Charlotte Bobcats @ Bucks, 2/20/10
A night after a rousing victory over the Cavaliers, the Bobcats fell on the road to the Milwaukee Bucks 93-88 on Saturday. AP recap here, box score here. The Cats have fallen back to .500 at 27-27.
Like they frequently do on the road, the Cats came out flat, falling behind by 10 early and 15 by half. Behind a balanced attack of Brandon Jennings, Andrew Bogut and John Salmons, the Bucks eventually extended their lead to 20 early in the third quarter. Raymond Felton and DJ Augustin both had trouble keeping the lightning-fast Jennings in front of them, while failing to make Jennings play much defense by shooting a combined 3-16 FG.
Midway through the third quarter the Bobcats began chipping away behind Stephen Jackson, who would finish with a game-high 35 points on 14-25 FG. Tyrus Thomas was again a force inside, finishing with 11 rebounds and 4 blocks.
The Cats would eventually cut the Bucks lead down to three at 86-83 with 2:20 left on a Jackson layup, but couldn’t get any closer. After a Carlos Delfino free throw increased the Bucks lead to four, Steven Jackson committed a completely unforced turnover to end the Cats comeback bid. Jackson simply lost his dribble, giving John Salmons the easiest steal he’s ever had. Worse yet, Jack grabbed Salmons for a clear path foul, which really ended things.
Bric-A-Brac
- This was a particularly bad night for the Bobcats not to show up on the road. The race for the 6-8th playoff spots in the East is between the Bulls, Heat, Bobcats and Bucks. After the loss, the Bobcats are clinging to the 8th spot, just one game ahead of the Bucks.
- Additionally, with the loss, the Cats lost the chance to hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Bucks. The Bucks now lead the season series 2-1 with one game (April 4th) to go.
- Nazr looks really limited by his back. We really could have used his low-post scoring to weather the cold start. Maybe he can get his hands on some medicinal marijuana out in LA to loosen it up.
- Next game is Monday night against the Clippers, 10:30 PM ET start.
Why does Gerald Henderson not play? Does he suck that bad? If so why did the Cats pick him. Just seems like a waste. Are they developing him in some lab Ivan Drago style and they will turn him loose on the NBA. 2010-2011 "Hendu" will be balling like it's his own personal And1 mixtape. I don't know. Maybe Kendall Gill can spend some 1 on 1 time with the young fella. Wherever Robert "Chief" Parrish is, I hope he is doing well.
Bonnell is reporting that Tyson Chandler may be out for the entire West Coast trip. So thank Jah that the team picked up Ratliff — who looks like he can still give you 10-12 solid minutes a game.
Not a very encouraging quote from Stephen Jackson post-game:
“I was exhausted from fatigue” – averaging 40+ minutes per game will do that to you. Hopefully Henderson or Stephen Graham can step it up enough for LB to give JAX some rest.
Isn’t it time to crown Andrew Bogut a potential All-Star? If he played in New York, he’d be every bit as hyped as David Lee or Brook Lopez but given that he’s an Australian-born Croat playing in the middle of nowhere USA, we all seem to overlook him. Solid pickup by the Bucks a few years back.
Actually Ross, they are training Gerald Henderson Rocky IV style. He's been spending time in a cabin in Siberia chopping wood, running up snow covered mountains, and lifting horse carriages with 3 or 4 people inside. No laboratory training like Ivan Drago here. All back to basics style.
Don’t forget the upside down crunches in a freezing Soviet barn. Rocky wouldn’t be where he is today without upside down crunches in a freezing cold Soviet barn, set to classic 80’s style workout montage rock. TAKE NOTES, GERALD!
Err, not you, Mr. Wallace, sir…
Dr. E: Cavs comments—>