February 11th, 2008 
Stephen Rhodes 
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The Los Angeles Lakers’?travels away from Staples Center?have been somewhat successful thus far, going 6-2 on their 9-game road trip; Monday’s game against the Charlotte Bobcats was a lesson in what happens when the tag-team of Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol are on the same page.? Bryant and Gasol combined for 57 points, leading the Lakers to a 106-97 win at Charlotte Bobcats Arena.
Bryant and Gasol were in tune on the court as?they were a combined 12-of-14 from the floor and 9-of-9 from the charity stripe, which enabled the Lakers to lead 55-44 at halftime.? The main reason for the Bobcats being within striking distance was due to Raymond Felton’s 18 first-half points and 10 Los Angeles turnovers.? The Lakers allowed the Bobcats to cut their 13-point lead to 89-86 midway through the 4th quarter.
That’s when Bryant took over for the Lakers; he made a jumper with 4:30 left in the game to make it a 96-90 lead.? A no-look pass to Lamar Odom for a dunk made it 100-93 and Bryant made a pair of free throws with 1:07 left, putting the Lakers up for good.? Los Angeles was led by Bryant with 31 points, 2 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals and a pair of blocked shots.? Gasol scored 26 points with 6 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 blocked shots, while Odom grabbed 10 boards.
Charlotte’s leading scorer was Felton with 29 points, 2 rebounds, 8 assists and a pair of steals; Nazr Mohammed enjoyed a strong game, scoring 22 points with 11 rebounds and a blocked shot.? Emeka Okafor while only scoring 9 points, grabbed 10 boards.? Los Angeles (34-17) completes their road trip with a visit to Minneapolis to take on the Timberwolves on Wednesday, while Charlotte (18-34) remains at home, hosting the Atlanta Hawks – also on Wednesday.
