Now the Bobcats End Skid Against Lakers

Yahoo Sports: CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Jumaine Jones scored a career-high 31 points to help the Charlotte Bobcats snap their franchise record 13-game losing streak on Friday night with a 112-102 shocker over the Los Angeles Lakers.

Jones, traded from the Lakers to Charlotte in late October, played the entire game as if he was trying to show Los Angeles what it let get away. He made all six of his shots in the first quarter to help the Bobcats open a 40-25 lead they never relinquished.

Jones shot 13-of-20, made five 3-pointers, and had nine rebounds to pace Charlotte.

The Bobcats had a plan to contain Kobe Bryant, and did it when it mattered.

Although Bryant finished with 35 points, he didn’t make a basket in the fourth quarter. He went 0-for-3 with the game on the line, scoring just four points in the quarter on free throws. Bryant also had seven turnovers in the game.

Playing without Lamar Odom, who sat out with sprained ribs, the Lakers lacked a sufficient supporting cast. Devean George replaced Odom in the lineup, but had just 12 points and five rebounds.

Primoz Brezec finished with 22 points for Charlotte, which had not won a game since a double-overtime victory over Houston on Jan. 10.

Raymond Felton had 16 points, Brevin Knight had 15 points and 10 assists and Melvin Ely finished with 11.

Smush Parker had 19 points for the Lakers and Chris Mihm added 15.

Although the Bobcats led from start to finish, they couldn’t maintain the frantic pace they opened the game with. Stars Emeka Okafor and Gerald Wallace are on Charlotte’s long injured list, leaving the Bobcats with a cast of supporting players to try to fend off the Lakers.

Los Angeles began its comeback in the second quarter when Bryant scored seven points in a 12-3 run that Los Angeles capped with Parker’s 3-pointer. That cut Charlotte’s lead to 59-53 with eight seconds to play in the half. Knight added a pair of free throws before the break to send Charlotte into the locker room up 61-53.

Tempers flared in the third quarter when Bryant twice elbowed Ely in the stomach as he tried to move around him. Ely responded with a hard push to Bryant’s chest and the two had to be separated by their teammates.

Bryant and Ely were each hit with technical fouls, and the crowd that had been pro-Bryant at the start of the game slowly began to turn on him.

That changed as the third quarter went on, though, and Bryant began to put on a show. He had 15 points in the period and, after taking a pass from Luke Walton at the foul line, move back to the 3-point line and drained the shot to cut Charlotte’s lead to 86-84 with 28 seconds to play.

The Bobcats got a pair of free throws from Felton to make it 88-84 headed into the final quarter and held off the Lakers the rest of the way.

After watching how struggling teams play harder against them in Indiana and Charlotte, will the Lakers have learned their lesson? They face off against a hot Hornet team tomorrow night. As always, we have live Gameday coverage in our ClubLakers.com Forums!

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