of being fired during the 2 minute warning of the first game. It’s just so unorthodox and almost never seen at any level of professional sports. That being said, hiring Brown was never a good option for the personnel L.A. had, but firing him so early might be a mistake by Los Angeles. Seeing as how this team is relatively new to playing with each other, there was so many acquisitions during the off season that the team never really had a chance to “gel”, all while changing to a new offensive system. All of this will reset when they bring in a new head coach, unless it’s Phil Jackson, who coincidentally canceled being the key note speaker at the Schwab Advisor Services IMPACT conference in Chicago next week, the whole squad will have to learn a completely new offensive system in short time, or risk losing even more games to start the season.

The coaches who are available are: 
Jerry Sloan: Known for the brutally efficient pick and roll run by John Stockton and Karl Malone, Sloan has had major NBA success, and fell just short of the NBA championship two years in a row, courtesy of Michael Jordan. Steve Nash and Dwight Howard should both be crossing their fingers and hoping Mitch Kupchak brings in Sloan, as Nash and Howard would likely replicate the things done by Stockton and Malone. This, if Phil Jackson isn’t returning, would be my ideal choice to coach this squad.

·         Nate McMillan: McMillan’s track record is nowhere near as good as Sloan’s, however he plays a very smooth, team first style of basketball centered around a good passing shooting guard and either a dominant finisher in the paint, or an excellent shooter from a big man, all three of which L.A. has with Bryant, Howard and Pau Gasol. McMillan is also known for his defensive approach to the game.

·         Brian Shaw: Known user of the Triangle offense, he was an assistant coach to Phil Jackson, as well as having played under him during the 2000-2002 ShaKobe three peat. Shaw has no previous experience working as a head coach, however, the important players on the team know how to run the Triangle, and can exploit it efficiently.

·         Stan Van Gundy: Out of the question at this point because of big man Dwight Howard. His offensive system is similar to Brown’s, except it works from the inside-out, and ensures an open shot either for Howard, or his 3 point specialists.

If the Lakers don’t get a coach with a known track record of success, things might get ugly in the City of Angels.  Right now, the best realistic candidate is Jerry Sloan; however both McMillan and Brian Shaw could realistically work with the Lakers. 

Steve Blake Has Stepped Up in Steve Nash's Absence

I’m sure everyone knew Steve Blake was going to be an important role player off of the bench for Los Angeles; what with Steve Nash never having played more than 32 minutes a game in his career. And with Nash out for what looks like a week (although other reports have said a month), Blake was going to be instrumental in L.A’s plans to start off well this season. Blake has been underwhelming in his first two seasons with the team compared to how well he was doing with in his stint with Portland.

With Mike Brown and assistant Eddie Jordan implementing the Princeton Offense this summer, it looked like Blake was going to have to work hard, or risk losing his job to Darius Morris or Chris Duhon. So far, Blake has not disappointed. In just 4 games this season, Blake has managed to equal his Offensive Win Share from last season, recording a good 0.2 to start the season. He had 0.2 OWS in 53 games last year, which was one of the lowest in the league for players that participated in 50+ games. At this pace, Blake will finish with a tremendous 4 OWS in 82 games. His offensive rating (an estimate of points produced by the team per 100 possessions when the player is on the court) is a sky high 119. His true shooting percentage (a tool used to measure shooting efficiency taking into account 2-point field goals, 3-point field goals and free throws) is a ridiculously high 62.2%.

The Princeton Offense clearly agrees with Blake, as he keeps the offense running smoothly and efficiently around star players Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard. While his PER rating is a below average 12 (mainly because he’s shooting 43.8% in total field goal percentage), it’s still much higher than the past two seasons in Los Angeles, which were 7.5 and 8.5 respectively. Blake has been everything the Lakers have needed at the point guard position, more so than All-Star Steve Nash has been so far this year, as he really seems to be working hard to keep his job. It is a very small sample size, but he has been one of the only players off the bench to actually do his job. If Blake can continue this pace this season, the Lakers have a chance to go far into the playoffs. 

In unrelated news, Steve Blake was fined 25,000 dollars by the league for some...lets go with colorful language directed at a fan during last Friday's game against the Clippers.

