So was this one about the team that blew a 24-point lead or the team that survived blowing a 24-point lead?
You knew which way eternal optimist Raymond Felton would lean.
"We're learning how to finish games, no matter what,'' Charlotte Bobcats point guard Felton said of his team's 105-103 escape from the Sacramento Kings on Monday - the first time the Bobcats have been above .500 this late in the season. "That shows the maturity of our team.''
True enough: The Bobcats scored on their last four possessions, after the Kings had trimmed an 82-58 deficit to 91-90 with just under five minutes left. But there was still the bad smell emanating from the last four minutes of the third quarter and the first seven of the fourth.
As ever-candid Bobcat Stephen Jackson put it after Charlotte's fifth straight win: "This is the kind of game I don't like - a 2 o'clock (tip-off) against a team we should have respected but didn't.''
Certainly there was cause to respect Kings rookie point guard Tyreke Evans. He scored 26 of his game-high 34 points in the second half, seemingly turning every Bobcats miss into a drive to the rim. Evans has that rare combination of size (6 feet 6 inches tall), explosion and assertiveness that tatters any defense.
Particularly so once Bobcats forward Gerald Wallace left the game with 71/2 minutes remaining. Wallace was on the floor with a sprained left ankle, and though he returned to the game about two minutes later, he sounded concerned this injury could linger.
"I've rolled my ankles before, but this one hurts," Wallace said after a half-hour of post-game treatment. "Hopefully, it's just a short pain.''
Bobcats coach Larry Brown was reluctant to put Wallace (28 points) back in the game, but Wallace talked him into it.
"As long as the game is going, let me play,'' Wallace explained of the quick exam and tape job he got to return to the game.
Wallace and Felton (17 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds) held things together, but not without a real scare when Kings guard Beno Udrih's 3-pointer cut the deficit to one with 2.4 seconds left.
In one sense, this was a special day as the Bobcats climbed above .500. But their coach didn't like what he saw.
"They completely outplayed us, but we held on," Brown said. "I'm happy with the win but really disappointed in the way we played, particularly the second half.''
Posts
