By Leonard Laye
bobcats.com
April 4, 2008
Boxscore | Play-By-Play | Highlights | Recaps

The road hasn’t always been kind to the Charlotte Bobcats. Until recently, anyway.
That changed abruptly last week when the Bobcats flew across country for a four-game, five-day stay. They won three in a row to wrap up that trip then, after a two-game stop at home, continued to flex their travel muscles Friday night, defeating the Toronto Raptors 105-100 for their fourth consecutive victory in an enemy arena.
With guard Jason Richardson providing the early spark, the Bobcats seized control of the game in the early stages, built double-figure leads and then weathered a major Toronto rally to record their 29th win of the season.
Richardson, on a hot streak that has continued through most of the season’s second half, finished with a game-high 27 points. He had plenty of help and, as it turned out, the Bobcats needed all of it.
“We had a tough time tonight,” said Charlotte Head Coach Sam Vincent. “But we had some guys step up and make some big shots.
“I thought we had some guys come off the bench and just give us a big lift. So, collectively, it was a big win for us.”
Despite Charlotte’s quick start, created in large part by Richardson’s 18 first-half points, the Raptors came out aggressively in the third quarter and caught fire, initiating a 23-7 run that gave them their first lead of the game. Toronto extended the margin to eight, 73-65, with just over three minutes to play in the period.
Compounding the night for the Bobcats at that stage was the loss of second-leading scorer Gerald Wallace, who suffered a strained left groin in the second quarter and was lost to the team for the entire second half.
But Charlotte persisted, regaining momentum late in the third quarter, reclaiming the lead and finally asserting themselves in the closing minutes with timely free throws and a handful of decisive plays.
The Bobcats followed Toronto’s 23-7 outburst with a 20-5 surge of their own. They outscored the Raptors 11-2 to open the fourth quarter and, when Earl Boykins fed Raymond Felton on the right wing for back-to-back three-pointers, they were back on top by seven.
Toronto kept it close the rest of the way and, as the game turned into the final minute, was within a point at 98-97. But Boykins contributed a steal, fast-break layup and free throw and Felton and Emeka Okafor hit two free throws apiece in the closing 41 seconds to resolve the issue.
“Earl got a nice steal on T.J. (Ford),” Vincent said. “That obviously had a big impact on the finish…There were several other things that happened in the course of the last couple minutes, I thought, that kind of created some good momentum for us and gave us a chance to win.”

The fast start was significant. The Bobcats jumped ahead by six in the opening minutes with Richardson spicing the getaway with a series of 3-pointers. They led 27-22 after one period, then pushed the lead to 10 points on several occasions in the second quarter before going out at halftime ahead by five, 51-46.
Their shooting was on the mark all evening. They hit 47.0 percent for the game (including 40.0 percent on 8-of-20 marksmanship from 3-point range) and made 76.0 percent of their free throws.
After getting hurt on the boards in a Monday night home loss to Toronto, they led the rebounding on Friday, 45-43.
The Bobcats had balance in their scoring with five players in double figures (joining Richardson were Felton with 21, Okafor with 15, Nazr Mohammed with 11 and Jared Dudley with 10).

After going ahead by nine, 55-46, in the first minutes of the third quarter, Charlotte’s offense ran dry and its defense was temporarily ineffective. That combination, and some aggressive if inconsistent play by the Raptors on the offensive end, enabled Toronto to come from behind.
Overall, it wasn’t that much of a problem – the Bobcats limited the Raptors to 45.6 percent shooting for the game and cooled Toronto’s 3-point shooters to 4-of-17 accuracy.
Raptors big men Bosh and Rasho Nesterovic hurt Charlotte inside, striking for 23 points apiece. But Bosh’s total was nine points below his output in Monday’s game in Charlotte, and he managed only three points in the fourth quarter.

Richardson continued to dominate the statistics and make the biggest single impact on the statistics. But his game was not built solely on scoring.
He did shoot well, making 10 of 18 field goals overall and four of seven three-point attempts. But he added seven rebounds, six assists and two steals while playing 44 of the game’s 48 minutes.
“I’m just being aggressive,” Richardson said. “I have been doing that the last few games, trying to go out there and assert myself on the offensive end and keep my team in the game.”
Richardson made note of the play of Felton and Boykins down the stretch.
“Those guys just took the game over,” he said. “…In the fourth quarter we got ourselves up and got a team win.”

With Richardson having the big game, Felton's performance might have gone a bit unnoticed, but fantasy players felt its impact.
Felton finished with 21 points, including three of five from beyond the arc and a perfect four of four from the charity stripe. He also dished out seven assists and hauled down six rebounds.

Okafor produced a double-double and was effective in a variety of ways.
His line for the night: 15 points, five-of-six shooting, 13 rebounds, two steals and two blocked shots.

“When we get a collective team effort, offensively and defensively, then we’re usually a pretty decent team,” Vincent said.

BOBCATS: Sean May (right knee surgery), Adam Morrison (torn left ACL), Othella Harrington (left knee discomfort)
RAPTORS: Jorge Garbajosa (left ankle)

Saturday, April 5 - Bobcats vs. Boston Celtics - 7:00 p.m.
TV - News 14; Radio - WOLS OLDIES 106.1 FM
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Matt Rochinski of bobcats.com contributed to this breakdown.