Read More: Alvin Gentry (H – PHO), Phoenix Suns

The Phoenix Suns didn’t make it easy on themselves but a strong showing from the second unit to start the fourth quarter gave them the separation needed to get a victory over the Charlotte Bobcats.

The Bobcats pushed their halftime lead to ten points early in the third quarter before Alvin Gentry called a time out. From that point on the Suns had the game tied at the end of three and were up 10 halfway through the fourth quarter.

The hero of the night was Robin Lopez who scored 13 points to go along with six rebounds and solid defense in his 19 minutes of play. Josh Childress was strong as well as the bench was able to allow Steve Nash to rest until the four minute mark.

“The major problem was when Lopez came in,” Bobcats coach Paul Silas said, “We didn’t box him out and it really just changed the whole game around.”

The Suns held the Bobcats to and just 17 points in the fourth quarter with about half of those coming in the final desperate minutes. Phoenix was led by Michael Redd who got the start in place of the injured Jared Dudley. Redd finished with 17 points on 6-12 shooting. Rookie point guard Kemba Walker had 22 points for Charlotte.

The much-needed home win gives the Suns a 9-14 record on the season while the Bobcats fall to 3-21. The Suns now travel to Atlanta to face the Hawks on Monday and then to Milwaukee to meet the Bucks on Tuesday.

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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.

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*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.

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

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Sources:

Blazers_Team_Stats

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*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

By STEVE REED
AP Sports Writer

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) – The Washington Wizards may have found the recipe for winning this season: playing the Charlotte Bobcats.

Well, that and a balanced offensive attack.

The Wizards (4-16) defeated the Bobcats for the second time in four nights Saturday 102-99 as six players scored in double digits, including JaVale McGee, who led the way with 22 points and 10 rebounds.

The week’s two wins equal the Wizards’ total number of victories in their first 17 games combined.

John Wall added 13 points and 10 assists for the Wizards (4-16). They also got 21 points from Nick Young, while reserves Trevor Booker and Jordan Crawford chipped in with 16 and 12 points, respectively.

“We had good balance,” Wall said. “I think tonight nobody cared about who scored. We just went out there and played basketball. That’s what you’ve got to do to win. Some nights it’s going to be different people leading in scoring and you’ve just got to live with it.”

Washington’s victory offset a terrific performance from rookie Bobcats rookie Kemba Walker, who had 20 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds. Walker became the first rookie this season to register a triple-double.

Three rookies accomplished the feat a year ago: Wall, Blake Griffin and Jordan Crawford.

Coach Paul Silas has asked Walker to look for his teammates more since moving over to point guard following the injury to D.J. Augustin last week. On Saturday night Walker seemed to heed the message.

He seemed to see the floor better than he has in his previous three starts at the point.

“I was just more patient tonight,” Walker said. “I’ve been watching a lot of film with the coaches and they’ve been showing me certain opportunities that I have on the court that I haven’t been taking. Tonight, I just took those opportunities and that just made things a lot easier.”

Silas said Walker, the ninth overall pick in the NBA draft, is starting to develop some point guard skills, which is encouraging.

“He really is coming along and he’s a really good rebounder for his size,” Silas said. “He gets in there all the time and he’s putting up numbers on the board scoringwise. This is really going to help them, as I told all the guys.”

For two teams battling to stay out of the NBA basement, it was a fairly intense game.

Wall said he could sense the Bobcats (3-18) wanted this game after losing earlier this week to the Wizards. The Bobcats have lost eight straight.

“We knew they wanted revenge for what we did to them on Wednesday night so we were coming out knowing it was going to be a tough match,” Wall said. “We figured out how to close out the game down the stretch.”

Well, sort of.

The Wizards made it more interesting than it needed to be.

Trailing 102-99 with 41.2 seconds left, the Bobcats had a chance to tie, but burned almost the entire shot clock, unable to get a look at an open 3-pointer as the Wizards stepped up the defense. Eventually, Boris Diaw drove the lane but missed and McGee quickly grabbed the rebound.

The Bobcats immediately fouled.

McGee had a chance to put the game on ice but with the Wizards leading by three missed two free throws with 6 seconds remaining. The Bobcats got the rebound off the second miss and called timeout.

They set up an inbounds play but Matt Carroll missed a deep 3-pointer at the buzzer.

“I caught it a little deeper than I wanted and I was kind of hurried,” Carroll said. “I had a good look, but it just didn’t fall.”

It was Washington’s first win on the road.

“It feels good to get this first one because it’s much earlier than last year,” Young said. “It took us like 30-something games last year, so this is a big improvement.”

McGee was the latest center to have a field day against the Bobcats, exposing their lack of an interior defense. McGee shot 9 of 14 from the field and had good success using his hook shot.

Booker also ripped up the Bobcats, hitting on all 6 of his shots, most of those in and around the lane.

“Book, with his ability to roll to the basket and catch and finish was huge,” Wizards coach Randy Wittman said. “I don’t think he missed a shot did he? I mean 6 for 6, that was huge.”

The Bobcats got a good effort from Diaw, who was back in the starting lineup and contributed 21 points and 10 assists. Byron Mullens scored 23 points, while Carroll and Tyrus Thomas each added 13.

Notes: Washington shot 53% from the field and won despite being outrebounded by the smaller Bobcats 42-32. … The Bobcats were playing without five players, including their two leading scorers: Gerald Henderson and Augustin. Augustin has missed the last four games with a toe injury, while Henderson sat out after re-injuring his back in Friday night’s loss to the 76ers.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.