The Charlotte Bobcats finally found a way to end their longest road losing streak of the season. They've never had an answer for how to win at Golden State.
The Bobcats look to beat the Warriors on the road for the first time in their history when the teams conclude their season series Friday night.
Charlotte (23-35) hadn't won on the road in nearly a month before beating Sacramento 98-91 on Wednesday night. The Bobcats had lost seven straight away from Time Warner Cable Arena since a 117-110 win in double overtime over the Los Angeles Lakers on Jan. 27.
Friday's contest will be the fourth stop on a five-game trip for Charlotte, which has averaged a league-worst 91.6 points en route to a 7-20 road record.
The Bobcats are 0-4 all-time on the road against the Warriors (30-37) and defense has been the biggest reason for it, as they've allowed 116.0 points a contest at Oracle Arena. Charlotte has been particularly bad in the last two games there, giving up 258 points.
Golden State has one of the NBA's worst records, but it's been respectable at home. The Warriors have won five of their last six at Oracle and are 15-13 there on the season.
Charlotte will need to continue its strong defensive play if it wants to finally win at Golden State. The Bobcats have held seven of their last nine opponents to less than 100 points after allowing an average of 105.7 in their previous three games, although they couldn't stop Golden State's Jamal Crawford in the teams' first meeting this season.
Crawford had 50 points in the Warriors' 110-103 win over the Bobcats on Dec. 20, going 14-for-26 from the field and 5-for-8 from 3-point range. He was two points shy of matching his career high and became the first Golden State player to reach 50 points since Antawn Jamison did it in consecutive contests in the 2000-01 season.
The Bobcats have also been better offensively the last two contests, totaling 200 points after being held to 80 or fewer in each of their previous two games.
Gerald Wallace scored 27 points and Boris Diaw added 23 against the Kings.
Rookie guard D.J. Augustin snapped a cold shooting stretch by going 4-for-4 from 3-point range and finishing with 12 points. The ninth overall pick in last year's draft, Augustin averaged 5.0 points and shot 21.7 percent (5-for-23) in his previous four games.
Augustin, averaging 12.1 points, was held to six in the last matchup with Golden State, which shot 55.6 percent (10-for-18) from beyond the arc in that contest.
The Warriors, though, went 6-for-21 (28.6 percent) from long range in a 118-105 loss to the lowly Los Angeles Clippers on Monday night.
Golden State has dropped two of three after winning its previous three.
"Results have been difficult, but I'm just trying to stay positive," said Warriors swingman Stephen Jackson, averaging a team-high 20.8 points. "It's very frustrating but I can't wear my emotions on my sleeve."
A bright spot for Golden State was the return of Andris Biedrins, who missed five straight games with an ankle injury. The veteran big man, averaging 12.8 points, had four in 16 minutes versus the Clippers.
"It was good, still a little weak," Biedrins said. "I need to work on building strength. I didn't want to rush it."
Copyright 2008 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited

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