Bobcats Race By Grizzlies
By Malinda Murray
bobcats.com

January 19, 2008
Boxscore | Play-By-Play | Recaps

It was NASCAR Night at Charlotte Bobcats Arena on Saturday night and the Bobcats celebrated by taking the checkered flag with a 105-87 win over the Grizzlies.
The Bobcats didn’t get off the starting line as quickly as they would have liked, falling behind Memphis by five midway through the first quarter.
Two old-fashioned three point plays from Gerald Wallace sparked Charlotte and the Bobcats took their game into another gear, going on a 13-0 run to erase the deficit and take a 28-20 lead of their own.
A free throw by Raymond Felton extended the Bobcats lead to 11 at the 4:43 mark of the second quarter.
Charlotte let off the gas though a little as the first half came to an end. Memphis, behind eight points from Pau Gasol and Rudy Gay, used a 12-6 run to cut the Bobcats lead to five.
After halftime, the Bobcats put their foot on the accelerator and didn’t let up, opening the period with seven straight made field goals, capped by a layup from Jason Richardson, to push their lead to 13.
“We came in at halftime and talked about the fact that we could have been up by more points than we were,” said Bobcats Head Coach Sam Vincent. “I wasn’t overly concerned about it; I just mentioned that we needed to focus a little bit more and get a little bit more serious about the game. I thought our shot selection in the third quarter was much better. We took good shots and thought defensively we really got after it.”
With the Bobcats heading into the homestretch with a double-digit advantage, Memphis threw a small speed bump up in Charlotte’s path. The Grizzlies opened the final period with an 8-0 run to cut the Bobcats lead to just five.
A three-pointer by Wallace blocked the Grizzlies’ advances and Charlotte took the opportunity to speed away. Matt Carroll knocked down a three-pointer at the 3:07 mark, capping a 20-10 Bobcats run to extend their lead back to 15. The Bobcats didn’t even glance in their rearview mirrors as they crossed the finish line to record their fifth victory in their last eight games.
“(I like) the aggressive play that we have and the camaraderie amongst the team,” said Wallace. “Everybody is starting to understand their roles offensively and defensively. Our defense is a whole lot better, our offense is a whole lot better, we’re running up and down the court a lot more, we’re limiting transition points from the other teams, and we’re just being more aggressive.”

After suffering a tough loss in New Orleans last night, the Bobcats didn’t dwell on the past, but instead had their eyes solely focused on getting to victory lane tonight.
Overall it was a great all-around performance for Charlotte. The Bobcats finished the game shooting a high percentage from both the field and the foul line. They took care of the ball, committing just 12 turnovers. The Bobcats also played tough defense holding Memphis to just 40.0 percent shooting in the game.
“I’m happy to see that we are continuing to improve,” said Vincent. “We shot 80 percent from the free throw line. We had 12 turnovers for the game. Our field goal percentage went up, we shot 50 percent. I thought we had some real nice stretches where we played well defensively. Whenever we make a step in the positive direction, it is always good for the team.”

Besides the Grizzlies small rally to start the fourth quarter, there was very little that went wrong for the Bobcats tonight.
There was one play though that had everybody talking following the game. Late in the fourth quarter with the Bobcats holding a sizeable advantage, Richardson attempted to throw an alley-oop to Wallace. The pass was so high, that there was no way that even an incredible jumper like Wallace could rein it in. The play had the entire Bobcats bench in laughter.
“That was funny. When J-Rich (Jason Richardson) threw that pass, that was one of the most hilarious things,” said Felton. “It’s supposed to be serious, but you couldn’t help but laugh.”

Jason Richardson and Gerald Wallace were the drivers behind tonight’s win. The high-octane duo seem to have found a comfort level that has fueled the Bobcats recent success.
Tonight the two combined for 66 of Charlotte’s 105 points. Richardson poured in a season-high 38 points and tied a career-high with 14 rebounds. He also added four assists and three blocked shots. Wallace also had impressive numbers, tallying 28 points, seven rebounds, six assists and a season-high seven steals.
“Jason (Richardson) and Gerald (Wallace) feed off of each other and either one of them can have a 40-point night,” said Vincent. “I think they’ve got it to the point where they are comfortable in their co-existence. They know they are both scorers and they both are going to get shots. I think our nucleus is starting to feel comfortable around them as well.”

Richardson filled up the stat sheet posting his first double-double of the season. The 6-6 forward has been a putting up great numbers recently averaging 25.9 points on 48.0 percent shooting in the last 16 games.

Charlotte was on fire from field in the third quarter. The Bobcats set a franchise-high shooting 81.0 percent from the field (17-21) during that frame.

““It shows a lot about this team,” said Richardson as he talked about the win. “We’re playing great basketball right now. We had a tough loss yesterday. We didn’t play our A-game, but we forgot about it, had a quick turnaround and came out and got a win tonight.”

BOBCATS: Othella Harrington (left knee discomfort), Sean May (right knee surgery), Adam Morrison (torn left ACL)
GRIZZLIES: Mike Miller (back spasms)

Monday, January 21 - Bobcats vs. San Antonio Spurs - 1:00 p.m.
TV - News 14, Radio - Mix 106.1 FM
Postgame concert featuring Sounds of Blackness
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