What is it about the Charlotte Bobcats that has killed the Lakers in the past, producing six victories in the last seven meetings between the teams?
Do the bright orange uniforms of a franchise that has yet to make the playoffs act as high-dosage kryptonite for purple and gold? (those colors do clash pretty badly, but to be fair, Charlotte wore its blue-pinstriped kits on Wednesday).
The only other NBA franchise against which the Lakers have an all-time losing record is the Boston Celtics. The Bobcats, meanwhile, have met L.A. just 10 times since the team debuted in Charlotte, winning six of those contests including both meetings last season and three straight at STAPLES Center.
The two wins in 2008-09 allowed the ‘Cats to join Orlando as the only team that the Lakers didn’t beat last regular season, and while L.A. got its revenge and more against Orlando in the Finals, their first shot at the Bobcats didn’t come until Feb. 3rd at STAPLES Center.
Assistant coach Brian Shaw had even quipped during our pregame LakersTV interview that he was going to utilize reverse psychology with the team, simply asking them to keep the game close and not embarrass themselves since Charlotte would inevitably win.
Apparently, Shaw’s (fake) strategy worked, because on this Wednesday evening, Charlotte didn’t manage to shoot the Lakers with its traditional poison arrow in a 99-97 Lakers victory. Yet even without All-Star Gerald Wallace, a first-time All-Star, the Bobcats didn’t make it easy.
Clawing around throughout, the ‘Cats kept things tight until the Lakers ultimately preserved a late lead in the final minutes to emerge with a two-point win.
Neither team led by more than five points in the first three quarters the Lakers played after an eight-game road trip, and the Bobcats managed to cut an eight-point lead halfway through the fourth back to just one before late buckets from Lamar Odom and Jordan Farmar sealed the deal.
It was thanks to the terrific all-around play of Odom (19 points, seven rebounds) and Andrew Bynum (17 points, 14 rebounds) that L.A. was in the game in the first place, and fitting that Odom made the game’s biggest play by tipping in a Ron Artest miss with 1:02 left in the game to give L.A. a five-point cushion.
With his team up three and 0:07.9 seconds left on the clock, Farmar put the game on ice by slapping away an inbounds pass that was gathered by Pau Gasol and passed back to L.A.’s backup point guard for a breakaway dunk. Flip Murray did hit a three from near halfcourt at the other end, but it was too little, too late.
Gasol and Kobe Bryant – who tweaked his left ankle at the close of the first half – combined to make just 8-of-25 shots, mandating the collective effort from Odom and Bynum, while Artest chipped in 14 points and Shannon Brown combined with Farmar for 19 off the bench.
“I think (the key) was Lamar coming off the bench and making those big plays and getting his tips in,” said Bobcats guard Stephen Jackson, who led all scorers with 30 points.
Phil Jackson noted the general play of his bench, which outscored Charlotte’s 40-27.
“The bench played well tonight, gave us a little bump which is good to see,” said Phil Jackson. “We survived the night when Kobe really was hampered by his injuries.”
Bryant, who first tweaked his left ankle in Philadelphia on Friday, played through the pain by turning into a passer in the second half, notching four assists in the third quarter but managing just 2-of-12 shots from the field for five points. After the game, Bryant limped out of the locker after uttering this quote: “I was hurting today, to be honest,” a rare admission from perhaps the league’s toughest player.
Gasol, meanwhile, made 6-of-13 shots for his 14 points, but he did add five assists and came up with three blocked shots including a crucial swat of Jackson with 1:16 left in the game and L.A. nursing a three-point lead.
“That’s what we need to do, we need to step up our defense in the last quarter of the game especially,” said Gasol. “There’s no other way to do it … get stops, get extra possessions, and now that I’m in better shape as far as my legs go I need to help on that aspect of the game even more.”
Odom, who scored L.A.’s final six points of the third and accounted for its first five of the fourth to create some breathing room, created much of his offense off six offensive rebounds. Ironically, Jackson had mentioned before the game that Odom didn’t need to – or like to – force his offense as he had to before Gasol arrived and Bynum emerged. But as the rest of the team stalled, Odom filled the void.
“He’s extremely versatile and he can contribute in many ways,” said Gasol, who noted Odom’s 8-of-10 performance from the field. “He read the mismatches that he had well and was able to attack and put the ball into the basket.”
As a result, the Lakers took home their league best 24th home victory to climb to 38-12 on the season heading into a tough back-to-back against Denver and Portland set for Friday and Saturday.
Until then, your numbers:
POSTGAME NUMBERS
534 Wins while coaching the Lakers for Phil Jackson, surpassing Pat Riley’s previous Lakers record of 533. After the game, Jackson credited his players and fellow coaches for the honor.
34.8 L.A.’s shooting percentage in a sluggish first quarter, perhaps reflecting the team reacquainting itself with STAPLES Center after an eight-game road trip. They improved, however, to finish at 46.4 percent for the game.
9 Rebounds corralled by Andrew Bynum in the first quarter alone. He’d finish with 14 to lead the Lakers, four short of his season high.
7 More rebounds collected by the Bobcats, which L.A. overcame in part by forcing twice as many Charlotte turnovers (14) as it committed (seven).
3 Blocks from Pau Gasol to lead L.A., including a clutch swat of Stephen Jackson with 1:16 remaining in the game and the Lakers clinging to a three-point lead.