The Portland Trail Blazers absolutely smoked the Charlotte Bobcats on Wednesday night (Feb. 1). The reality is that Blazers fans should worry if the Blazers didn’t run up the score on the worst team in the NBA. It’s just too bad that the Blazers only get to play the Bobcats one time this year in the abridged NBA schedule.

After a good practice on Tuesday (Jan. 31), this looked like a completely different Blazers team. Something must have clicked, because against the Bobcats the team was spreading the floor well, presenting a press defense that we hadn’t seen and running the fast break with a confidence that simply hadn’t been there. That is in addition to the great defensive presence of Marcus Camby , who deserves some strong consideration for NBA Defensive Player of the Year with how well he has been defending for the Blazers.

The Blazers scored a season-high 35 points in the first quarter, had 61 at halftime and from there it was an easy cruise to free chalupas for the Rose Garden crowd. Everything about this game was fun for the fans, but maybe not quite as interesting as a close game against a team like the Oklahoma City Thunder. Still, it’s nice to watch a game that more resembles a track meet than anything else, especially because of the smiles that cross the faces of nearly every Blazers player. Getting the last five guys at the end of the bench some significant action will likely help the team in the long-term as well.

Jamal Crawford finished as the leading scorer for the team in just 21 minutes, putting up 24 points on 9-for-14 shooting. Gerald Wallace was 7-for-14 on his way to 23 points and LaMarcus Aldridge finished 8-for-16 from the field to score 22 points. This was the best shooting game of the season for the Blazers, simultaneously taking place during the best defensive game of the year as well. At one point, Marcus Camby had 3 blocks in about 15 second of game time. Camby finished with 5 blocks, 4 points, 5 assists and 7 rebounds in just 25 minutes of work.

Despite a rough fourth quarter shooting-wise, the Blazers finished this one off pretty easily to post a 112-68 win over the hapless Bobcats. It’s noteworthy that the biggest win in franchise history was 50 points against the Cleveland Cavaliers and that the team came very close to setting a new mark in this one. It was also nice that 12 players scored for the Blazers in the win.

Now the Blazers head down to California for a game against the Sacramento Kings on Thursday night (Feb. 2) that starts at 7 p.m. PT.

More From YCN :

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Lakers Blown Out By Portland

Blazers Take Out Thunder

Blazers Predicted to Miss Playoffs

Blazers_Make_Another_Trade

Sources:

Blazers_Team_Stats

Blazers Full Schedule

Blazers Preseason Schedule

Blazers Team Page

Blazers Updated Roster

*Ryan is a Northwest bred sports fan that has been a Portland Trail Blazers fan for years. He doesn’t miss a game, and has high hopes that the Blazers can improve their roster during the offseason and come back even better in the 2011-12 NBA season.

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

Apparently, I was very generous in my game preview when I said the Charlotte Bobcats would score 92 points in a loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. In actuality, the Bobcats put up only 73 points against the Lakers at the Staples Center – 19 points shy of my predicted total.

The Lakers wanted to make a statement before heading out on a six-game road trip over the next two weeks – one that doesn’t return the Lakers back to Los Angeles until February 14—and the Lakers did more than make a statement, they absolutely destroyed the Bobcats.

For the third straight time, the Lakers beat the visiting Bobcats at the Staples Center and did so in impressive fashion. For the first two quarters, the Lakers outscored the Bobcats with the exact same total, 30-18. In fact, Kobe Bryant had 18 first quarter points, matching the Bobcats total. And despite the Bobcats outscoring the Lakers 22-13 in the third quarter, the Lakers capped off the blowout with a 33-15 fourth quarter. The best part of all the stats may have been the amount of minutes Bryant didn’t have to play and got to spend resting.

Bryant contributed his fair share scoring 24 points—all in the first half—on 9-of-21 shooting, in 27 minutes, but as a fan, it was nice to see that the Lakers didn’t have to depend on Bryant putting up 35 shots in order for them to walk away with a win. After not scoring over 100 points for 13 consecutive games in January, the Lakers scored 106 against the Minnesota Timberwolves on January 29 and again scored 106 against the league’s worst team on January 31.

The Bobcats lost their ninth-straight game and barely stood a chance against the Lakers who were on the hapless Bobcats from the beginning. The immediate implications of this victory are yet to be seen, but I would have to believe that a win of such magnitude, and their second straight 106-point performance, has to give the Lakers a good amount of momentum as they head out on the road to face some tough challenges.

On their upcoming road trip the Lakers face some teams playing solid basketball, including the Denver Nuggets, Utah Jazz, and the Philadelphia 76ers. Their first matchup of the road trip for the Lakers will be the Nuggets, who are in third in the Western Conference and have lost two straight after rattling off six straight wins from January 17-27.

I would like to believe the Lakers are going to try and take advantage of the small stumble the Nuggets have experienced and try to climb the Western Conference rankings while improving on their 2-7 road record.

