Bryant, Gasol lead Lakers past Bobcats

Kobe Bryant scored 31 points, Pau Gasol added 26 and the new-look Los Angeles Lakers continued their impressive road trip with a 106-97 win over the reeling Charlotte Bobcats on Monday.

The Lakers improved to 4-1 since acquiring Gasol behind Bryant's third straight game scoring 30 or more points.

In improving to 6-2 on their nine-game road trip, the Lakers never trailed but struggled to put away the Bobcats. Charlotte cut a 13-point deficit to 89-86 midway through the fourth quarter before wilting in their seventh straight loss.

Bryant's jumper with 4:30 left made it 96-90. His no-look pass to Lamar Odom for a dunk made it 100-93, and Bryant put the Lakers ahead by 11 with two free throws with 1:07 left.

Gasol had his second-highest scoring game since joining Los Angeles, hitting 9 of 11 shots and 8 of 12 free throws. The Lakers shot 50 percent in their third straight win.

Raymond Felton scored 29 points and Nazr Mohammed added 22 points and 11 rebounds for the Bobcats, who matched their longest losing streak of the season.

The Bobcats played without leading scorer Gerald Wallace for the fourth time in five games. Wallace, hobbled by a strained right foot, was replaced a night earlier in Detroit by rookie Jared Dudley in the starting lineup.

But coach Sam Vincent changed his mind Monday, putting Dudley back on the bench, moving Felton to shooting guard and starting Jeff McInnis at point guard. Felton turned into Charlotte's go-to scorer with Jason Richardson held to 10 points on 4-of-14 shooting.

Felton was two points shy of his career high, hitting 11 of 20 shots, and added eight assists. But the Bobcats had to make up too much ground after a dominating start by the Lakers.

Bryant hit his first five shots, three of them 3-pointers, and Gasol was 6-for-6 including two dunks as the Lakers looked early like the versatile inside-out team with Gasol.

When Bryant finally missed — a desperation 3 with the shot clock winding down — Gasol grabbed the rebound, was fouled and hit both free throws to give the Lakers a 49-40 lead.

Bryant and Gasol were a combined 12-of-14 from the field and 9-of-9 from the foul line as Los Angeles led 55-44 at halftime. The Bobcats weren't getting completely blown out thanks to Felton's 18 points and the Lakers' 10 turnovers.

For the second straight day, the Lakers struggled to put away a struggling team. After allowing Miami to come back in the fourth quarter Sunday before finally finished off the Heat, the Lakers saw a 13-point lead with just over 10 minutes cut to three on Charlotte's 15-5 run.

Notes:@ Bobcats coach Sam Vincent hinted Wallace may also sit out Wednesday against Atlanta. It's Charlotte's final game before the All-Star break, which would give Wallace more than a week to recover. "It makes no sense for us to rush Gerald," Vincent said. ... The Lakers signed C D.J. Mbenga for the rest of the season after his second 10-day contract expired. Mbenga was brought in when C Andrew Bynum was sidelined with his left knee injury last month. ... The game had nowhere near the drama of last year's visit by the Lakers, won by the Bobcats in triple-overtime despite Bryant's 58 points. ... The Lakers wrap up their trip Wednesday at Minnesota.