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February 16, 2011

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Cats hurl Lakers to season's worst loss

THE defending champions Los Angeles Lakers were left embarrassed after their worst loss of the season, a 89-109 thrashing by the Charlotte Bobcats on Monday.

One day after a bad 75-89 defeat to the Orlando Magic, the Lakers fell flat in an effort that left head coach Phil Jackson fuming.

"I just have this to say: we're very disappointed in our performance tonight, we're embarrassed about what we did, and that's it," Jackson told reporters before walking away.

After beginning their current seven-game road trip with four wins, Los Angeles has lost two straight and has dropped eight of their past 10 meetings with the Bobcats (24-31).

Charlotte forward Gerald Wallace recorded 20 points and 11 rebounds while Gerald Henderson added 18 points to lead the Bobcats to a second-half surge that knocked out the Lakers (38-18).

The Bobcats ended the third quarter with a 14-3 spurt to pull 78-60 clear and led by as many as 28 in the fourth.

Kobe Bryant managed 20 points but made just 8 of 20 field goals while Pau Gasol finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds in the defeat.

Los Angeles will look to regroup against the NBA-worst Cleveland Cavaliers in the finale of their road trip.

Successful trip

In Newark, the San Antonio Spurs cruised to a 102-85 victory over the New Jersey Nets to continue their successful trip away from home.

Manu Ginobili returned to the starting line-up with 22 points, one game after coming off the bench for the first time this season, and Tim Duncan added 15 points and 11 rebounds to help the Spurs run their league-best record to 46-9.

San Antonio also improved to 6-2 on their nine-game road trip which concludes in Chicago against the Bulls.

"On the road you play those teams, you know you're supposed to win," Spurs point guard Tony Parker told reporters after collecting 13 points and seven assists. "It's very important to jump on them and start aggressive and make sure you get an early lead."

Following a disappointing loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday, the Spurs' only defeat in the last seven games, coach Gregg Popovich shook things up by starting George Hill in place of Ginobili. The move sparked San Antonio to a blowout win over the Washington Wizards a day later.

Back in the lineup, Ginobili scored the Spurs' first eight points of the fourth quarter to cap a 16-2 run that gave San Antonio a 20-point lead. The Nets (17-39) struggled offensively and fell to a seventh loss in their last 10 games.

Elsewhere in NBA, it was: Hawks 94, Pistons 79; Trail Blazers 95, Timberwolves 81; Bucks 102, Clippers 78; and Rockets 121, Nuggets 102.



 

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