Charlotte
Philip Maymin
Basketball News Services
The Charlotte Bobcats beat the Houston Rockets on Saturday by one point in overtime on Saturday, using the 101-100win to record the young franchise's first-ever winning streak, now standing at two straight games. It was actually a four-point win but Tracy McGrady hit a three at the buzzer.
Emeka Okafor, playing against the team he used to root for before heading off to college, sent the game into overtime with a dunk over 7-2 Dikembe Mutombo with just three seconds left in regulation. Okafor found it much easier to dominate against the marginally shorter Mutombo than against the 7-5 Yao Ming.
"He is so tall," Okafor said. "You see him on TV, and you have no idea. "Then I got up against him and I was like `Dang!' I have no idea how to stop him." Yao had 16 points and 9 rebounds before fouling out. Mutombo went on to notch 11 points and 5 rebounds in 25 minutes.
But no one was close to stopping Okafor. The leading candidate for rookie of the year scored 23 points and grabbed 17 rebounds, including 7 offensive rebounds, which is one more than the entire Houston team got off of their offensive glass in total. He also handed out a couple assists, got a couple steals, and blocked a couple shots, all for good measure, and all the while playing 42 minutes. Plus he only had three fouls in the overtime game.
The two-year reigning NBA scoring champion Tracy McGrady summarized it best: "Emeka Okafor is a definite star in the making in this league."
NEXT GAME
The Bobcats (6-14, fourth in the Southeast) host the Nets (7-16, fifth in the Atlantic)
in what could be Vince Carter's first game for New Jersey, TOMORROW, Tuesday, December 21, at 7:00pm. The game will be broadcast on C-SET and NBA League Pass.
TEAM NOTES
Emeka Okafor now has twelve double-doubles in a row.
The Bobcats have opened a new Team Store at Southpark Mall, adjacent to The Bombay Company and off the Hecht’s entrance. The store, open through January 15, 2005, carries a comprehensive selection of team merchandise.
Primoz Brezec, Jason Kapono and Emeka Okafor represent the Bobcats on the 2005 NBA All-Star Ballot. This year’s All-Star festivities will be held in the Mile High City of Denver on Sunday, February 20.
INJURY UPDATE
Tamar Slay(foot),Bernard Robinson(knee), andJahidi White(shoulder) are all on the injured list.
Our own Ronnie Collins ofHoopsworld.comwrites: After the first quarter of the expansion season, the Charlotte Bobcats have given the Queen City fans more than a few tension filled endings; adopting similar, cardiac Cats methods to finishing games from the related Carolina Panthers of a season ago. Playing without an established superstar, the Bobcats have taken on the workman like personality of head coach Bernie Bickerstaff, resulting in ever improving cohesion.
Ohm Youngmisuk ofThe New York Daily Newswrites: Carter, who was the face of the Raptors franchise, fell out of favor with some fans and media here after missing 70 games over his previous three seasons with injuries. Some questioned his toughness and priorities. Carter is on the injured list with an Achilles injury. While he is eligible to be activated for tomorrow's game against the Bobcats, Carter said he could be out for a few more games.
Erik Spanberg ofThe Charlotte Business Journalwrites: Two months ago, the Charlotte Bobcats launched two expansion franchises: One plays basketball and the other provides 24-hour-a-day coverage as the Carolinas' first homegrown sports network.Industry analysts are beginning to speculate that the latter may be doing damage to the team's marketing and ticket sales.The network is broadcast on a channel seen in just 160,000 of Charlotte's 986,000 TV households. The Bobcats and C-SET say they're banking on the future -- and it's coming sooner than critics realize.
The Associated Press writes inTSN.ca: The Bobcats dubbed the game Holiday Hoopla and gave away more than $250,000 US in gifts to fans, including cash, airline tickets, a trip to the Bahamas and a Mercedes. . . Wallace took it a step further, giving Christmas gifts to an under-privileged 13-year-old after the game . . . Mutombo had three blocks in the first quarter, including one on Wallace that drew a hearty laugh from fans behind the Charlotte bench . . . Charlotte's Jason Kapono made a half-court shot at the end of the first quarter that was waved off . . . It was clear how popular McGrady and Yao are by the 100 or so fans lined up for autographs during warmups.