Recap: Cats Downed in Motown

TURNING POINTS
The Bobcats started off hot from the field and trailed just 24-23 heading into the second quarter but lost rookie center Bismack Biyombo to a shoulder strain that kept him out the remainder of the contest. With Biyombo out, the Pistons took control inside in the second frame and outscored the Bobcats by 14 points to take a 58-43 lead into intermission.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
As been the case this year, the Bobcats struggled on the defensive glass. The loss of Biyombo did not help this situation as Detroit outrebounded the Bobcats 55-37, led by a career-high 20 from Greg Monroe… Charlotte was outscored 50-36 in the paint and gave up 23 second-chance points to the Pistons… The Bobcats shot 36 of 82 (43.9 percent), while the Pistons were 42 of 84 (50.0 percent)…. The Bobcats did handle the ball well, as they had 24 assists compared to only 11 turnovers... Neither team shot the ball well from the 3-point line, as the Bobcats were 3 of 9 (33.3 percent) compared to the Pistons 1 of 10 (10.0 percent).

BOBCATS PLAYERS OF THE GAME
D.J. Augustin made his presence felt with 10 assists to go with eight points, and more importantly, only two turnovers. On the season, Augustin is averaging 11.5 assists and 7.5 points in two games against Detroit.

BOBCATS TOP RESERVE
DJ White came in and gave the Bobcats a nice boost from the bench. He finished with 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting to go along with four rebounds.

PISTONS PLAYER OF THE GAME
Greg Monroe was able to control the paint and make things tough for the Bobcats. Monroe finished the game with 20 rebounds and 10 points.

INSIDE THE LOCKER ROOM
"When we lost Bismack Biyombo, he was the one that was playing tough and rebounding for us and blocking shots; all the things that we needed and when we lost him, it was tough to make that up."
- Bobcats Head coach Paul Silas on the effect of losing Biyombo to injury

"I felt fine. It’s just tough coming back and losing, but my body felt fine. I just want to get back and help the team as much as I can"
- Bobcats Guard Gerald Henderson on how he felt in his first game back from injury

GAME NOTES
For the first time all-season, the Bobcats had nobody out due to injury. Unfortunately, that did not last long as Biyombo only played nine minutes before leaving the game with a shoulder strain. He was unable to comeback and his status for Friday’s game is unknown… Gerald Henderson scored 13 points and had three rebounds in his first game since suffering a hamstring injury on February 1 in Portland.

NEXT UP
The Bobcats will wrap up this two-game road trip as they travel to San Antonio to take on Tony Parker and the San Antonio Spurs. Opening tipoff is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. on Friday at the AT&T Center. Catch all the action on SportSouth and listen to us on WFNZ. Also, don’t forget to join the chat at bobcats.com