Bobcats hand cold-shooting Lakers second straight loss

Basketball Betting Lines

03/05/2010 - Charlotte, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Stephen Jackson scored 21 points, and the hot-shooting Bobcats trounced the Lakers, 98-83, dealing Los Angeles its second straight defeat.

Gerald Wallace added 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Bobcats, who had lost five of their previous six games. Charlotte has been one of the few teams to have recent success against the Lakers, winning seven of its last 10 encounters with the defending champions.

Tyrus Thomas contributed 14 points and nine boards for Charlotte, which shot a very efficient 51.4 percent from the field. In addition, the team went 6-of-12 from three-point range in the win.

Conversely, the Lakers, who were led by Kobe Bryant's 26 points, shot just 36.3 percent in their second loss in as many nights. Andrew Bynum added 14 points and 10 boards, but Los Angeles will have just one more opportunity to get a win on its three-game road trip -- Sunday in an NBA Finals rematch at Orlando.

Jordan Farmer posted 12 points, while Pau Gasol had 11 with 13 rebounds, as the Lakers shot just 3-of-18 from long distance in defeat. It was the lowest point total for Los Angeles since scoring 79 in a loss to Denver on November 13.

Bynum recorded eight points and seven boards in the first quarter, and Los Angeles grabbed a 26-23 lead after 12 minutes, but Charlotte quickly erased its deficit and moved in front for good.

The Bobcats scored the first five points of the second quarter to move in front, and Thomas capped a 6-0 burst a short time later for a 34-29 edge.

Charlotte was able to increase its lead to six, 49-43, at halftime. The hosts then opened the second half on a 10-0 burst, as Wallace drilled a pair of threes for a commanding 59-43 advantage.

The Lakers never recovered and trailed, 75-63, heading to the fourth. The Bobcats' lead reached as high as 20 in the final quarter, as they coasted to the victory.

Game Notes

The teams split the season series, 1-1...Raymond Felton finished with 13 points for the Bobcats, who got 12 points from D.J. Augustin...Tyson Chandler, who missed the last seven games with a foot injury, scored six points and grabbed four rebounds in 15 minutes. Nazr Mohammed (back) did not play...Each team had 41 rebounds and 20 turnovers.

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Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

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