David is co-founder of wrapupp sports blog where they post fresh content daily and present sports blogs and sports opinions – all with a West Coast bias. Growing up in the Bay Area, David is a huge supporter of all the local sports teams; the Giants, Athletics, Warriors, Sharks, 49ers, and Raiders. His one fault, admittedly, as many of his friends and family would say, is his love for the Los Angeles Lakers. Growing up, Magic Johnson was his favorite basketball player and he fell in love with the team. He chalks it up to, “Not knowing any better”. Now his love for sports has turned just as academic as it is intuitive and he follows most all sports all over the nation.

You can follow David on Twitter: @officialwrapupp

Sources:

NBA.com. Lakers vs. Bobcats Recap. NBA 2012.

More from David Mehrwein and the Yahoo! Contributor Network:

San Francisco Giants FanFest: A Fan’s Guide

Nyjer Morgan Set to Practice with Sharks: Fan Reaction

San Jose Sharks Vs. Columbus Blue Jackets: Fan Preview

Los Angeles Lakers Vs. Charlotte Bobcats: Fan Preview

Golden State Warriors Vs. Sacramento Kings: Fan Preview

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

Bobcats (3-19) at Trail Blazers (12-9)
7 p.m. Wednesday at the Rose Garden
TV on CSN; radio on KXTG 750

No.	Name	Height	Position	Statistics
1	Kemba Walker	6-1	PG	11.7 ppg, 3.5 rpg
15	Gerald Henderson	6-4	SG	15.0 ppg, 4.5 rpg
12	Tyrus Thomas	6-10	SF	7.6 ppg, 5.2 rpg
32	Boris Diaw	6-8	PF	8.4 ppg, 5.7 rpg
7	DeSagana Diop	7-0	C	1.1 ppg, 3.3 rpg

No.	Name	Height	Position	Statistics
5	Raymond Felton	6-1	PG	10.3 ppg, 6.7 apg
2	Wesley Matthews	6-5	SG	13.2 ppg, 3.1 rpg
3	Gerald Wallace	6-7	SF	13.3 ppg, 7.1 rpg
12	LaMarcus Aldridge	6-11	PF	22.6 ppg, 8.8 rpg
23	Marcus Camby	6-11	C	3.2 ppg, 9.7 rpg

About the Bobcats: Charlotte lost 106-73 to the Los Angeles Lakers Tuesday night as Andrew Bynum finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds. … It was the Bobcats’ ninth consecutive loss and they have the fewest wins in the NBA. … Henderson, who was questionable against the Lakers because of a lower back contusion, led the Bobcats with 14 points. … Charlotte, which is playing the second game of a back-to-back, is 1-6 in such games this season. That record improves to 2-7 when counting how the Bobcats fared in their only back-to-back-to-back of the season. … Walker, a rookie, had the best game of his career Saturday against
Washington, finishing with his first triple-double (20 points, 11
assists and 10 rebounds). He set career-highs in assists and rebounds.
It was the third triple-double in Bobcats history and the first by a
rookie in the NBA this season. … Diaw added 21 points and 10 assists against Washington, recording his third double-double of the season … The Bobcats are visiting Portland on the second game of a four-game trip. … Former Blazers general manager Rich Cho holds the same job for the Bobcats.  

About the Blazers: The Blazers are 9-1 at the Rose Garden and have the second-best home record in the Western Conference. … They are shooting a higher percentage (45.9 to 41.3 percent) and averaging far more points (104.0 to 90.5) at home than they are on the road, where they are 3-8. … The Blazers finished January 9-9. Eleven of the games were on the road. … In February, they play 14 games and just six on the road. … Since Jan. 14, Matthews is
shooting 29.9 percent from the field (35 of 117), including 32.7
percent from three-point range (17 of 52). … Wallace (six) and Felton (five) played a combined 11 seasons for Charlotte and assistant coach Bernie Bickerstaff held coaching and front office jobs there for four seasons. … Aldridge ranks seventh in the NBA in scoring. … Reserve forward Nicolas Batum underwent an MRI on his left knee Tuesday and the results revealed a left knee bone contusion. He will not play tonight and likely will also miss Thursday’s game at the Sacramento Kings. 

Series history: The Blazers have won four of the last five meetings and own a 9-5 all-time edge in the series. This includes a 5-2 advantage at the Rose Garden. The teams split two games last season, with each winning at home. Aldridge averaged 20.5 points and 8.5 rebounds during against the Bobcats last season. This is the only game between the teams this season.

Injuries: Center Greg Oden (left knee) and Batum (left knee) will not play for the Blazers. Guard D.J. Augustin (right big toe) is day-to-day, forward Reggie Evans (left knee) is doubtful and guard Corey Maggette (left hamstring) is out for the Bobcats.

