Bobcats top Magic for sixth straight win
March 15, 2010
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP)—Stephen Jackson(notes) scored 28 points, Raymond Felton(notes) had 16 andthe Charlotte Bobcats held on for their sixth straight victory, 96-89 over theOrlando Magic on Sunday night.
Stephen Graham(notes) added 12 points to help the Bobcats pull away with a late12-3 run for their first win in four chances this season against the SoutheastDivision leader. And they did it without All-Star Gerald Wallace(notes), out with aninjured left ankle.
Dwight Howard(notes) had 27 points and 16 rebounds, and Vince Carter(notes) finished with23 points for the Magic, who had their eight-game winning streak snapped.Mickael Pietrus(notes) added 20 points in place of injured starter Matt Barnes(notes),sidelined with a sprained left big toe.
But this one belonged to the Bobcats.
The up-and-down Bobcats have now beaten Cleveland, Orlando and the Lakersthis season and are jostling for playoff position in the Eastern Conference. Yetthey’ve lost twice to a New Jersey team that’s challenging for the worst recordin NBA history.
This Bobcats’ win would be just as rocky.
They had a shot-clock violation, an inbounds-pass violation and severalpasses that went awry in the opening half. Couple that with some spotty defensein the paint, and Howard had the Magic ahead by six points early.
Charlotte came back and went ahead 24-19 after Howard got in foul trouble.The Bobcats cleaned up some of those mistakes and held on to a slim lead headinginto the fourth quarter.
Jason Williams’(notes) 3-pointer brought the Magic within 72-71 to start the finalperiod. That did little to rattle Charlotte or ignite an Orlando team that wassluggish a night after winning in Washington.
The Bobcats battled with Howard inside, frustrating the Magic center. He wascalled for an offensive foul for extending his arm into Tyson Chandler(notes). Andafter throwing the ball to the corner and arguing with officials, Howard waswhistled for his 14th technical foul of the season.
That was all part of a 12-3 run for the Bobcats that pushed them ahead 84-74about halfway through the fourth. The Magic trimmed the lead to 84-81 on a3-pointer by Pietrus with 4:13 remaining, but Charlotte’s relentless defensivepressure kept it in front.
NOTES: Orlando would have tied a franchise record with nine straight wins,done in 1994 and 2001. … Magic coach Stan Van Gundy wasn’t exactly thrilledwith the early 6 p.m. start Sunday, especially not with losing an hour of sleepwith Daylight Savings. “When you’re in Washington the night before and you’resetting the clocks an hour forward, I’m not sure that’s the thing to do,” VanGundy said. … Yankees ace CC Sabathia still managed to arrive for the secondhalf after pitching four innings and giving up five runs in a 10-5 loss to thePirates in Bradenton earlier Sunday.