Charlotte Bobcats Rally but Come Up Short Against New York Knicks

THE RESULT
The Charlotte Bobcats (2-7) played a tight game but lost, 87-91, to the New York Knicks (5-4) on January 9 at Madison Square Garden.

TURNING POINTS
The Bobcats opened up the game with a 10-0 run as both teams were moving up and down the floor in the first half, particularly in the second quarter, to take a 45-50 score into the half. Boris Diaw started off with a hot hand in the first, scoring 12 points to go with five rebounds and three assists.

For New York, Amar’e Stoudemire got off to a great start (15 points, eight rebounds) as did Iman Shumpert (12 points, five rebounds, three assists). The Bobcats kept it close in the second half as the game came down to the final minutes.

D.J. Augustin hit a fading three pointer from the right corner to close the gap to one point with 10 seconds left. The ‘Cats fouled on the ensuing possession and Carmelo Anthony hit both free throws for a three point lead, but Augustin missed the last second attempt to tie the game from the left wing.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
The Bobcats shot 41.5 percent (34 of 82) from the field while the Knicks shot 38.0 percent (30 of 79) from the field. There was a difference at the three point line as Charlotte shot 7-of-19 from behind the arc while the Knicks shot just 1-of-10.

There was a big disparity at the free throw stripe as well, with the Bobcats hitting 12-of-15 while the Knicks knocked down 30-of-40.  There was also a gap in the bench scoring as Charlotte scored 35 points off the pine to New York’s three.

BOBCATS PLAYER OF THE GAME

Diaw had another good game in the Big Apple with 19 points (8 of 12 shooting), 10 rebounds and seven assists to lead the Bobcats.

BOBCATS TOP RESERVE

D.J. White played strong off the bench for Charlotte with 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting and seven rebounds.

KNICKS PLAYER OF THE GAME

Amar’e Stoudemire led New York with 25 points (7 of 25 shooting), 15 rebounds and two blocks for his second straight 25-point game against the Bobcats.

INSIDE THE LOCKER ROOM
"We didn’t just give up the boards, they were penetrating on us and we stayed with them and we blocked shots.  We’ve got to learn.  It does take time but I really like the effort tonight and if we continue to play like that we’ll win our share.  We hit big threes on the last play of the game.  We got a wide open three from our best three-point shooter so I cant fault us at all with the effort we showed.  Its just like I said, there were a few plays that we didn’t execute defensively and that’s what did it for us."
-Bobcats Head Coach Paul Silas

GAME NOTES
Gerald Henderson (14 points, four rebounds, three assists) and Augustin (12 points, eight rebounds, four assists) played well for the Bobcats and Kemba Walker came off the bench for the Bobcats to chip in 10 points and three assists.

Corey Maggette missed his third straight game with a strained left hamstring and will miss 2-4 weeks, while Reggie Williams and Eddie Najera were listed on the injury report as they recover from their respective knee surgeries.

NEXT UP
The Bobcats return home to Time Warner Cable Arena® on Tuesday to play the Houston Rockets at 6 p.m.  

David is currently a writer for bobcats.com and his writing at Bleacher Report has been featured on other news outlets such as the sports pages of the LA Times.  If you would like to contact him to talk sports, offer an article suggestion, or anything else, don't hesitate to email him at [e-mail] or follow him on Twitter @original_DWade.