IN THE LANE

ANOTHER CHANCE: It now appears only a matter of time before Alvin Gentry makes the Interim-Coach Hall of Fame. This time the former Heat assistant (and, yes, interim coach) gets the opportunity to try to find the solution for the mess with the Sacramento Kings that eluded Luke Walton. In fact, the only previous time Gentry was not re-upped after an interim stint was when he took over the Heat from Kevin Loughery and went

15-21 at the end of 1994-95, Micky Arison instead opting for Pat Riley as a permanent replacement. After closing out 1997-98 in place of Doug Collins with the Detroit Pistons, Gentry worked another two seasons there. Then, after replacing Terry Porter as Suns coach and going 18-13 the balance of

2008-09, Gentry worked 3 ½ additional seasons there.

HIS THOUGHTS: “All situations are different,”Gentry, 67, said.“But obviously it’s something that I’ve gone through with other franchises, and it’s the same thing. Obviously, it’s a change of coaching, and, basically, there’s not a whole lot that’s going to change. It’s just getting the players to perform at a higher level.” Gentry said the goal never was to become a master of interiming, with this his sixth stint as head coach, also having guided the Los Angeles Clippers and New Orleans Pelicans. “I didn’t really think, ‘Boy, where’s my next head coaching job going to come from?”he said.“I’ve done it six times now and all of them have been different situations. and some of them were very positive and some of them have not been so positive.”

BACK AGAIN: Now working as Frank Vogel’s lead assistant with the Lakers after Jason Kidd moved on to coach the Dallas Mavericks, former Heat assistant coach David Fizdale this past week found himself back at work at Madison Square Garden for the first time since being dismissed as Knicks coach two years ago. Vogel raved about Fizdale during his pregame media session prior to the Lakers’ loss. “Obviously we competed against each other a lot when he was in Miami, the lead assistant down there, and all those tough playoff battles that we had,”Vogel said of his tenure as Indiana Pacers coach.“So I’ve got a lot of respect for his knowledge and the job he did as a head coach, obviously, without much of an opportunity here. He really knows his stuff and he brought all that to the table for us.”

HIS TURN: With the Brooklyn Nets finding themselves in more grindout games than anticipated, former Heat forward James Johnson is developing a niche for coach Steve Nash.“Obviously he can do some playmaking out there, he can attack the basket with his quickness and size, and he rebounded the ball for us,” Nash said, according to the New York Post. As with many thing Johnson, it started by optimizing his conditioning. “I knew what they wanted from me when they signed me here, and it was just up to me to get in the best shape possible and to make it happen,” Johnson said.“I liked the ramp up that I got, and I was able to really sharpen some tools.”Johnson went into the weekend having played at least 21 minutes in four consecutive games.

WORK IN PROGRESS: As the piece that ultimately got the Toronto Raptors to agree to a sign-and-trade transaction with the Heat for Kyle Lowry, center Precious Achiuwa remains a work in progress.“He’s in the stage where he needs to figure out what his go-to moves are,” coach Nick Nurse said according to the Toronto Star.“He’s got a variety of different things he can do. He probably has too many things for right now. I try to tell him to go to the strengths, whatever he’s most confident in, and don’t give up on trying to get to that until it’s absolutely gone.”That message clearly hit home in Wednesday night’s victory over the Memphis Grizzlies, when Achiuwa scored 17 third-quarter points.

NUMBER

3rd. Where the Minnesota Timberwolves’ Anthony Edwards stands on the NBA’s list of youngest players with at least 30 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and five 3-pointers in a game, according to ESPN, which he accomplished Wednesday against the Heat at 20 years, 111 days. Youngest was LeBron James, at 20 years, 80 days with the Cavaliers in 2005, and then James, at 20 years, 100 days, that same season with Cleveland.