LOS ANGELES -- Make no bones about it. T.Y. Hilton Jersey Indianapolis Colts . Coach Mike DAntonis skeleton roster was no match for the opportunistic Charlotte Bobcats and Al Jeffersons dominating presence in the paint. Jefferson tied a career high with 40 points, 16 of them in the fourth quarter, and grabbed 18 rebounds to help the Bobcats send the floundering Los Angeles Lakers to their sixth straight defeat with a 110-100 victory Friday night. "I have those moments," Jefferson said. "They kept running plays for me and I kept scoring. In the first quarter, they werent going down for me, but I just kept staying with it because I knew sooner or later it would start going down for me. " Jefferson set a franchise record with his 11th straight game of 20 or more points, eclipsing the mark set by Jason Richardson in 2007-08. It was the 13th game this season in which an opposing player scored at least 30 against the Lakers, something that happened in 18 games last season -- and there are still 35 games remaining. Jefferson is averaging 19.9 points and 10.7 boards, but wasnt selected for the All-Star game and has yet to play in one in his 10 years in the league. "Ive been disappointed with the All-Star games, man, for many years. So I dont listen to the hype," Jefferson said. Gerald Henderson added 20 points for the Bobcats. Starting point guard Kemba Walker missed his sixth straight game since a sprained left ankle ended his career-opening consecutive game streak of 190. Ramon Sessions, who has started every game at the point during Walkers absence, had 13 assists and nine points. Sessions, along with starting power forward Josh McRoberts and reserve guard Jannero Pargo -- all former Lakers -- combined for 26 points and the Bobcats snapped a string of five straight defeats against Los Angeles. Charlotte shot 52.3 per cent from the field, improving to 5-0 when shooting at least 50 per cent. The victory was the Bobcats ninth on the road, four more than all of last season. Still missing Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, Steve Blake, Jordan Farmar and Xavier Henry because of injuries, the Lakers lost for the 18th time in 21 games and are only a half-game ahead of last-place Sacramento in the Western Conference standings just four seasons after winning their 16th NBA title. Pau Gasol had 24 points for Los Angeles and Nick Young added 21 off the bench. The Lakers have given up 100 or more points in 14 consecutive games, matching the clubs longest such streak since a 17-game stretch in 1986-87. Trailing by as many as 20 points after a pair of free throws by Jefferson with 4:21 left in the third quarter, the Lakers sliced the margin to 86-73 on a four-point play by Ryan Kelly. Los Angeles got it down to 86-78 on a layup by Robert Sacre with 11:01 to play, but that was as close as the Lakers got. Jefferson scored the Bobcats first eight points of the final quarter to help keep the Lakers at bay. "Hes been doing this to a lot of people," DAntoni said. "We tried a little bit of everything. We dug. We tried to play him a little bit straight up, at first. We tried to double-team him." Jefferson, who signed a three-year, $41 million contract with the Bobcats in July, powered them to a 62-49 halftime lead with 18 points and eight rebounds. Charlotte shot 58 per cent in the half, and never trailed after Jeffersons finger roll gave the Bobcats a 26-25 lead with 1:37 left in the first quarter. In the other meeting this season, the Lakers beat the Bobcats 88-85 at Charlotte with a game-ending 13-4 run and 21 points by Kobe Bryant -- one of only six games the NBAs fourth leading scorer has played in this season because of a torn Achilles tendon and a fracture in his left knee. Jefferson was held to 14 points that night. NOTES: The game ball was being sent to New York to mark the final day of NBA Commissioner David Sterns tenure. He is retiring Saturday on the 30th anniversary of his first day on the job. ... Stern saw the Lakers win eight league championships, make 12 trips to the finals and record eight 60-win seasons during his reign. ... Stern presented the Lakers with their championship rings on seven occasions. The only exception was in October 2001, following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Ahmad Bradshaw . -- If this was Aaron Gordons final home game at Arizona, and it almost certainly was, then he went out in style. Bjoern Werner Jerseys . Gretzky was asked if he