— Joe Freeman; follow him on Twitter

The Portland Trail Blazers look to get back to winning with a game against the Charlotte Bobcats on Wednesday night (Feb. 1). This is the only time that Portland gets to play Charlotte this year, which is too bad, because the Bobcats are currently the worst team in the league. Charlotte comes into this game with a 3-19 record and a current nine-game losing streak.

Portland lost to the Utah Jazz on Monday night (Jan. 30) in a frustrating loss that brought an end to January. Now the month of February begins against Charlotte in a game that the team should have no problem winning. Add to it the fact that the Blazers get to play it at home and it almost seems like a cake walk for the team. That’s a good thing, because tough games against the Denver Nuggets (Feb. 4), Oklahoma City Thunder (Feb. 6) and Dallas Mavericks (Feb. 11) are coming up very quickly.

Kemba Walker seems to have become the new leader for the Bobcats, especially after injuries have taken down Corey Maggette, D.J. Augustin and now Gerald Henderson. Walker is a rookie out of Connecticut, who is averaging 12.2 points, 3.6 assists and 4.1 rebounds this year. He just recently made it into the starting lineup though, so his statistics have been getting better recently. This is a team that is just scoring 88.1 points per night though, so it shows that there isn’t much else to the roster.

Portland may have to play without Nicolas Batum in this game because he is suffering through a bone bruise to his knee that happened in the loss to Utah. It looked like an injury that could have sidelined Batum for a long time, so learning that it is just a bruise is definitely good news for the team. A few nights off won’t hurt him at all; especially against a terrible team like Charlotte when Portland shouldn’t even need him on the court.

There is nothing more to say than the fact that Portland has to get it done against the Bobcats. In fact, winning this fame by less than 10 points would probably disappoint the fans. Hopefully the players on the end of the bench get a lot of minutes in this game to allow LaMarcus Aldridge and Marcus Camby to get more rest that usual.

Game time against Charlotte is 7 p.m. PT

More From YCN :

Blazers Beat Suns By 38

Lakers Blown Out By Portland

Blazers Take Out Thunder

Blazers Predicted to Miss Playoffs

Blazers_Make_Another_Trade

Sources:

Blazers_Team_Stats

Blazers Full Schedule

Blazers Preseason Schedule

Blazers Team Page

Blazers Updated Roster

*Ryan is a Northwest bred sports fan that has been a Portland Trail Blazers fan for years. He doesn’t miss a game, and has high hopes that the Blazers can improve their roster during the offseason and come back even better in the 2011-12 NBA season.

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

Some things to keep an eye on when the Lakers (12-9) host the Charlotte Bobcats (3-18) tonight (Tuesday) at Staples Center.

1. Will the Lakers lay an egg? On paper, the Lakers should easily win this game. Charlotte has the NBA’s worst record; the Lakers are 10-2 at home. The Bobcats will feature injured starters in D.J. Augustin (sore toe) and Corey Maggette (strained hamstring). But there are plenty of reasons why no one should put it past the Lakers to blow this opportunity for an easy win.

L.A. is 6-8 against the Bobcats and has lost three of seven home games against them. The Lakers took Monday off to rest their legs, but that could contribute to bad execution. The Lakers have a six-game trip beginning Friday at Denver, and they could enjoy the friendly confines of Staples Center a little too much. And most importantly, the Lakers remain unpredictable.

2. The Lakers must play well enough to rest their starters. Coach Mike Brown has remained reluctant to limit his starters’ minutes. The Lakers have simply proven to be too unreliable at compiling wins without Kobe Bryant (38.6 minutes), Pau Gasol (37.7) and Andrew Bynum (34.4) shouldering the load. With given how much the team struggles on the road, L.A. can’t afford to squander this opportunity against Charlotte. Not only does the team have to win, it has to do with comfortable margins. The game against Charlotte gives the Lakers a prime opportunity to give the starters some rest. Brown’s failure to monitor these minutes could prove costly later in the season.

3. Use this game as extended practice.With the Lakers lacking quality practice time because of the compacted schedule, this is the best opportunity to sharpen concepts. At the beginning of the game, let Bryant, Bynum and Gasol figure out the perfect balance in scoring. With Lakers forward Metta World Peace starting for the second consecutive game, this could be an opportunity for him to improve his rhythm. With the Laker bench hardly looking like one with an identity, this game could be a psychological pick-me-up. And most importantly, the Lakers could learn better how to execute the read offense.

*Usually, there are five things to watch in a game. Not this one. And if there are, the Lakers are in more trouble than everyone thought.

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— Mark Medina

Email the Lakers blog at mgmedin@gmail.com

Photo: Lakers guard Kobe Bryant comes away with one of his 14 rebounds against the Timberwolves in the second half Sunday night in Minneapolis. Credit: Jim Mone / Associated Press / Jan. 29, 2012