Bobcats Run Past Nuggets 119-116

Better climb on board while there still is room, because the Charlotte Bobcats bandwagon is starting to fill up quickly. In the last week the team from North Carolina has started to show that they are maturing rapidly. Last Tuesday and Wednesday the Bobcats beat the New Jersey Nets and the Boston Celtics in back to back games. They lost a heart-breaker, a double overtime loss to Cleveland, and then without either Raymond Felton or Jeff McInnis, their only 2 point guards playing, took the Detroit Pistons to overtime before losing 103-100. Monday with their lineup back intact they hosted the high flying Denver Nuggets, and beat them 119-116.

You look at the Charlotte Bobcats record of 14-23 and you say to yourself same old Bobcats. You won’t say that if you watch them playing. With Sam Vincent as the rookie head coach taking over from Bernie Bickerstaff who is now in the front office this team has been playing with an intensity not seen in previous editions. The addition of Jason Richardson from Golden State could only have helped as he has that taste of the NBA Playoffs still fresh in his mouth from last season. Gerald Wallace has taken his game up to another level, as he has been the leading scorer on this team the last 3 games, Monday he scored a game high 40 points.

Charlotte who usually gives up the first quarter to their opponent were the aggressors Monday night, ending the first period up 34-25. Denver went on a surge though in the second quarter leading at the half 68-67. The Nuggets widened their lead in the third, as they had a 3 point lead 99-96 going into the final quarter. Charlotte had a five point lead at 117-112 reduced to just 1 point, as the Nuggets got 2 consecutive baskets. But Matt Carroll hit 2 clutch shots at the line making it 119-116 with a little over 4 seconds left in the game. Denver got the inbounds pass to Linas Kleiza, who seemed lost in the moment, and he passed off too late to J.R. Smith ending the game

Wallace shot 13-24 from the floor, 4-8 from outside the arc, 10-15 from the line for his game high 40 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 blocks, 2 steals. Emeka Okafor recorded a double-double, 19 points, 13 boards, 3 blocks, 2 assists, 1 steal, Carroll also scored 19 points coming off the bench, 3 rebounds, 1 assist. Richardson had 15 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, Nazr Mohammed came off the bench scoring 10 points, rebounds. Felton back in the lineup had only 7 points, but a game high 15 assists, 3 rebounds, 1 steal.

Denver was led by Carmelo Anthony who scored 35 points, 7 boards, 1 assist, 1 block, 1 steal, Allen Iverson scored 23 points, 6 assists, 2 rebounds, 1 steal. Marcus Camby joined the 20-20 club, 20 points, an amazing 23 rebounds, 6 blocks, 6 assists, Kenyon Martin scored 12 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, Smith scored 12 off the bench, 4 rebounds, 1 steal. Charlotte is now 14-23, Denver 22-14.