European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 14, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 38 stars and stripes saturday april 14 2007 clippers overcome Bryants 50 Points the associated press los Angeles the old Guy bad Back and All came to the res Cue of the los Angeles clippers when they needed it the most Sam Cassell had eight Points and three assists in the fourth Quarter helping the clippers rally from a 10point deficit to beat the los Angeles lakers 118110 on thursday night for their most significant Victory of the season Corey Maggette scored a Ca ree High 39 Points and Elton Brand added 32 but Cassell was the steadying influence Down the stretch As the clippers outscored the lakers 268 to win going away he did a great Job just control Ling the Tempo for us and making the right plays clippers coach Mike Dunleavy said Sam Cas sell hits big shots gets to the foul line makes passes Brand said when we have our team win a big game like this it feels great Cassell returned to action after missing four games because of Back spasms he has played in 54 of the clippers 79 games the clippers won despite Kobe bryant5s 50 Points but Bryant was held scoreless after making two foul shots with remaining to give the lakers a 10292 Lead the Victory snapped a three game losing Streak for the clippers who moved into a tie with Golden state for the eighth and final playoff berth in the Western conference with four games remaining both Trail the seventh place lakers by games Cassell appeared uncomfortable while scoring two Points in 6 first half minutes it was a differ ent Story in the second half when he played 14 minutes including All but 51 seconds of the final period i had to get warmed up said Cassell who finished with 12 Points this is strange for me coming off the Bench the second half i tried to keep warm Tim Thomas told me to fight through it i dont mind having the Ball Down the stretch i can be a Decoy and i can make a shot it was a big win for us Bryants nine 50point games this season Are the most in the Aba since Wilt Chamberlain scored at least 50 nine times in the 196465 season Chamberlain averaged a record 504 Points three years earlier Bryant shot 17for33 from the floor and made All 15 of his ree throws he also had nine rebounds while playing All 48 minutes Maggette whose previous Ca reer High was 38 Points shot 10for15 from the Field he also had eight rebounds and nine assists to match his career High Brand scored 22 of his Points after halftime and added 12 re Bounds and seven assists Smush Parker had 19 Points and eight assists and Maurice Evans scored 11 for the lakers who led by As Many As 17 Points before losing for the seventh time in nine games Maggette said that while Bry ant is one of the nabs Best Condi toned athletes he thought the lakers Star ran out of Gas Bryant didst agree i Felt Fine physically i Felt like i could go the distance said Bry ant who missed his last six Field goal attempts i didst feel like Dallas Phoenix san Antonio Utah Houston Denver la lakers Golden state la 59 57 48 50 42 40 38 19 21 30 29 36 39 40 755 731 615 633 538 506 487 8 17 15 23 25 27 27 new Orleans Minnesota Sacramento Portland Seattle 32 32 31 31 46 46 47 48 410 410 397 3s2 33 33 34 34 46 Jeff the los Angeles clippers Elton Brand grabs a rebound away from the los Angeles lakers Runny Tuiai left and Lamar Odom on thursday my legs were heavy i didst feel tired at All they just Dou ble teamed me and triple teamed me youve got the advantage when that happens but we didst make the plays and they did Kwame Brown missed his fifth game with a Bone Bruise in his left ankle Cavaliers 94 nets 76 Lebron James scored 35 Points in 36 min utes and Larry Hughes added 19 Points for Host Cleveland in its on sided win Over new Jersey the Cavaliers 4732 Are tied with Chicago for the no 2 seed in the Eastern conference with three games remaining Vince Carter scored 26 Points to Lead new Jersey a Victory would have reduced the nets magic number to one for clinching a sixth straight playoff appearance bobcats crowds wins not growing for Charlotte bobcats from Back Page but the crowds have been slow to return in Charlotte where the hornets led the Aba in attendance for seven straight years the Bob cats average of just Over 15000 fans a game ranks 27th out of 30 teams in the Aba i dont think Bob anticipated it would be this hard i think someone in the league sold him a Bill of goods about How easy it was going to be said Felix Sabates a Lascar team owner and bobcats minority investor i think the Aba they were pretty anxious to put in a new franchise for million i dont think the Aba did a very Good Job of researching the Market before they came Back in Here the bobcats own mistakes made it worse they were forced to drop ticket prices after fan backlash a regional television sports net work Johnson started folded after one year and the team is still tied to a Deal with time Warner Cable that prevents satellite dish own ers and some Cable subscribers from seeing most of the teams games the bobcats also have been unable to secure a naming rights Deal for the downtown Arena last summer Johnson cleaned House team president de Tapscott resigned rather than accept a demotion and other top executives were fired Johnson also folded the in Bas Charlotte sting to save Money in any business that s not successful some body has to take the if s not the Guy who writes the checks Sabates said perhaps Johnsons biggest