believes Montreal Canadiens defenceman PK Subban should be on Canadas blueline in February at the Sochi Olympics. "Im not going to get in the middle of that controversy because Stevie Yzerman obviously knows what hes doing, he won a gold medal in 2010," said Gretzky.DENVER - Jarome Iginla felt a little more youthful on his 37th birthday even as he became the old man of the Colorado Avalanche. Hes energized by the challenge of not only trying to keep up with the likes of speedy forward Nathan MacKinnon, who is half Iginlas age, but also of helping this rising squad take another step in its growth. "I dont want to be arrogant, but I still believe I can be very good," said Iginla, who celebrated his birthday Tuesday by signing a three-year, $16 million deal with Colorado. "And this is a dynamic group. I think they work hard and theyre committed, and theyre just going to keep getting better and better." The Avs are coming off a season in which they tied a franchise record with 52 wins in Patrick Roys first year behind the bench and returned to the post-season for the first time since 2009-10. Among their top priorities in the off-season? Adding some grizzled veterans to the squad. First, the team picked up veteran forward Daniel Briere from Montreal for right wing P.A. Parenteau and a fifth-round pick in next years draft. Then, Colorado acquired defenceman Brad Stuart from the San Jose Sharks for a second-round pick in 2016 and a sixth-rounder in 2017. On Tuesday afternoon, shortly after losing fan favourite Paul Stastny in free agency — he signed a four-year, $28 million deal with division rival St. Louis — the Avs worked out a deal with Iginla. It wasnt a laborious task, especially given the friendship between Iginla and Avalanche Hall of Famer turned executive Joe Sakic. The two have been tight since their days with Team Canada and when Sakic made his pitch, Iginla intently listened. Then again, one of Iginlas kids is named Joe at least in part because of Sakic. "(Sakic) is a winner so it definitely had something to do with this," Iginla said. Iginla has played in 1,310 regular season games with Calgary, Pittsburgh and Boston. He had 30 goals in 78 games for the Bruins last season. "Jaromes track record speaks for itself," Sakic said. "He is one of the top goal scorers of all time, as well as a great leader. His additiion will bolster our offence. Mike Adams Jerseys. " As for being the elder statesman of the team, Iginla just laughed. "I feel good," said Iginla, whos earned two Olympic gold medals with Canada. "As far as my game dropping off, I dont think it will. ... I dont come here expecting to do less." He joins a team that captured a surprise Central Division crown. The turnaround of the Avalanche led to quite a few post-season awards, too, with Roy taking home coach of the year, MacKinnon being named the top rookie and Ryan OReilly capturing the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy for gentlemanly play. Semyon Varlamov also was a finalist for outstanding goaltender, which went to Tuukka Rask of Boston. Sakic was hoping to return the nucleus for another run, but wasnt about to break the bank to make that happen. Sakic said two weeks ago the team had a salary structure in place, setting the financial bar in deals with Varlamov, Matt Duchene and captain Gabriel Landeskog. These days, Sakic is attempting to work out a long-term deal with OReilly, a restricted free agent who led the team with a career-high 28 goals in 2013-14. In the meantime, Sakic orchestrated a deal to add the 34-year-old Stuart in order to bring more tenacity to the Avalanches blue line. He was third on the Sharks in blocked shots (114) and hits (122) last season. Stuart may be called upon to mentor defenceman Nick Holden, who signed a three-year extension that runs through the 2017-18 season. Briere is another scorer who could help offset the loss of Stastny. Iginla likes the additions of Stuart and Briere. "Its kind of neat to join a new team, but also having other guys in the same boat and get to come in together," Iginla said. "Thats pretty cool." One of the enduring images in Avalanche history is Sakic passing the Stanley Cup over to Ray Bourque for him to hoist after their win in 2001. See Landeskog doing the same for Iginla one day? "Thats a hope," Iginla said. "These guys, theyre driven. I think there are lots of good things already happening." ___ AP Hockey Writer Larry Lage contributed. ' ' '
