The AP reports: Gerald Wallace scored 29 points, including the go-ahead bucket when he picked off Raymond Felton’s woefully short shot in the final minute, and the Bobcats beat the Sixers 101-98 on Tuesday night to snap a three-game losing streak. Wallace later added two free throws, while Felton finished with a career-high 32 points as the Bobcats recovered after blowing a 20-point lead to improve their faint playoff hopes… Andre Iguodala and Willie Green missed tying 3-pointers in the closing seconds. Andre Miller had 23 points and Louis Williams scored 20 for Philadelphia, which remained a half-game behind fifth-place Miami as it tries to avoid a first-round matchup with Boston or Orlando.
Category: Charlotte Hornets Blog
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Bynum 26 in 4th, Pistons beat Bobcats 104-97
The AP reports: Will Bynum scored a franchise-record 26 points in the fourth quarter to lead Detroit to a 104-97 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats on Sunday that put the Pistons a step closer to locking up the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Bynum scored the final 13 points for the Pistons and finished with a career-high 32 points, and also had seven assists. He made all six of his field-goal attempts and went 14-for-16 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter… Bynum picked up the scoring load for Richard Hamilton, who led Detroit with 13 points before he was ejected at the end of the third quarter when he picked up his second technical foul… D.J. Augustin led Charlotte with 22 points, including 14 in the fourth quarter. Raymond Felton added 18, while Boris Diaw and Emeka Okafor added 14 points each. Okafor pulled down 16 rebounds. Prince added 14 points for Detroit, while Kwame Brown and Antonio McDyess each grabbed nine rebounds.
Wade, Heat beat Bobcats 97-92 to reach playoffs
The AP reports: A year ago, the Miami Heat couldn’t wait to finish a horrendous, injury-plagued season. Now Dwyane Wade and his young teammates plan to be playing deep into the spring thanks to one of the biggest turnarounds in NBA history. As usual, Wade led the Heat’s latest milestone, scoring 27 points and dishing out 10 assists on Friday night as Miami clinched a playoff berth with a 97-92 comeback victory over the Charlotte Bobcats. A year after going 15-67, the Heat joined the 1968-69 San Diego Rockets—a team that included Heat president Pat Riley—as the second NBA team to reach the postseason after winning 15 or fewer games the year before. The Rockets also recovered from a 15-67 disaster.
Big Allen 3, Celtics beat Bobcats 111-109 in 2OT
The AP reports: Ray Allen’s last long-range shot, on a pass from Paul Pierce, lifted the Boston Celtics to a 111-109 win over the Charlotte Bobcats on Wednesday night and into second place in the Eastern Conference… Paul Pierce led Boston with 32 points, Allen added 22 and Rajon Rondo had 21 points and nine assists… Gerald Wallace had 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Bobcats, and Boris Diaw scored 17… Boston, with Kevin Garnett sidelined for the third straight game with a sore right knee, won for the seventh time in eight games. Charlotte’s winning streak ended at three.
Wallace, Bobcats beat Lakers, again, 94-84
The AP reports: Continuing perhaps the most unlikely dominance of one team over another in the NBA, the Bobcats got 21 points and 13 rebounds from Gerald Wallace and used stifling defense to beat the Lakers 94-84 on Tuesday night and move within one game of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Raymond Felton added 16 points, D.J. Augustin scored 14 and Boris Diaw had 12 assists as the Bobcats frustrated Kobe Bryant and completed a season sweep of the Western Conference leaders, who have lost six of seven to Charlotte over the past four seasons… Bryant scored 25 points, but hit just 11 of 28 shots. Lamar Odom added 20 points as the Lakers slipped to three games behind Cleveland for the NBA’s best record and home-court for a possible finals matchup.
Larry Brown says Adam Morrison couldn’t handle expectations
The Charlotte Observer (Rick Bonnell) reports (via blog): Bobcats coach Larry Brown made it clear Monday that Adam Morrison is no longer here because he didn’t want to be here, and couldn’t handle the pressure associated with being chosen third overall in the 2006 draft. “I was happy Adam got to leave because he was never comfortable here. You were hoping it would be a new lease on life for him. I still think it can be,” said Brown of the Feb. 7 trade that dealt Morrison to the Los Angeles Lakers. Brown said the other factors — the glut at shooting guard and small forward and Morrison’s recovery from a knee injury that cost him the previous season — were secondary to how expectations rattled Morrison.
Wallace dominates, Bobcats beat Knicks 96-85
The AP reports: Gerald Wallace nearly had his first triple-double, scoring 23 points with nine rebounds and eight assists in an efficient performance that helped the Bobcats match a modest franchise record for victories to stay 2 1/2 games out of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference… D.J. Augustin added 19 points and Emeka Okafor had 13 points and 14 rebounds for the Bobcats, who rode Wallace to their second straight win after ugly losses to Washington and Indiana… Wilson Chandler and Al Harrington scored 18 points apiece for the Knicks, who lost for the seventh time in eight games to see their faint playoff hopes nearly extinguished. The Knicks played without Quentin Richardson, who sprained his left ankle a night earlier and was replaced in the starting lineup by Larry Hughes. They also got little from center Eddy Curry in his return.
Diaw’s 24 points lead Charlotte past Philly
The AP reports: Desperate to remain in playoff contention, Boris Diaw and the Charlotte Bobcats came up big against the Philadelphia 76ers. Diaw scored 24 points and Ray Felton added 20 points for the Bobcats, who won 100-95 on Friday night and moved within 2 1/2 games of idle Detroit for the eighth playoff seed in the Eastern Conference. “We did a tremendous job in the first half,” Bobcats coach Larry Brown said. “The rebounding and shooting is what kept is in it. We did a great job on the boards. Winning on the road, against a quality team, is a real good win for us.” The Sixers, who have been outrebounded by 10 in four of the last 21 games, were led by Andre Iguodala with 25 points.
NBA rule change on too many players on court
The NBA Board of Governors voted to approve a playing rules change in regards to “too many players on the court”, which will take effect beginning Friday, March 27.
Under the playing rules change, when a “too many players on the court” violation is called, a technical foul will be assessed against the offending team and the non-offending team will have the option of either accepting or nullifying the game action that occurred during the violation.
Option 1 — Accept Game Action
The non-offending team can opt to ACCEPT all play that occurred during the violation, including any points scored, with no adjustment of the game clock.
Option 2 — Nullify Game Action
The non-offending team can opt to NULLIFY all play that occurred during the violation, other than any acts of unsportsmanlike conduct or flagrant fouls or any points scored from free throws as a result of such actions.
Under this option, following the technical foul, the game clock would be reset to the time when the ball was put into play with too many players on the court and, depending on how the ball was originally put into play, play would resume in accordance with the following:
1) If the original play commenced with a throw-in, then the ball would be returned to the original throw-in spot and play commenced with a throw-in.
2) If the original play commenced with a missed free-throw attempt where the ball remained in play, then play would be commenced with a jump ball held at center court between any two players who were on the floor at the time play was suspended due to the violation.
3) If the original play commenced with a jump ball, then play would be commenced with a jump ball held at the original jump-ball spot between the same two players who participated in the original jump ball.
Wizards win first Southeast game of season
The Washington Times (Mike Jones) reports: The Washington Wizards avoided making history Wednesday. The bad kind. With only a couple of opportunities left to avert becoming the first NBA team to go winless in its division, the Wizards overcame a shallow bench to pull off a 95-93 victory over the visiting Charlotte Bobcats. The victory was the first for the Wizards (17-56) in 15 games against Southeast Division opponents this season.