Lakers keep bad habits
It’s a good thing Lamar Odom returned for the Lakers on Friday night or the Charlotte Bobcats might have really embarrassed them.
The Lakers, who set out to show they could beat one of the lowly teams that had upset them, proved only that they could lose to the Bobcats on both coasts.
Like the Lakers’ triple-overtime loss in Charlotte, this one went into overtime after Kobe Bryant staved off defeat with a score-tying three-point shot with 1.6 seconds left in regulation, only to see the Bobcats dominate the extra session and win, 106-97, at Staples Center.
Of the Lakers’ 16 losses, seven have come against the bottom nine teams in the league: Charlotte (twice), New Orleans (twice), Memphis, Seattle and Portland.
Matt Carroll, who got 27 points against the Lakers last time, got 24 this time, including a three-point bank shot in overtime. Bryant led all scorers with 32 points, becoming the youngest player in NBA history, at 28, to reach 18,000 points.
Odom, making his first appearance since Dec. 13, scored 12 points with seven rebounds but missed seven of his 10 shots.
“We lost,” Odom said. “Any time you lose it’s disappointing. I don’t think we’re playing the same way all the time. That’s confusing. You look at our record and you’d say we’re doing OK.
“I don’t think we have our identity yet. Until we start playing the same way all the time, we’ll be up and down, up and down.”
The Bobcats’ Emeka Okafor had 20 points, 18 rebounds and five blocked shots, winning a duel under the basket with Andrew Bynum, who had 11 points, 16 rebounds and seven blocks.
However, Bryant had nine turnovers, Odom had six, and Luke Walton sprained his ankle in the second quarter and didn’t return. X-rays were negative.
The Lakers were 12-9 without Odom, which was all the more impressive because it came during a schedule crunch with 13 of the games on the road.
“I was going to be happy playing .500 ball,” Coach Phil Jackson said before the game.
“We had a Christmas road trip. There were some good tough games
Included were impressive victories over Dallas and in San Antonio.
Of course, think what might have been if they hadn’t lost to the 8-27 Grizzlies, the 7-21 Bobcats and the 15-23 Hornets, who were without their top scorers, Chris Paul and Peja Stojakovic.
The 133-124 triple-overtime loss in Charlotte on Dec. 29 ended a six-game trip at 3-3 instead of 4-2 and made for a long flight home.
Not that the Bobcats were looking forward to Friday night’s rematch.
“Good teams are vindictive,” Coach Bernie Bickerstaff said before the game.
Not that the Lakers looked that upset. They scored on their first possession, on Bynum’s jump hook and not again until Smush Parker made a runner 4:20 in the first quarter. By then the Bobcats had taken an 11-2 lead.
The underdogs led through the first half by as many as 11 points. The Lakers cut it to 46-39, then tied it in three trips down the court.
If the Bobcats were supposed to fold, no one told them. Carroll made a three-pointer, then a layup off a Bryant turnover to put Charlotte back up, 51-46.
However, Bryant found Walton, whose three-pointer with 0.8 left on the clock cut it to 51-49 at halftime.
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KEYS TO THE GAME
* Extra credit: The Bobcats dominated overtime, outscoring the Lakers, 15-6. Charlotte had defeated the Lakers in triple overtime earlier this season.
* Too sloppy: Kobe Bryant had 32 points, but he had nine turnovers. Lamar Odom had six turnovers.
* Painful: On the night they finally got Odom back in the lineup, the Lakers lost Luke Walton with a moderately sprained ankle.
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