"I'm going on a fast," the Hall of Famer said during TNT's telecast. "I'm not going to eat again until the Lakers win a game. I'm telling you — I'm not going to eat another meal until the Lakers win a game."
Since we'd certainly never dream of insinuating that Barkley would ever say something on television with the intention of forgetting it as soon as the cameras stopped rolling, we'll take it on faith that Chuck carried on with his promise to have nothing more than water and vodka — quoth the nutritionist: "Got to have my carbs, my protein" — throughout the weekend. After Sunday night's matchup with the visiting Charlotte Hornets, though, Charles' long nosh-ional nightmare has come to an end.
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The Lakers beat the Hornets, 107-92, behind strong performances from the backcourt of Kobe Bryant (21 points, six rebounds, four assists) and Jeremy Lin (21 points, seven assists, three rebounds) and solid contributions up and down the roster. Carlos Boozer and Jordan Hill outdueled the Al Jefferson-led Hornets' frontline, combining for 28 points and 11 rebounds (and Hill posting a surprising career-high seven assists). Reserve guard Ronnie Price was a sparkplug playmaker off the punch, chipping in seven points, eight assists, three steals and two rebounds in just 17 1/2 minutes.
And Ed Davis ... well, he was fine during the game, scoring 10 points on 5-for-5 shooting to go with five rebounds in 22 minutes. His most notable addition, however, came after the final buzzer sounded on the Lakers' first victory of the season:
That's the second-most forceful delivery Davis made on Sunday. Just ask Jason Maxiell:
Lin followed in Davis' footsteps about an hour later:
A hashtag so pointed deserves a well-past-its-expiration-date Charlie Sheen-inspired pun sign:
The joke-celebratory post-game tweeting ran contrary to the vibe in the Lakers' locker room, according to head coach Byron Scott.
"They were all pretty quiet," Scott said after the game, according to Beth Harris of The Associated Press. "What I said was, 'OK, that's one.' [...] Mentally, it gives us the vision that we can win."
Especially when they defend, as they did in the third quarter, helping hold the Hornets to just 13 points on 5-for-18 shooting in the frame. Add that to L.A.'s own hot post-halftime shooting — Boozer and Lin combined for 22 points on 10 attempts as the Lakers shot 66.7 percent in the third — and you've got the recipe for a mid-quarter 16-1 run that turned the game around and pointed Scott's club toward a long-awaited first notch in the win column.
The Lakers were coming off four days of rest and practice, while the Hornets had played a double-overtime thriller on Friday before traveling across the country for their fourth game in six nights. Charlotte's top offseason acquisition, shooting guard Lance Stephenson, is still struggling to find his place in the Hornets' offense; after a six-point performance on 3-for-12 shooting against L.A., the former Indiana Pacers igniter is shooting just 30.6 percent from the field this season. And while Clifford's defense is still the Hornets' calling card — they rank 10th in the league in points allowed per possession through seven games after finishing sixth last season — Charlotte got cut to bits after intermission by a Lakers squad that entered Sunday's play ranked 16th among 30 NBA teams in offensive efficiency.
“The biggest thing we’ve got to learn is when the ball doesn’t go through the basket, we have to keep guarding. In order to win on the road, regardless of how we’re shooting, we’ve got to keep guarding,” Clifford said after the game, according to Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer. "[...] If you look at our body language, when we started missing, we stopped defending and rebounding."
The Lakers, for their part, just kept on coming, determined not to let their best chance at a first win slip away, and eager to send the Staples Center faithful home happy.
"The fans, they pay good money for these tickets. They don't want to keep coming to these games and see us lose," Davis said after the game, according to Helene Elliott of the Los Angeles Times. "We got them the first one of the season and we're going to go from there."
And while Davis and the Lakers still hunger for more, Sir Charles can finally break his fast. A win-win all around.
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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at devine@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!
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