Lakers Dominate Pistons, Win 108-79

On Steve Nash’s first missed game since an MRI revealed a small fracture in his leg, the Los Angeles Lakers put it all together in what was an incredibly synchronized performance from just about everybody on the team. The Princeton Offense was run perfectly by Steve Blake, as he finished with 6 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds. The starters shot a terrific 58.1% from the floor, with Howard completely dominating Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond to the tune of 28 points, seven rebounds and three blocks. Of the 32 baskets from the starting unit, 20 of them were assisted on, the majority coming from Kobe Bryant and his stellar 15 point, 8 assist, 7 rebound night. Steve Blake harassed opposing point guard Brandon Knight into 5 turnovers.

Metta World Peace looked somewhat confused in between his flashes of brilliance tonight; he had two turnovers and looked somewhat lost to start the game, but he rebounded and finished with a stellar 7-11 shooting from the floor and 18 total points, more proof that every single thing was going right for Los Angeles tonight. The Lakers, for the first time in the season, had less turnovers than their opponents, and while the final margin is very slim (17 T.O. for Detroit, 15 for LAL), the starters completely out played, out hustled, and out smarted their opponents tonight. It helps, of course, when the whole Laker team shoots 51% from the floor (thank you, Princeton Offense!). It also helps to have nearly double the points scored in the paint than the opponent (34 for Det, 56 for L.A.) Los Angeles finally played up their ability, and gave Howard the Shaquille O’Neal treatment for tonight, making him the No. 1 option offensively despite having Kobe Bryant on the same team. Howard, of course, delivered tonight, being extremely efficient offensively, hitting 12-14 shots from the floor, and staying out of foul trouble, which is something he had failed to do in the first three games. Overall, Los Angeles completely dominated Detroit from tip off by playing smart, selfless basketball, playing excellent defense, and limiting the turnovers when the game really mattered. This is the Lakers we all expected in game one, and if they can play as smart as tonight, the rest of the league has some long nights of scouting ahead of them. 

Report: Steve Nash is Out for at Least One Week With Leg Fracture

Los Angeles could be in trouble for at least another week or so.

It has been reported that Lakers’ point guard Steve Nash has a small fracture in what was previously thought to be simply a leg contusion in his left leg. The Lakers have had enough troubles to start the season, but with Nash being out for what appears to be at least a week, the Lakers woe’s look like they will continue. Of course, Steve Blake has been a perfectly adequate point guard in substitution of Nash so far this season, limiting his turnovers, hitting his three point shots (60% on the season), and keeping the Princeton Offense running smoothly around Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard. He had his struggles vs. Chris Paul and the Clippers (mainly foul trouble), but he rarely has negative plays for the team, and knows how to play with the starters.

The bench, however, has been the exact opposite, and without Blake leading the second unit, the Princeton Offense takes a hit with the second unit, as players like Antawn Jamison and Jordan Hill have looked absolutely lost in the pass and move nature of the offense. Other than turnovers and transitional defense, the biggest problem for Los Angeles has been the few quality minutes given by the bench, and as a result, the few minutes of rest the starters have had. Other than Steve Nash (who is only averaging 25 minutes a game), all of the starters are playing 35.7 minutes per game or more, with Pau Gasol topping the list at 39.7 minutes per game. It’s an insane amount of minutes for players who are old (Gasol and Metta World Peace are the youngest of the “old” starters at 32 years of age) or coming off of a major injury like Dwight Howard is. The bench has been the second worst unit this season averaging a measly 16 points per game on 41.9% shooting, the second worst offensive efficiency rating in the league at 19.3 and a negative defensive efficiency rating at -14.7. Despite acquiring Jodie Meeks and Jamison this off season, the bench has managed to be worse so far than the 2011-2012 Lakers bench.

Los Angeles is likely in trouble with Nash out for so long because of depth issues. On paper, the bench looks like a very solid group that can spread the floor and give the starters some rest. In reality, that bench is thin, and doesn’t seem to understand the nature of the Princeton Offense. Antawn Jamison, as stated earlier, continues to struggle as he is only averaging 3.7 points per game, 4 rebounds per game and is only playing 16 minutes per game. Jodie Meeks has hardly played or made a difference in his time in. Blake is being pushed into the starter role. Jordan Hill has been disappointing to say the least and Devin Ebanks has been a non-factor to start the season. If Nash is indeed out for a week longer, that will be 3, potentially 4, games in which Nash will not be available, and the bench will have to step up, something I think they won’t be able to accomplish this early in the season, playing in an offensive system that they don’t quite understand yet.

