The Lakers are completely decimated at guard for Game #3 and beyond against the Spurs.  PG Steve Nash (hamstring), Steve Blake (hamstring) and Jodie Meeks (partial ligament tear in his ankle) are all likely out indefinitely.  Nash has started both games against the Spurs so far in this series and he is averaging 30.5 minutes, 12.5 points, 2.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game.  Blake has played well against the Spurs too, starting both games in which he has averaged 37.5 minutes, 14.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.5 blocked shots per game.  Meeks has played in 1 game off the bench against the Spurs in this series and he had 4 points, 2 rebounds and 1 steal.  These injuries mean the Darius Morris, Andrew Goudelock and Chris Duhon will play the bulk of the guard minutes for the Lakers from here on out against the Spurs, unless Blake, Nash or Meeks miraculously get cured in the near future.  Morris has played in both games against the Spurs off the bench in this series and he is averaging 15.5 minutes and 5.0 points per game.  Goudelock didn’t play in any games during the regular season for the Lakers.  He has played in 1 game off the bench in this series and he worked 6 minutes in which he had 2 points, 1 assist and 1 steal.  Duhon has yet to play in this series for the Lakers.  The Lakers are officially in deep, deep trouble against the Spurs now.

33-year old small forward Metta World Peace will be out indefinitely due to a meniscus tear in his left knee.  He has played in 70 games (64 starts) for the Lakers so far this year and he is averaging 34.6 minutes, 12.8 points, 5.1 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.7 steals per game.  But, he is only shooting 40.5% from the floor, 34.7% from three point range and 73.1% from the free throw line so far this year….which isn’t that impressive.  That being said, the Lakers are going to really miss World Peace defensively moving forward.  The Lakers are going to need someone to really step up as they will be moving forward without Kobe Bryant and Metta World Peace.

The Lakers have lost 34-year old shooting guard Kobe Bryant indefinitely due to a severe left ankle sprain.  He has played in 66 games (all starts) for the Lakers so far this year and he is averaging 38.3 minutes, 27.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 1.3 steals per game.  Bryant had been pretty hot so far in March for the Lakers.  He has played in 7 games (all starts) so far in March and he is averaging 39.8 minutes, 29.7 points, 6.1 rebounds, 7.4 assists and 1.4 steals per game.  The Lakers are in very, very serious trouble now.

UPDATE:  (4/2/2013) – Kobe Bryant returned with a vengeance tonight with 23 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists, 4 steals and 2 blocked shots in 47 minutes in a key win against the Mavericks.

The Lakers will be without 25-year old power forward Jordan Hill for the rest of the 2012-13 season as he needs hip surgery.  Hill played in 29 games (1 start) for the Lakers this year and he averaged 15.8 minutes, 6.7 points, 5.7 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game.  He has now played in 36 games (2 starts) in his first two years with the Lakers and he is averaging 15.0 minutes, 6.3 points, 5.5 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game.  This is a big blow for the Lakers moving forward.

27-year old center Dwight Howard has a torn labrum in his shoulder and he will be out indefinitely.  Howard has played in 33 games (all starts) for the Lakers so far this year and he is averaging 36.2 minutes, 17.3 points, 12.4 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.0 steal and 2.6 blocked shots per game.  Pau Gasol is also out indefinitely due to a nasty concussion.  Gasol has played in 25 games (all starts) for the Lakers so far this year and he is averaging 34.3 minutes, 12.2 points, 8.4 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.4 blocked shots per game.  Jordan Hill will miss at least the next two games due to a hip injury.  Hill has played in 29 games (1 start) for the Lakers so far this year and he is averaging 15.8 minutes, 6.7 points, 5.7 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game.  The Lakers are going to just sink further into the toilet unless some guys step up while this trio is out of action.

The Lakers have signed 61-year old Mike D’Antoni to take over as the new head coach of the team.  He was 18-24 (42.9%) for the New York Knicks last year before getting fired.  D’Antoni is now 388-339 (53.4%) during the regular season in his first 10 years as an NBA head coach.  He is also 26-29 (47.3%) in the playoffs so far in his career.  D’Antoni got a 3-year deal with a club option for a fourth year.  He won’t take over right away due to knee surgery that he had earlier this month.  The Lakers are 2-0 under Bernie Bickerstaff and he will coach at least a couple of games until D’Antoni is ready for action.

