Lakers Stay Classy In San Diego

Yahoo Sports: SAN DIEGO (AP) — Kobe Bryant scored 25 points, including his team’s last field goal with 50 seconds left, and the Los Angeles Lakers held on for a 98-97 preseason victory over the Charlotte Bobcats on Sunday night.

With the Lakers ahead, 96-94 with less than a minute to play, Bryant took a pass from Chris Mihm and hit a fadeaway jumper. It was Bryant’s only basket of the fourth quarter.

Matt Carroll, who helped rally Charlotte from a nine point deficit early in the fourth quarter, made a three-pointer at the buzzer and finished with 15 points. Kareem Rush, a former Laker, had 14 points while Raymond Felton had 12 and Emeka Okafor had 10.

Mihm, who missed four straight free-throws in the final 2:05, had 14 points to go along with 11 rebounds. Lamar Odom also had 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Lakers. William “Smush” Parker added 13 points.

The Lakers (4-2) will remain in California and travel to The Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim to face the Utah Jazz in the seventh of eight pre-season games. Tipping off at 7:30 PM PST, we will have live Gameday coverage as always in our ClubLakers.com Forums!

The Lakers finally showed some signs of defense in the first quarter of this game. Will it carry over into the regular season? What is your take on the performance of Smush Parker this pre-season. Who do you think will make the team as the deadline for roster cuts approaches? Sound off in our CL.com Gameday Discussion!

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