Life without Kobe Bryant for the Los Angeles Lakers began Sunday night, and it wasn’t so bad. In fact, it was pretty good.
With Dwight Howard having a big game and Steve Blake somehow outplaying Tony Parker, the Lakers defeated the suddenly struggling San Antonio Spurs and need just one more win to clinch a playoff berth.
The bad news is they only have one game remaining to do it – Wednesday night at home against the Houston Rockets, the NBA’s best offensive team. The Rockets may need the game themselves as they jockey for sixth place in the West and the chance to avoid the Spurs.
Can the Lakers get it done Wednesday night? They probably will know by tip-off whether they need the win because the Utah Jazz play earlier at Memphis.
If the Lakers don’t get it done, it could spell the end for coach Mike D’Antoni, who would join what is starting to look like a long list of offseason coaching changes.
Doug Collins already is out in Philadelphia, and there could be new faces in Detroit, Milwaukee and even Brooklyn.
In the video below, I discuss those topics with Noah Coslov and the difficulty in deciding on a winner for a couple of season-ending awards.
Click the box to give a listen.