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Bobcats send Lakers to second straight loss

Feb 15, 2011 - 6:02 AM Charlotte, NC (Sports Network) - Gerald Wallace led a balanced attack with 20 points and 11 rebounds, as the Charlotte Bobcats handled the two-time defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers, 109-89, at Time Warner Cable Arena.

Gerald Henderson ended with 18 points off the bench and Boris Diaw went 3- for-6 from three-point range to finish with 16 for Charlotte, which came back from a 22-point deficit to down the Hawks 88-86 in Atlanta on Saturday.

The Bobcats, who shot 51.2 percent from the field, have won three of their last five. Nazr Mohammed poured in 16 in a reserve role for the victors.

Kobe Bryant had 20 points and Pau Gasol went for 17 points and 10 boards for the Lakers, who were unable to recoup from Sunday's 89-75 loss at Orlando in which they hit just 39 percent from the field, including a horrid 2-for-16 clip from beyond the arc.

Los Angeles had won four straight prior to losing the last two.

"We're very upset about our performance tonight. We're embarrassed about what we did. That's it," Lakers head coach Phil Jackson said.

Diaw hit a pair of three-pointers and went for eight points in the opening quarter to help the Bobcats grab a 24-22 lead after 12 minutes, and Charlotte dictated the pace in the second.

Shaun Livingston's jumper capped an 11-4 run to start the period that put the hosts up by nine, 35-26, with 8:08 left before halftime.

With the Bobcats head by 11 with 2:13 to play, the Lakers got a pair of makes at the stripe by Gasol, a Bryant three and a Lamar Odom layup to get within 49-43 at the break.

LA seemed out of sorts in the third, as the Bobcats played the front-runner throughout, then for good measure ended the quarter with a 14-3 burst. Wallace's trifecta from the left wing beat the buzzer to give Charlotte a commanding 78-60 lead after three.

"Even though they're bigger than us, we're quicker and more athletic than them," Wallace said of the Lakers. "We were able to control Kobe for most of the game."

The Bobcats had their way in the fourth quarter, going up by as many as 28, 100-72, with 5:40 remaining, and the Lakers waved the surrender flag soon after by pulling their starters and emptying the bench.

Game Notes

The Bobcats improved to 8-5 all-time against the Lakers...Charlotte is now 14-14 at home this season, while Los Angeles fell to 19-10 as the visitor...Ron Artest had 10 points for the Lakers, who made 43.8 percent of their shots and only 3-of-19 from three-point territory...Charlotte made 8- of-21 from long distance.