Clippers’ Offense Slows to a Crawl in 86-85 Loss

If there was any emotion Byron Scott felt in his first trip back to Los Angeles as a head coach, it was relief.

Scott had received some erroneous information that the Forum--the building he sneaked into as a kid in Inglewood, the place he played his home games with the Lakers for 11 of his 14 seasons in the NBA--had been dismantled.

No, Byron. It’s still standing. So with that issue resolved it was strictly a matter of business, as his New Jersey Nets played the Clippers at Staples Center.

“Not so much [emotion] here as it would be if it was at the Fabulous Forum--the Great Western Forum, as they called it,” Scott said. “This is a totally different place. I never played here. I didn’t consider this home. There’s not that much history here, as far as I’m concerned.”

Even the banners on the wall representing the three championships he won with the Lakers, in 1985, 1987 and 1988, are reproductions. The originals are still in Inglewood.

“Where they should be,” Scott said.

He still feels strongly about his days in purple and gold, which is why he says: “The big homecoming to me is when we play the Lakers. That’ll be much more emotional to me.”

For now the issue at hand is pulling the Nets out of the Jersey swampland and back to respectability.

He has to do it with a roster that has been shredded by injuries, the latest round keeping No. 1 picks Keith Van Horn and Kerry Kittles and top rebounder Jamie Feick out of action.

He is doing it a tollbooth, turnpike and tunnel away from the glitz of Broadway.

He is doing it with the knowledge he culled from playing under Pat Riley in L.A. and Larry Brown during a two-year stint with the Indiana Pacers.

And he must be doing something right.

The Nets have a 6-4 record after their victory over the Clippers Monday night. He has found a way for Stephon Marbury to get his points and the team to get victories.

In short, he’s making Net General Manager Rod Thorn’s decision to hire Scott after only two years’ experience as an assistant coach with the Sacramento Kings look pretty good.

“I had always admired Byron because not only was he a terrific player, but he was a classy guy,” said Thorn, who spent 14 years as the league’s vice president of basketball operations. “I always admired the way he conducted himself both on and off the court. You just see guys--like [Orlando Magic Coach] Doc Rivers, you knew that guy was going to be a good coach if he got the right opportunity because of how he was as a player. Byron, that was always in the back of my mind because of how he was as a player. When I interviewed him, he was terrific.”

Any reporter who covered Scott could tell you he was a good interview.

But Thorn and the media never had to run through any of his grueling, Riley-esque practices.

Fortunately for Scott, the early results have been positive.

“Everything we’ve done in practice and conditioning and training camp, it’s paying off,” Marbury said. “At first, it was brutal. But anything that’s hard always pays off.”

It wasn’t too long ago that Scott, 39, was running those lines himself. “Like I told my guys, everything that you guys do in practice, I’ve done,” Scott said. “And I’ve done them and I’ve won championships. It’s no secret what it takes to be successful in this league. If you guys are willing to do the hard work and listen and pay attention, then we’re going to be a successful team.”

But back when Scott was wearing No. 4 for the Lakers, no one would have imagined that he would one day be giving the orders.

“I never talked about it when I was in L.A.,” Scott said. “When I got to Indiana I had real serious thoughts about it. I really started to consider, ‘What am I going to do when I finish basketball? Man, I think I want to coach. I think I’d be very good at it.’ And Larry Brown was the one that told me he thought I would be good. That right there got the ball rolling for me.

“I made it a point, when I retire I’m going to be a head coach in this league. It’s going to take me three to five years, but I’m going to be a head coach in this league.”

Now that his day has arrived, Scott is finding ways to deal with all of the responsibilities that go along with his position. That includes being accountable as the final decision-maker and making sure to continue his superstitious pregame rituals.

He used to hit golf balls before home games in Sacramento, but that can be a little tougher now that winter is on deck in the Northeast.

He was about to abandon his routine, but he’s going to resurrect it now that it has brought him victories against Seattle and Miami.

He has already scouted the local driving range.

“It’s outdoors, but it has heaters,” Scott said.

Well scouted and well prepared. If you’ve been paying attention, you wouldn’t expect anything else from Byron Scott.

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J.A. Adande can be reached by his e-mail address: ja.adande@latimes.com