The Los Angeles Lakers have fired 42-year old head coach Mike Brown after a rough 1-4 start to the 2012-13 season.  Brown was 42-29 (57.1%) in his two years as the Lakers’ head coach during the regular season and he was also 5-7 (41.7%) in the playoffs.  Brown just couldn’t get the job done and he needed to be fired and the Lakers couldn’t afford to wait.  68-year old Bernie Bickerstaff will coach the Lakers tonight and maybe a little bit longer until they find the guy they want.  Bickerstaff last was a head coach back in 2006-07 with the Charlotte Bobcats.  He is 415-517 (44.5%) during the regular season in his first 14 years in charge and he is 12-21 (36.4%) in the playoffs.

38-year old starting point guard Steve Nash is going to miss at least one week due to a small fracture in his left fibula.  Nash has played in 2 games (both starts) for the Lakers so far this year and he is averaging 25.0 minutes, 4.5 points, 3.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game.  32-year old Steve Blake will replace Nash in the starting lineup until he’s ready to return to action.  Blake has played in 3 games (1 start) for the Lakers so far this year and he is averaging 26.7 minutes, 5.0 points, 1.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.0 steal per game.  The Lakers hope that Nash won’t miss too much time as Blake is a career backup type and little more.

UPDATE:  (11/5/2012) – Nash is now going to miss at least the next four weeks due to his injury.

The Los Angeles Lakers have signed 24-year old shooting guard Jodie Meeks to a 2-year deal.  Meeks played in 66 games (50 starts) for the 76ers last year and he averaged 24.9 minutes, 8.4 points, 2.4 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game.  He has now played in 200 games (114 starts) in his first three years in the NBA and he is averaging 22.1 minutes, 8.1 points, 2.2 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game.  This was a good pickup for the Lakers as Meeks should help them with offense off the bench.

The Los Angeles Lakers have acquired 26-year old center Dwight Howard, 24-year old power forward Earl Clark and 29-year old point guard Chris Duhon in this huge deal.  It also involved the Nuggets and Sixers.  As part of this deal, the Lakers have dealt 24-year old center Andrew Bynum to the Philadelphia 76ers and 25-year old power forward Josh McRoberts and 23-year old small forward Christian Eyenga to the Orlando Magic.  The Lakers are also sending a lottery protected first round pick in 2017 and a conditional second round pick in 2015 to the Magic.

In 26-year old center Dwight Howard, the Lakers get the best player at his position in the NBA.  Howard is a force at both ends of the court and he seems to just get better every year.  Howard played in 54 games (all starts) for the Magic last year and he averaged 38.3 minutes, 20.6 points, 14.5 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.5 steals and 2.1 blocked shots per game.  He has now played in 621 games (620 starts) in his first 8 years in the NBA and he is averaging 36.2 minutes, 18.4 points, 13.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.0 steal and 2.2 blocked shots per game.  Howard will really improve the Lakers defensively and he will likely score more too with Steve Nash and Kobe Bryant feeding him in the low post.  24-year old Earl Clark will likely be at least #3 in line at power forward for the Lakers in 2012.  He played in 45 games (1 start) for the Magic last year and he averaged 12.4 minutes, 2.7 points, 2.8 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game.  Clark has now played in 138 games (1 start) in his first three years in the NBA and he has averaged 10.2 minutes, 3.1 points, 2.1 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game.  Chris Duhon will likely be the Lakers’ 3rd team point guard in 2012-13, behind Steve Nash and Steve Blake.  Duhon played in 63 games (9 starts) for the Magic last year and he averaged 19.5 minutes, 3.8 points, 1.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game.  He has now played in 560 games (310 starts) in his first 8 years in the NBA and he is averaging 26.3 minutes, 6.8 points, 2.3 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game.

24-year old center Andrew Bynum is on to Philly.  He played in 60 games (all starts) for the Lakers last year and he averaged 35.2 minutes, 18.7 points, 11.8 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.9 blocked shots per game.  Bynum played in 392 games (300 starts) in his seven years with the Lakers and he averaged 26.0 minutes, 11.7 points, 7.8 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.6 blocked shots per game.  Bynum is #5 in Lakers’ history in blocked shots with 628 of them.  Bynum has a huge upside, but his attitude got him into trouble as he often didn’t listen to his coach.  25-year old forward Josh McRoberts played in 50 games (6 starts) for the Lakers last year and he averaged 14.4 minutes, 2.8 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game.  23-year old small forward Christian Eyenga played in only 1 game for the Lakers last year playing 19 minutes in which he scored 8 points, snagged 2 rebounds, dished out 1 assist and he blocked 1 shot.

This was quite a risk with quite a reward for the Lakers.  Adding Dwight Howard to an already loaded Lakers’ team makes them better for this year, but, he has not said that he will re-sign with them after this year.  If the Lakers re-sign Howard, this  was a great deal.  If he’s a 1-year rental, they gave up too much in a developing Andrew Bynum.