Lakers Suffer Brown-Out Bobcats Win 94-84

Posted by Jeff Sack under NBA Game Recap

You can love Larry Brown or despise him however you have to respect him. Have you got an under achieving franchise in the Association? Well just call “Doctor Fix-It” Larry Brown will have your team playing like a contender in no time flat! (That is unless you are the New York Knickerbockers. However Red Auerbach would not have been able to turn that situation around!) Now he most likely will not stick around too long, he rarely does! However Larry Brown may be the best at what he does!

Brown has been with the Carolina Bobcats less than a full season now but already the growth curve has been astronomical. Tuesday night was just the latest example of that as the B-Cats defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 94-84. The victory leaves Charlotte just one game behind the Chicago Bulls for the final Playoff slot in the Eastern Conference. Gerald Wallace led his team with a double-double but this was a team win as the Bobcats shot 51.5% (35-68) from the floor for the night.

The first half of this contest was nip and tuck but Charlotte would pull ahead in the second half. The Bobcats held a razor thin 25-24 lead at the end of the first quarter. The team from the “City Of Angels” would take the same slim lead of 44-43. The lead would change hands frequently in the third however Gerald Wallace would put Charlotte out in front 68-64 with a bucket at the end of the quarter. That would be the closest L.A. would get to the Bobcats in the final 12 minutes as they would win handily.

Gerald Wallace recorded a double-double 21 points, 13 boards, 5 blocks and 4 assists while Raymond Felton added 16 points, 5 assists and 3 rebounds. Rookie point guard D.J. Augustin came off the bench with 14 points and 5 rebounds while Emeka Okafor had 13 points, 9 rebounds, 3 blocks, 2 steals and 2 assists. Boris Diaw continues to win new friends in Charlotte with a double-double the hard way for a power forward; 11 points, 12 assists, 5 rebounds and 1 steal. Raja Bell put in 10 points, 2 rebounds and 1 steal.

Kobe Bryant led all players with 25 points, 3 steals, 2 assists and 2 rebounds. Lamar Odom scored 20 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 block while Pau Gasol recorded a double-double 16 points, 11 boards, 7 assists, 2 blocks and 1 steal. Charlotte improves to 34-40 after the victory. Los Angeles falls further behind Cleveland for over all home-court advantage in the Playoffs with a 48-16 record.

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