In the positive news for Los Angeles, the next four games will be vs. the 0-2 Detroit Pistons, 1-2 Utah Jazz (after two days of rest), 2-1 Golden State Warriors, who the Lakers (particularly Kobe Bryant) have had a history of playing well against, and the 0-3 Sacramento Kings. This is the stretch the Lakers can handle, on paper, without Nash in the rotation, and it will certainly test the 2^nd unit on whether they can insert themselves within this scheme head coach Mike Brown and assistant coach Eddie Jordan have placed over the summer. A visit from Detroit could help Los Angeles get back on track. Though the Lakers had their five-game winning streak against the Pistons end with an 88-85 overtime road loss on March 6^th of last season, they've won the last two at Staples Center by a combined 38 points. And in more positive news for L.A: Veteran guard Rodney Stuckey has totaled 10 points on 1-of-17 shooting and has missed all six of his 3-point attempts through two games.

Starting Lineups:

Position	Pistons	Lakers
Point Guard	Brandon Knight	Steve Blake
Shooting Guard	Rodney Stuckey	Kobe Bryant
Small Forward	Tayshaun Prince	Metta World Peace
Power Forward	Jason Maxiell	Pau Gasol
Center	Greg Monroe	Dwight Howard

Steve Nash's Injury Could be a Disaster for the Lakers

Steve Nash injured his left leg during the 2nd quarter of Wednesdays game vs. the Blazers

Steve Nash will be a game time decision for the Los Angeles derby on Friday night as the Clippers “visit” the Lakers for the first game between the two LA teams of the season. The way he came off the court, it's likely to be doubtful for him to play. What does this mean for the Lakers? It means the bench gets even worse as Steve Blake is pushed into the starting lineup, a role in which I’m sure he’ll thrive because of his firm grasp on the Princeton Offense, and his better-than-Steve-Nash’s defense.

Steve Blake hasn’t been phenomenal coming off of the bench, but he’s been exactly what the Lakers have needed this season at the point guard position; he hasn’t been turning the ball over (0.5 per game so far), he’s been leaving his fair share of assists (4.5) and isn’t trying to do too much within the passers paradise known as the Princeton Offense. This hasn’t been as good for a bench that has trouble creating their own shots, and doesn’t seem to understand the Princeton just yet; however this is great for a starting lineup that appears offensively in sync.

What this means is 3rd string point guard Chris Duhon has to learn, and learn quickly; in his short time against the Blazers, he contributed to absolutely nothing offensively, and while normally this wouldn’t be much of a problem in the Princeton Offense, except for the fact that he was holding on to the ball for much longer than needed, and taking away precious seconds from his teammates to go to work against a Blazer’s defense that was on its heels as Los Angeles was closing in on them 76-73 at the time; it resulted in bad shots taken (and missed) and easy rebounds for the Blazers; most of their points from the 13-0 run to end the 3rd quarter were off of fast break points coming off of long rebounds from bad Laker shots.

But Duhon is only part of the problem; the whole Lakers bench has been horrid offensively and defensively as they haven’t been giving much rest to star players Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Dwight Howard. As I predicted in an earlier article, Antawn Jamison has been completely below average for the Lakers, shooting 33% from the field and is 0 for 3 from three point range. His Win Share per 48 minutes is a below average .095 during these two games. If the Lakers wish to win their first game of the season, and keep bragging rights against their Staples Center roommates, the bench has to wake up.

Steve Nash’s injury is doing more damage to the Lakers’ rotation than just Nash not playing; it’s forcing the bench to step up and fill in some big shoes, something the bench isn’t ready for at this stage of the season.

If there's a positive sign for the Lakers, it's Dwight Howard's dominance Wednesday with 33 points and 14 rebounds. Howard fouled out with 19 points and 10 boards and missed 11 of 14 foul shots in Tuesday's 99-91 home loss to Dallas.

The Lakers, though, struggled defensively against the Blazers, who placed all their starters in double figures and shot 50.6 percent.

This will be the fourth head-to-head matchup between Howard and Clippers big man Blake Griffin. Howard has averaged 25.7 points and 14.0 rebounds while shooting 66.7 percent in those meetings, and Griffin has averaged 18.3 points and 12.7 boards while making 45.7 percent of his field-goal attempts.

