Believe it or not, the Los Angeles Lakers had lost eight of their last ten games against the Charlotte Bobcats, including a 109-89 Valentine's Day massacre. But their two victories came against a Bobcat team that was without Gerald Wallace, who was traded at the deadline to Portland. On Friday night, three times was the charm as the Lakers did just enough to defeat the Bobcats minus Gerald Wallace for just the third time in eleven tries by the score of 92-84.
The Lakers won another game they were supposed to win against another lesser opponent. This same Bobcats team lost by 40 points in Denver on Wednesday. But the Lakers' effort was suspect, shooting only 38 percent as a team and attempting 25 three-pointers, making only five for a pathetic 20 percent. The Lakers only managed to outrebound Charlotte by one, 50-49 and were out-assisted, 20-19.
Kobe Bryant had to make three of his last four shot attempts to get to 40 percent shooting for the night. Bryant finished with 27 points by going 10-for-25 from the field and the Lakers improved to 13-11 when "Showboat" chucks more than 20 shots.
The Lakers' most consistent player, Pau Gasol, had 20 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double and Lamar Odom came off the bench for a 12 point, 11 rebound double-double as well. Although center Andrew Bynum was held to only nine points, he finished with a game high 17 rebounds.
With the trade of Gerald Wallace, it seems as though the Bobcats are now jockeying for position in the lottery rather than making a playoff push. Despite losing three straight games and going 1-3 since the trade, they are currenly only one game behind Indiana for the eighth and final playoff spot in the East.
One of the Lakers' weaknesses is their play against speedy point guards, which was exposed by the play of DJ Augustin. The Bobcat starting point guard had a team high 22 points and was the only starter to reach double figures.
Backup point guard Shaun Livingston and forward DJ White were a combined 10-for-17 shooting for their 23 points as the Bobcat bench outplayed and outscored the Laker bench, 37-23.
Although the Lakers were leading by as many as 17 points, late in the 3rd quarter, the Bobcats found themselves only down 71-63 with 10:07 to play in the fourth. The Lakers went on a 9-2 run in the next two minutes to extend their lead to 80-65, and with 1:47 remaining, Lamar Odom hit a 3-pointer to make it 92-80 and put the game away.
The Lakers may've extended their winning streak to six and haven't lost since the all-star break, but they haven't really been tested. Three of those wins came against the Clippers, Timberwolves, and now Bobcats, making it difficult to measure how much or if they have improved.
Derek Fisher sprained his left elbow when fighting for a loose ball with former Laker, Kwame Brown. The Laker point guard left the game and did not return. He is considered day to day and his 476 consecutive games played streak is now in jeopardy. The Lakers winning streak could soon be in jeopardy as well.
Phil Jackson admitted, "If we play Sunday like we did tonight, we're not going to be in the contest."
A showdown with the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday should provide a true test to determine how they are really performing at this stage of the season.
The Spurs, who just annihilated the Miami Heat, 125-95 Friday night, continue to own the league's best record at 51-11, eight games ahead of the Lakers. We'll see if the Lakers can pass their test on Sunday.
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