Mike D'Antoni sits out Sunday, game-time call Tuesday

LOS ANGELES — Mike D'Antoni decided he wasn't ready to return to the sideline for his Los Angeles Lakers debut.

Instead he watched his new team roll to its fourth victory in five games.

The Lakers beat the Houston Rockets 119-108 Sunday with interim coach Bernie Bickerstaff leading the way. D'Antoni was set to take over, but he decided he was not physically ready to take over as he recovers from recent knee replacement surgery.

According to the Lakers, D'Antoni hinted at the morning shootaround he might not feel fully up to coaching on the sideline.

"I'm a little bit disappointed," D'Antoni said 90 minutes before game time. "But after talking to (Lakers trainer) Gary Vitti, he convinced me not to do it.

"I don't want to be a sideshow. The biggest problem is the energy waning at the end.

"I can get through practices OK."

D'Antoni said he isn't sure at this point when the return will be. For now, he's listening to the cautious advice from Vitti.

"It could be Wednesday, but I don't know." he said. "Gary kind of sat me down and he said, 'Somebody comes over there where you're sitting, and you're a sitting duck.' Plus, my assistants aren't that nimble."

Speaking of assistants, D'Antoni said that interim coach Bernie Bickerstaff will remain on the staff.

"Unless," he said, "he loses tonight. Hey, there's pressure on everybody, guys."

No worries there, as Bickerstaff has the Lakers roaring since the Nov. 9 firing of Mike Brown. Kobe Bryant, playing revitalized basketball, had 22 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists Sunday for his 18th career triple-double.

D'Antoni, hired a week ago, continues to walk with quite a pronounced limp.

He said he would have contact with the team before the game, at halftime and after the game. The rest of the time, he said, he would spend in the training room with "the Steves" — injured point guards Steve Nash and Steve Blake.

Nash, who was a two-time MVP playing in D'Antoni's system with the Phoenix Suns, is still at least a week away from playing. He is recuperating from a small fracture in his leg.

D'Antoni joked that he is continuing to sit out so Nash won't look bad.

"I'm doing it for him," D'Antoni said. "I do have a knee replacement and I'm beating him back. That just doesn't look good."

He said he likes what he has seen from the Lakers.

"We're just adding a little bit at a time," D'Antoni said. "Obviously it will get easier when Steve Nash is running it."