The defending champion Los Angeles Lakers were left embarrassed after their worst loss of the season, a 109-89 thrashing by the Charlotte Bobcats on Monday.
One day after a bad 89-75 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.
Photo: AFP
After beginning their current seven-game road trip with four wins, Los Angeles have lost two straight and have 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 eight of 20 field goals, while Pau Gasol finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds in the defeat.
Los Angeles look to regroup against the NBA-worst Cleveland Cavaliers today in the finale of their road trip.
Spurs 102, Nets 85
In Newark, New Jersey, Manu Ginobili scored 10 of his 22 points in a game-breaking second-half run and the Spurs put in another dominant performance to top the Nets.
Tim Duncan added 15 points and 11 rebounds, while Tony Parker had 13 points, six rebounds and seven assists and DeJuan Blair had 10 points and 11 rebounds as the Spurs won for the ninth time in 11 games and 17th in 20.
San Antonio’s 46-9 record is tops in the NBA and the best 55-game mark since the Avery Johnson-coached Dallas Mavericks had the same mark in 2006-2007 en route to a franchise-best, 67-win season.
Brook Lopez had 11 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Nets, who never led in the final roughly 30 minutes.
Hawks 94, Pistons 79
In Auburn Hills, Josh Smith had 27 points and 14 rebounds as the Hawks rallied for a win over the Pistons.
Atlanta trailed by as many as 15 points in the second quarter, but held the Pistons to 28 percent shooting in the second half as they pulled away to win.
Mike Bibby added 17 points, seven assists and six rebounds for the Hawks, while Marvin Williams had 15 points.
Detroit had five players score in double figures, but Tracy McGrady led the Pistons with just 14. Detroit scored only 28 points in the second half as they lost for the fourth time in five games.
The Pistons made their first six three-point attempts, before Charlie Villanueva missed early in the second quarter, and didn’t commit their first turnover until moments later.
Bucks 102, Clippers 78
In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Carlos Delfino scored 21 of his 26 points in the second half and made a career-high seven three-pointers to lead the Bucks to a victory over the Clippers.
Everyone pitched in for the short-handed Bucks, who came in losers of seven of the last eight.
John Salmons added 16 points and tied a career-high with 12 assists for Milwaukee, while Brandon Jennings scored 20 points to match his best performance since returning from surgery and Luc Mbah a Moute finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Mbah a Moute did an admirable job trying to slow Clippers’ star Blake Griffin, who still finished with 19 points, 12 rebounds and six assists.
Rockets 121, Nuggets 102
In Houston, Texas, Courtney Lee scored 22 points and Shane Battier added 17 as Houston shot well from three-point range and controlled Carmelo Anthony in a win over Denver.
Aaron Brooks had 18 points off the bench, while Luis Scola added 10 points and eight rebounds for the Rockets, who shook off a bad offensive start to go 14 for 32 from three-point range (44 percent) and beat the Nuggets for the second time in a week. Houston won 108-103 in Denver on Feb. 7, despite Anthony’s 50 points.
Anthony scored 16 points on four for 14 shooting and didn’t leave the bench in the fourth quarter. He was held under 20 points for the first time in nine games.
In Monday’s other action, it was:
‧ Trail Blazers 95, T’Wolves 81
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Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
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