Starting Lineups: 

Position	Clippers	Lakers
Point Guard	Chris Paul	Steve Blake
Shooting Guard	Jamal Crawford	Kobe Bryant
Small Forward	Caron Butler	Metta World Peace
Power Forward	Blake Griffin	Pau Gasol
Center	DeAndre Jordan	Dwight Howard

Lakers Turn the Ball Over 25 Times; Fall to Blazers 116-106

The Los Angeles Lakers played much differently tonight; they pushed the tempo, fed the ball to the Dwight Howard, and most importantly, hit their free throws. However, the Lakers committed a season-high 25 turnovers as the Blazers ran away with this contest at the end of the 3^rd and beginning of the 4^th quarter largely on a 24-7 run.

The whole bench played confused, lost and generally terrible, except for Steve Blake, who did a very good job defensively on Damian Lillard, and generally ran the offense with smoothness. Blake played 28 minutes due to Steve Nash injuring his left leg during the second quarter. He attempted to come back after a time out, but couldn’t put much weight on to it; he was ruled out for the game. Despite the turnovers, the Lakers stayed in the game with great efforts from Dwight Howard and Kobe Bryant, who channeled their inner Shaq-Kobe, Super-Mamba combo for this game vs. the Blazers as both scored 30 or more points, however both were also plagued with foul trouble as they had 5 fouls a-piece. Bryant was making mistake after mistake with the ball as he had a season-high and team high seven turnovers. The Blazers pushed the tempo and managed to get 28 very easy points off of turnovers, combined with 10 offensive rebounds largely leading to easy points in the paint and with their 45% (9-20) shooting from deep, and you can easily see why they scored 116 points.

 Los Angeles looked helpless against the pick and roll in the first half, as Damian Lillard had his way with Steve Nash and scored the majority of his 23 points against him in the first half. Steve Blake managed to stop some of the bleeding defensively, and pressured Lillard into a couple of mistakes that helped keep the Lakers in it. Ultimately, turnovers from Bryant and Metta World Peace kept giving the Blazers easy points in transition, and keeping the Lakers from making up any ground. Foul trouble plagued the Lakers; Pau Gasol had 3, Bryant had 5, Howard had 5, World Peace fouled out; the only starter that wasn’t in foul trouble was Steve Nash, and for obvious reasons. Los Angeles played a sloppy game all over the court, except in offensive execution; they shot 50% from the floor, and had 21 assists to the 36 baskets made and the assists coming from everywhere: Howard had 5, Nash had 4, Bryant had 3, Gasol had 2, even World Peace was getting into the passing action and also contributed 2 assists.

Los Angeles had another good offensive night; ultimately, turnovers and poor defense dooms the Lakers against the Blazers, wasting an excellent game from its dynamic duo in Dwight Howard, who finished with 33 points on 9-15 shooting (15-19 from the charity stripe!), 14 rebounds and 5 assists and Kobe Bryant who chipped in with 30 points and 6 rebounds of his own, while shooting 50% from the floor (10-20) as LA falls to 0-2 for the second season in a row under head coach Mike Brown. 

Los Angeles Lakers @ Portland Trailblazers, October 31st, 2012

The Trail Blazers begin their season at home Wednesday night against a Lakers team seeking to avoid a second straight 0-2 start.

Portland went 28-38 last season, after averaging 50.7 wins over its previous three seasons when it appeared to be a team on the rise. Coach Nate McMillan was fired during last year's campaign and the roster has been overhauled along with a new general manager in Neil Olshey and new coach in Terry Stotts.

All-Star big man LaMarcus Aldridge, forward Nicolas Batum and guard Wesley Matthews are the mainstays with new blood brought in that includes first-round picks Damian Lillard, a point guard drafted 6^th overall, and Meyers Leonard, a center drafted 11^th overall.

While Portland's new faces are unproven, the same cannot be said for those with Los Angeles. With Dwight Howard and Steve Nash on board, the Lakers are among the favorites as they seek the franchise's 17th championship.

Los Angeles, however, opened with a surprising 99-91 home loss to Dallas on Tuesday, where Los Angeles missed more free throws than Dallas attempted, and neither Howard nor Nash excelled in their team debuts.

Howard had 19 points and 10 rebounds while missing 11 of 14 free throws before fouling out with 2:02 to play. Nash managed just seven points and four assists with seemingly little to do in the Lakers' new offensive scheme. Pau Gasol led the Lakers with 23 points and 13 rebounds while Kobe Bryant scored a wonderfully efficient 22 (11-14 shooting) while playing on an injured right foot. The offense was smooth last night, as it created fairly easy opportunities that the Lakers didn’t convert (especially free throws).

