By Malinda Murray
bobcats.com
March 25, 2008
Boxscore | Play-By-Play | Highlights | Recaps

Trailing by 20 points at the start of the fourth quarter and on the road against a tough Western Conference team who has been dominant on their homecourt all season long, the Bobcats could have easily thrown in the towel. But instead, they chose the opposite route and put together an impressive run to start the final period.
Playing with Earl Boykins, Matt Carroll, Jermareo Davidson, Ryan Hollins and Gerald Wallace on the floor, the Bobcats picked up their intensity, forcing the Jazz to miss shots. Charlotte used the momentum from their defense to go down to the other end attack the rim, get fouled and knock down free throws. In a span of 1:31 in the fourth quarter, the Bobcats connected on 10 straight free throws to cut what had once been a 20-point lead down to 13.
Boykins continued to help orchestrate the comeback hitting a three-pointer and then finding Wallace, first for a triple and then on an alley-oop dunk that trimmed the lead to single-digits. Four more points from Boykins and two free throws from Jason Richardson capped a 24-7 Bobcats run that pulled the Charlotte to within three, 101-98, with 6:15 remaining.
The Jazz had an answer though. On the next possession, Andrei Kirilenko hit a layup and was fouled. He missed the free throw, but Carlos Boozer grabbed the rebound to give Utah another opportunity. The Jazz took advantage as Kyle Korver knocked down a three-pointer to push the lead back to eight. Utah, behind nine points from Korver, outscored the Bobcats 27-8 to end the game and give Charlotte a 128-106 loss in the first game of a four-game Western Conference road swing.
“I thought the guys came back and closed it to a three point game and did just a heck of a job,” said Head Coach Sam Vincent. “They really pushed the ball out in transition, made some difficult plays and got some stops on defense. They really played well. We got it to a point where on a free throw we miss a block out, they get the ball and make a three and then it started going downhill the other way.”

The Bobcats were able to get back in the game because they got more aggressive going to the basket. This translated into trips to the free throw line, something that had been missing for Charlotte in the first three quarters. Through the first three quarters, the Bobcats were just 9-of-17 from the foul line. In the fourth quarter, Charlotte went a perfect 16-of-16 from the charity stripe.
Boykins played a large part in helping spark the Bobcats comeback. During their fourth quarter run, Boykins scored nine points and dished out three assists. He finished the night with 14 points and four assists.
“We just played hard,” said Hollins as he talked about the Bobcats run. “I think Earl Boykins did a great job of orchestrating that. We just fed off his energy on that comeback. The whole time he was just talking to us, letting us know where to go.”
In addition to Boykins, Wallace provided significant contributions during the fourth quarter, scoring nine of his 21 points in the final frame.

The Bobcats allowed the Jazz too many second opportunities. Utah grabbed 20 offensive rebounds compared to just seven by Charlotte.
“We couldn’t keep them off the boards,” said Vincent. “They had 20 offensive rebounds and I keep telling the guys that’s not athleticism and that’s not skill. That’s just commitment to hard work, boxing out and it doesn’t have anything to do with size, strength or anything. We gave this team too many second chance opportunities.”
Those second chance opportunities translated into easy buckets or trips to the foul line for the Jazz. Utah was able to build a 58-44 lead over Charlotte at halftime primarily due to free throws. Utah shot just 24 percent from the field in the second quarter, but went 17-of-18 from the free throw line in the frame.
Utah finished with seven players in double-figures including three that tallied double-doubles. Carlos Boozer led Utah with 28 points (10-17 FG) and 13 rebounds while Mehmet Okur added 20 points and 10 rebounds and Deron Williams finished with 14 points and 15 assists.

Jason Richardson again was big for the Bobcats. He led the team with 26 points on 8-of-16 shooting and added five rebounds and two steals. He helped keep the Bobcats in the game in the early going scoring 14 points in the first 5:45 of the game. Richardson also continues to rewrite the Bobcats record books for three-pointers made. Tonight he went 4-of-8 from three-point range and in the process recorded his 200th three-pointer of the season.

This honor could go to several different players tonight. For the Bobcats, Wallace and Richardson put up nice numbers while for the Jazz, Boozer, Okur and Williams all finished with stat lines that would make any fantasy owner happy.

There was a big difference between the two starting frontcourts in tonight’s game.
Charlotte’s starting frontcourt of Emeka Okafor and Nazr Mohammed combined for six points on 2-of-4 shooting and 2-of-6 from the free throw line and seven rebounds.
Utah’s starting frontcourt of Boozer and Okur combined for 48 points on 17-of-30 shooting and 12-of-14 from the free throw line and 23 rebounds.

“They’re a talented team, every team in this league is talented and any given night anything can happen,” said Jazz forward Carlos Boozer about the Bobcats.

BOBCATS: Sean May (right knee surgery), Adam Morrison (torn left ACL)
JAZZ: None

Wednesday, March 26 - Bobcats at Los Angeles Lakers - 10:30 p.m.
TV - News 14; Radio - WOLS OLDIES 106.1 FM