Which kind of pace does D’Antoni envision the Lakers running this season?

“It won’t be crazy,” he said, “but we want to push it and get a nice pace. We want to get some easy buckets before the defense sets up, so we’ll be up in the top five probably in pace, but it won’t be breakneck speed.”

Playing at a faster tempo seems to be more of an option this season because the team got younger and more athletic with the additions of Nick Young, Jordan Farmar and Wesley Johnson.

“I think we have to utilize our wings, their speed and athleticism,” forward Pau Gasol said, “but not too much faster than we did last year because I think we still have to play at somewhat of a controlled pace and a pace that everybody’s comfortable with.”

Reported by Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times