There are a few minor injuries on the Lakers’ side of things; Kobe Bryant is listed as day to day with his injured right foot and ankle, but he still played last night and is expected to play tonight. Backup center Jordan Hill is also listed as day to day with a bulging disk he suffered early in the preseason, he will also play. On Portland’s side, backup point guard Ronnie Price is out for tonight’s contest.

Position	Lakers	Trailblazers
Point Guard	Steve Nash	Damian Lillard
Shooting Guard	Kobe Bryant	Wesley Matthews
Small Forward	Metta World Peace	Nicolas Batum
Power Forward	Pau Gasol	LaMarcus Aldrige
Center	Dwight Howard	J.J. Hickson

Lakers Falter at the Line, Fall to Dallas 99-91

You can’t win them all. It’s a simple, yet very true phrase that applies to all North American sports (except you, 1972 Dolphins). The Lakers came out of an 0-8 preseason to a very hyped up and anticipated regular season opener against the Dallas Mavericks without power forward Dirk Nowitzki or center Chris Kaman. With a starting lineup of Steve Nash, Kobe Bryant, Metta World Peace, Pau Gasol and Dwight Howard, I’m sure everyone outside of Dallas thought the Lakers take this in a landslide. Alas, here we are with Dallas winning in Los Angeles 99-91.

What went wrong for L.A.? Plenty of things went wrong for Los Angeles, starting with free throws; the Lakers took 13 more free throws than the Mavericks, however, Dallas ended up making two more than Los Angeles. That’s right, out of a whopping 31 free throws, L.A. only manages to make 12; while Dallas made 14 out of 18 free throws. That is unacceptable. What is also amazing: No backcourt player on the Lakers took a single free throw; Howard took 14 free throws (nearly half of L.A.’s total free throw count), Jordan Hill took 6 free throws, only making 1. Pau Gasol had a respectable percentage, as he made 6 of 8 free throws. Antawn Jamison made 1 of 1 to complete an And-1 play, and Metta World Peace only made 1 of 2.

Dallas spent most of its time stopping Howard from getting easy put back dunks, effectively applying the Hack-a-Shaq strategy to perfection as Howard went on to make only 3 of 14 from the charity stripe. The Lakers just couldn’t stop the pick and roll Dallas was running, and that’s without the possibility of it becoming a pick and pop (a play that’s very common and hard to stop with Dirk on the floor). Steve Nash is still the below average defender we all know as Darren Collison ate him alive tonight to the tune of 17 points on 8-12 shooting, and Howard seems to have been off on his timing; he only had one block tonight, and allowed countless shots to go uncontested in the paint.

Los Angeles allowed too many rebounds to Dallas. On paper, it doesn’t look bad, as L.A. hauled in 46 rebounds to Dallas’ 40, but when you realize the Lakers have Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol, while Dallas is missing its twin 7 footers, then you know you have a problem. LA looked generally slower than Dallas, and played with less enthusiasm than the Mavs, a problem common with the late 2000’s, Kobe Bryant led Lakers.

Not all is dark in Laker land. Of the team’s 38 field goals, 24 of them were assisted, and not just by Nash, who only had four, but by the whole team, who really seem to be buying into assistant coach Eddie Jordan’s Princeton Offense. It seems the Princeton Offense is making things easier for the team offensively as Los Angeles shot 49.4% from the floor and the offense generally looked fluid and efficient. My only complaint tonight would be the lack of fast break points for the Lakers; after every rebound, Los Angeles would slowly job up the court instead of pushing the tempo with Nash (which is his bread and butter after the pick and roll) to get even easier shots early in the shot clock. Dwight Howard also got too few touches in the post, as most of his shots came off of offensive rebounds and last second passes to him to try to clean up LA’s offensive mistakes. This especially bothered me because Dallas had the much smaller Elton Brand on Howard for most of the night; nonetheless, Howard still managed to score 19 points despite only 12 shot attempts, and very few offensive possessions in which he was the focus. The brightest spot for Los Angeles was the spectacular Kobe Bryant, who is really feeding off of the Princeton Offense to make his own offense efficient and effective; Bryant shot 11-14 from the floor, only forcing up 1 shot (which he made in spectacular fashion over Vince Carter), and forcing zero unnecessary three pointers. 

The NBA is Back!

The NBA is officially back tonight with three games on tap for the season openers.

