Lakers Coach Byron Scott returns to team

Byron Scott had one emotional letdown that he could remember -- Monday morning in the Bay Area, the day the Lakers played Golden State.

Beyond that, the Lakers’ coach tried to remain strong after the death of his mother, something she would have insisted on, Scott said.

“It’s good to be back with the team, with the guys,” Scott said after rejoining the team before Friday’s game against the Toronto Raptors. He missed two games because of funeral services for his mother, Dorothy, who died last week at age 72 after a long illness.

“I’ve been holding up pretty good, to be honest with you,” he said. “It was obviously heavy on my mind and still is. But I know my mom, she would just say keep moving on, keep doing what you’re doing and just keep trying to do it to the best of your ability. I really didn’t have any outbursts. I think my only one was Monday morning in Golden State. It’s where I just kind of lost it.”

The Lakers went 1-1 under assistant coach Paul Pressey, allowing 127 points in a loss to Oklahoma City and defeating Minnesota the next night. Scott watched the Oklahoma City game and listened to the Timberwolves’ game on radio on the way back from funeral services.

He wasn’t happy that the Lakers gave up “damn near” 70 points in the first half against the Thunder, adding that “it looked like we really thought we could outscore them, so I wasn’t happy about that.”

He was appreciative of the effort in a 101-99 overtime victory over the Timberwolves.

“Any win’s a good win, especially on the road. I still thought we made some mistakes that I wasn’t happy about, but other than that, the win was the most important thing,” he said.

One thing won’t change with Scott back: Jordan Hill and Carlos Boozer will keep sitting games.

The veteran big men will not play Friday, Scott said. They might return Sunday against Brooklyn.

“Just keeping my options open as far as that’s concerned,” he said. “That’s why I gave them a window between three to five games that they would be sitting down.”

Boozer initially said it would be a window of four to five games. He was told by Scott that it was important to evaluate the Lakers’ younger post players.