LAKERS NOTEBOOK: BOBCATS `HELL' OF A CHALLENGE.Byline: ROSS SILER Staff Writer EL SEGUNDO El Segundo (ĕl sēgŭn`dō), industrial city (1990 pop. 15,223), Los Angeles co., S Calif., on Santa Monica Bay; inc. 1917. Its products include navigation and computer systems, aircraft parts, office machines, telephone apparatus, and --The Charlotte Bobcats The Charlotte Bobcats are a professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. They play in the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association. have been in business for all of 2 1/2 seasons, compiling a 58-147 record in that time, while barely meeting the NBA's minimum team salary of $39.85 million this season. Yet it's the Bobcats who have given the Lakers ``hell'' in the words of Kobe Bryant Kobe Bean Bryant (born July 23 1978) is an American All-Star shooting guard in the National Basketball Association (NBA) who plays for the Los Angeles Lakers. . They took down the Lakers 133-124 in triple-overtime at home on Dec. 29 and will be at Staples Center This article has multiple issues: * Its neutrality is disputed. * It may contain original research or unverifiable claims. * It does not cite any references or sources. tonight for the rematch. It will be a last stand of sorts for the Lakers, who have dropped more games to doormat teams than they care to remember. The past month has seen losses to Charlotte, Memphis and New Orleans New Orleans (ôr`lēənz –lənz, ôrlēnz`), city (2006 pop. 187,525), coextensive with Orleans parish, SE La., between the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain, 107 mi (172 km) by water from the river mouth; founded , teams with a combined record of 41-84. ``Our thing all year is we know we can play with the best teams,'' Luke Walton said. ``But to be one of the best teams, we've got to beat these sub-.500 teams. We're aware of that and we've been talking about it, so we've got to start making it happen now.'' Lakers coach Phil Jackson borrowed from one of his players in describing the string of recent losses as ``haunting'' the team. ``For us, it's just going out there and playing hard all the time -- all the time --and understanding that we're trying to play for something bigger,'' Bryant said. ``If we can keep that in our mind's eye, we should be OK.'' The Bobcats now have beaten the Lakers twice in Charlotte and nearly won last season at Staples Center. Brevin Knight missed two free throws with 11seconds remaining and the Lakers escaped with a 99-98 victory. Star gazing: For the ninth time, Bryant has been selected to the All-Star Game. He received the third-most votes of any player (behind LeBron James and Yao Ming) and will start for the Western Conference in the Feb. 18 game in Las Vegas. Big bucks: The Lakers remain the second most valued franchise in the NBA NBA abbr. 1. National Basketball Association 2. National Boxing Association NBA (US) n abbr (= National Basketball Association) → Basketball-Dachverband (= after the New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Knicks, according to Forbes magazine's annual report released Thursday. Forbes estimated the Lakers' value at $568 million, up from $529 million last season. By returning to the playoffs, the Lakers' revenues were estimated at $167 million, only $3 million shy of the estimated revenue from the 2003-04 season before the Shaquille O'Neal trade. ross.siler@dailynews.com (818) 713-3607 CAPTION(S): box Box: LAKERS vs. CHARLOTTE - Ross Siler |
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