Washington Wizards @ Cleveland Cavaliers

First, we go to Cleveland where the Wizards look to start the season off the right the way. There is a (huge) bump in the road, however, for the Wizards. Franchise point guard John Wall will be out of tonight’s contest due to a stress injury to his right knee; he will be out for 4 more weeks. Wizard’s big man Nené also has a minor foot injury and will also miss tonight’s opener.

Washington will use A.J. Price and Jannero Pargo at the point for the opening month after cutting Shelvin Mack on Sunday. Price started six of the team's eight preseason games at the point, averaging 9.6 points.

On the Cavs side of things, new acquisition C.J. Miles, who averaged 11.9 points in the preseason after spending his first seven years in Utah, should see plenty of playing time, as he will start in tonight’s contest.

The Cavs, who ranked 29th in the NBA in field-goal percentage (42.2%) last season, are looking for a step forward from second-year big man Tristan Thompson. The No. 4 pick in 2011 averaged 8.2 points and 6.5 rebounds last season.

Starting lineups:

Position	Wizards	Cavaliers
Point Guard	A.J. Price	Kyrie Irving
Shooting Guard	Bradley Beal	C.J. Miles
Small Forward	Trevor Ariza	Alonzo Gee
Power Forward	Trevor Booker	Tristan Thompson
Center	Emeka Okafor	Anderson Varejao

Boston Celtics @ Miami Heat

The attention on this game goes to the Miami Heat. They will hold their championship ceremony tonight to kick off their title defense against the team that took them to seven games during last year’s Eastern Conference Finals.

It's also the first time the Celtics will face Ray Allen as an opponent since he left Boston over the summer and signed with Miami, a decision that his former coach and teammates were most unhappy about.  Miami kept its championship rotation intact, while adding Allen and Rashard Lewis to the mix.

Boston has vastly improved the bench to fill the void left by Allen leaving. They have added former Dallas Maverick Jason Terry and former Houston Rocket Courtney Lee, and will also be getting Jeff Green back after missing all of last season with heart surgery. Boston also drafted Jared Sullinger, a very talented player who dropped during the draft last season due to injury and no improvement from one college season to the other.

Allen knows it will be unusual to see the Heat get their rings, especially since five months ago; he was busy trying to thwart their title march. There appears to be no injuries on this front except for Avery Bradley who had off season surgery on both shoulders.

Starting lineups:

Position	Celtics	Heat
Point Guard	Rajon Rondo	Mario Chalmers
Shooting Guard	Courtney Lee	Dwyane Wade
Small Forward	Paul Pierce	LeBron James
Power Forward	Brandon Bass	Shane Battier
Center	Kevin Garnett	Chris Bosh

Dallas Mavericks @ Los Angeles Lakers

Disappointing playoff outcomes led the Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks to retool their rosters in hopes of again rising to the top of the Western Conference.

Each team, though, surrounded its long-standing, yet injured, superstar in different manners.

Kobe Bryant expects to play but Dirk Nowitzki won't as these new-look squads open their seasons Tuesday night in Los Angeles.

The Lakers were bounced in five games in the second round of last season's playoffs by Oklahoma City, the eventual West champion that swept Dallas out of the postseason the previous round.

Los Angeles had what was one of the most productive off seasons this side of The Decision trading for All-Stars Steve Nash and Dwight Howard as well as signing former 6^th man of the year Antawn Jamison, and acquiring Jodie Meeks. That’s not to say Dallas didn’t have a good off season; they acquired the services of: Elton Brand, O.J. Mayo, Darren Collison, Dahntay Jones and Chris Kaman

Howard had a back injury, but appears to be back at 100%, playing a few preseason contests to make sure of that. Bryant was a question mark with a bruised and strained right foot until pronouncing himself ready to go after fully participating in Tuesday's shoot around.

On Dallas’ side, Chris Kaman will miss tonight’s contest and is day to day. Forward Brendan Wright is also listed as day to day, however it is unknown if he will participate in tonight’s game. Dirk Nowitzki will miss at least the first 10 games after arthroscopic surgery on his right knee.

Starting lineups:

Position	Mavericks	Lakers
Point Guard	Darren Collison	Steve Nash
Shooting Guard	O.J. Mayo	Kobe Bryant
Small Forward	Shawn Marion	Metta World Peace
Power Forward	Elton Brand	Pau Gasol
Center	Bernard James	Dwight Howard