move was bring ing in Jordan last summer an icon who grew up in North Carolina and led the tar heels to the National championship before his Aba stardom Jordan has the final say on All Basket Ball decisions but More importantly he was willing to put several million dollars into the franchise to be come a part owner despite the teams red Ink we have to turn this franchise around and to do that sometimes you have to take a step Back to take Astep Forward Jordan said As Long As you get the ingredients right in pretty sure that in the Long run our investment is protected Jordan has urged Johnson to spend More bobcats have the lowest payroll in the league and Johnson insists he will spend More to make the bobcats a Winner a big test comes this summer when leading scorer Gerald Wallace can become a free agent and leading rebounded Emeka Okafor is Eligi ble for a new contract big name free agents such As Vince Carter also could be available while Johnson is confident the team will be come profitable he has signed a letter urging the Aba commissioner to consider Revenue sharing meaning big Market teams would help Small Market clubs such As the bobcats All Flie owners want to be competitive Johnson said what you dont want to see is a revolving door of owners who Are saying gee i want to get in the league because i like the competitiveness of being an owner and the Pride of being one of 30 owners of an Aba team but i cant be competitive because of the Structure Dallas Mavericks owner Mark cuban believes Johnson is Good for the Aba and not just because he brings diversity i dont place any importance on the color of his skin Bob is a smart businessman cuban wrote in an email i love How he has figured out the economics of the Aba and is taking a stand to make them better but Johnson still gets a lukewarm response in Charlott where he has been criticized for not spending enough time in the City Johnson lives and works in Washington and while he attends dozens games a year Hes not the Type of Guy who shakes hands with fans before the game Johnson shrugs off that criticism vowing the team will win Over the City and hell be around to see it even with estimates the team is Worth less than Johnson paid for it its sort of like when you own Stock the Only time you care about the Price is when youre ready to sell it Johnson said if youre not ready to sell it youre not worried about the value Aba scoreboard Eastern conference Detroit a Chicano Cleveland a Toronto Miami Washington new Jersey Orlando w l pet go 51 27 654 47 32 395 47 32 595 45 33 577 43 35 544 39 39 500 37 41 474 36 42 462 4 4 6 8 12 14 15 Indiana Philadelphia new York Charlotte Atlanta Milwaukee Boston 35 43 449 33 45 423 32 46 410 32 47 405 29 49 372 26 52 333 23 55 295 16 18 19 19 22 25 28 Western conference w l pet go clinched playoff spot clinched division conference thursdays games 94 new Jersey 76 Ita clippers 118 la lakers 110 pc fridays games at Toronto Boston Washington at Atlanta new York at new Jersey Indiana at Miami Denver is new Orleans at Oklahoma City san Antonio at Minnesota Charlotte at Chicago Utah at Dallas Golden state at Sacramento la lakers at Phoenix Portland at la clippers saturdays games Orlando at Philadelphia Atlanta at Cleveland Denver at Memphis Charlotte at Milwaukee new Orleans at Houston Phoenix at Utah Seattle a Portland sundays games Chicago at Washington new Jersey at Indiana Sacramento at la clippers san Antonio at Dallas Minnesota at Golden state Boston at Orlando new York at Toronto Philadelphia at Detroit Seattle at la lakers thursday Cavaliers 94 nets 76 new Jersey Jefferson 213 115 Moore 57 1111 Collins 0102 0 Carter 1018 45 26 Kidd 29 22 8 nachbar38 12 9 Boone 45 2210 Williams 02 00 0 Wright 1212 3 Adams 1122 4 Robinson i of 0 totals 2867141976 Cleveland James 1527 59 35 Gooden 44 00 8 Lugauskas 47 00 8 Pavlovic 44 33 13 Hughes 715 3719 Newble 16 00 2 Vare Jao 0012 1 Marshall 34 00 6 Snow 02 00 0 Gibson 03 22 2 Dejones 0100 0 totals 3873142394 new Jersey 1913192576 Cleveland 20 16 36 2294 three Point goals new Jersey 616 cart or 24 Kidd 24 Nachbar 25 Jefferson 01 Robinson 01 Williams Cleveland 412 Pavlovic 22 Hughes 24 James 01 Dejones 01 marshal 01 Gibson 01 new ble fouled Jersey 38 Kidd Cleveland 50 Gooden Lugauskas assists new Jersey 19 Kidd Cleveland 20 Hughes total Jersey 20 Cleveland 20 a20562 clippers 118 lakers 110 la cuppers Maggette 1m6 1724 39 Brand 1223 89 32 Kaman 3812 7 Mobley 49 11 9 Hart 28 44 8 Thomas 37 12 9 Ross 13 00 2 Cassell 510 22 12 Singleton 00 0 totals 4083 3444118 a lakers Walton 16 02 3 Odom 411 00 9 Bynum 37 36 9 Bryant 17331515 50 Parker 712 2219 Evans 56 0011 Turiaf 27 24 6radmanovic 00 00 0 Cook 00 00 0 Farmar 00 000 Vujacic 12 00 3 totals 40842229110 la clippers 28 23 35 32118 la lakers 23 32 38 17110 three Point goals la clippers 411 mag Gette 23 Thomas 23 Hart 01 Cassell 02 Mobley la lakers 820 Parker 35 Vujacic 11 Evans la Bryant 14 Odom 14 Walton 14 Turiaf fouled outdone re bound Sla clippers 57 Brand la Lak ers 47 Bryant assists la clippers 25 Maggette la lakers 26 Parker Walton total fouls la clippers 23 la lakers 29 technic Lbryant a18997 Aba Calendar april 18 regular season ends april 19 rosters set for playoffs 3 pm not april 21playoffs begin april 29 Early entry eligibility deadline pm not May 22draft lottery june 7 Aba finals Start Date possibly june june 18 Aba draft Early entry entrant withdrawal deadline june 21 Aba finals latest possible end Date june 28nba draft new York