Trail Blazers-Bobcats Preview

By JORDAN GARRETSON
Posted Dec 02 2012 6:39PM

The Charlotte Bobcats appear to have significantly improved from last season but need to fortify their defense to right their current slump.

In their fourth attempt to surpass their win total from all of last season, the Bobcats look to avenge the worst loss in franchise history as they host the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday night.

Charlotte (7-8) had won six of eight before dropping its last three games, including a 104-98 home loss to Philadelphia on Friday.

Still, the Bobcats' next victory will give them one more than they had in 2011-12, when they posted the worst winning percentage in NBA history. They finished 7-59 while being outscored by an average of 13.9 points per game.

This season, with a starting lineup that includes four players age 23 or younger, Charlotte is averaging 94.9 points to opponents' 100.5.

"I see the improvement within the losing," said first-year coach Mike Dunlap, whose Bobcats trailed by as many as 10 in the third quarter Friday but tied the game early in the fourth.

"Maybe some don't and maybe they want to rush us. I'd certainly like to win a game like tonight, but I thought we did a marvelous job of coming back into this game. But this is a playoff team we played, so I think we ultimately have to raise our eye and understand where we're at on the continuum of improvement."

Charlotte's offense wasn't the problem after being held to a combined 34.2 percent from the field in the previous two losses. The Bobcats shot 47.0 percent, including 8 of 17 from 3-point range, with Ben Gordon scoring 19 and rookie Jeffery Taylor a season-high 16.

But they allowed the 76ers to shoot 51.2 percent, the third time in five games Charlotte's opponent made more than half of its shots. The Bobcats have given up more than 100 points in four of five games after going six straight without doing so.

"Anytime we trade baskets with a good team, a quality team, like that, you know it's going to bite you," said Gordon, 15 of 24 from 3-point range over the past four games.

"... We've just got to clean up our defensive intensity."

They certainly lacked intensity the last time they faced Portland. In the teams' only meeting last season, Charlotte was handed the largest margin of defeat in team history with a 112-68 loss in Portland on Feb. 1. All of the Blazers' starters sat out the fourth quarter.

They rolled to that win playing without an injured Nicolas Batum, who helped Portland (7-10) end a four-game losing streak in dramatic fashion Saturday.

Batum hit a 3-pointer with 0.2 seconds remaining in double overtime for a 118-117 victory over Cleveland. The game appeared to end on Batum's buzzer-beater in the first overtime, but a video review showed that the shot came after time expired.

"After the one in the first overtime was too late, I had to make sure this one counted," said Batum, who scored 22 on 7-of-15 shooting. He shot 10 for 35 over the previous three games.

Rookie Damian Lillard had a team-best 24 points and a season-high 11 assists for the Blazers, whose 1-4 record on a seven-game road trip includes a defeat to previously winless Washington.

"Breaking the losing streak was really important, because losing can take its toll mentally, and I liked the way we played all night," coach Terry Stotts said.

The Blazers have won five of six in this series, holding Charlotte to 76.8 points per game.

Blazers storm back to beat Bobcats 118-112 in OT

By STEVE REED
Posted Dec 03 2012 11:17PM

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) After playing six games in eight days on the East coast, you might think the travel weary Portland Trail Blazers might be ready to run out of steam.

Hardly.

LaMarcus Aldridge had 25 points and 13 rebounds, Luke Babbitt hit a pair of clutch 3-pointers and Portland overcame an 18-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat the Charlotte Bobcats 118-112 in overtime Monday night.

The Blazers trailed 97-79 with 5:17 left in regulation, but stormed back to tie the score and sent it into overtime on Babbitt's 3 with 22 seconds left.

"We showed a lot of heart and determination," Aldridge said.

To win their second straight game the Blazers had to find a way to stop Ben Gordon, who set a Bobcats' franchise record with eight 3-pointers and finished with 29 points to eclipse 10,000 for his career.

Damian Lillard scored 24 points and Nicolas Batum added 17 points and 13 rebounds for the Blazers, who finish their seven-game road trip at Indiana on Wednesday.

"We are showing that anything is possible if we crack down and we play defense," Aldridge said. "Down the stretch we were aggressive, hit the board and started trapping off the pick and roll. We had to make Ben Gordon and (Kemba) Walker pass the ball."

Batum opened overtime with a big 3-pointer and the Blazers never trailed again.

Babbitt later added a clutch 3-ball to push the lead to four and Wesley Matthews finished off the Bobcats by hitting 4 of 4 free throws in the final 53 seconds.

Charlotte had a chance to win at the end of regulation but Kemba Walker's drive and fallaway jumper from the baseline didn't fall. The Bobcats wanted to get the ball to Gordon for the last shot, but he was well covered.

Walker penetrated, pump-faked and got a good shot off that didn't go down.

Walker finished with 22 points and seven assists for the Bobcats. Byron Mullens added 12 points and 12 rebounds.

Gordon, who is shooting 49 percent from 3-point range this season, began to heat up late in the third quarter and gave the Bobcats a five-point lead to open the fourth.

Charlotte carried the momentum into the final period opening with a flurry, scoring the first 12 points with Michael Kidd-Gilchrist adding six during the stretch and Gordon hitting two more 3s to push the lead to 18.

That's when Blazers coach Terry Slots told his players during a timeout that "a lot can happen."

"I've been on the other end of this before," Stotts said. "It doesn't happen often. But it does happen. And you have to believe that it's going to happen for you."

The Blazers began chipping away as Lillard scored 16 points after halftime and Babbitt provided a huge lift off the bench.

"Luke was big," Aldridge said. "He played solid on defense and he was big for us. They were doubling the block so coach wanted to put a shooter out there. You can't leave Luke out there open. He opened up the floor for us."

The Bobcats (7-9) have now lost four straight since tying last year's season win total.

Gordon said the game was a learning experience for a Bobcats team that starts two rookies and is one of the league's most inexperienced teams.

"NBA games are long," Gordon said. "I've seen a lot of crazy things happen and it's never really over until it's over. So, when you have that type of advantage on a team, you just have to keep your foot on their neck and try and put them away."

The Bobcats have won seven games this season but most of those have been close.

Coach Mike Dunlap said it looked like his team wasn't sure what to do when it opened a big lead. The loss also left the Bobcats' first-year coach second-guessing himself.

"It is unfamiliar territory," Dunlap said. "I thought I could have done a better job helping them, for example with substitutions or maybe a couple of post-up plays for Byron. So I sort of point the finger at me on that."

Mullens came up with one of the most impressive plays of the season in the first half with the 7-foot center driving down the lane and dunking one-handed over Aldridge.

"I kind of surprised myself with that one," Mullens said. "I didn't know he was there until Brendan (Haywood) moved out of the way. It was a great screen. He really sealed him. I thought it was going to be a charge."

NOTES: Charlotte's Gerald Henderson returned after missing 13 games with a foot injury, but did not start. Henderson played only 15 minutes and scored five points. ... Batum had his first double-double of the season. He also had a season-high seven assists.

Notebook: Trail Blazers 118, Bobcats 112

Derek S. Smith, for NBA.com
Posted Mon Dec 03, 2012 11:00 PM - Updated Mon Dec 03, 2012 11:06 PM

THE FACTS: LaMarcus Aldridge scored 25 points and grabbed 13 rebounds while Nicolas Batum scored five of his 17 in overtime as the Portland Trail Blazers shocked the Charlotte Bobcats with a 118-112 come-from-behind victory in overtime at Time Warner Cable Arena. Ben Gordon led all scorers with 29 points and in the process scored his 10,000 career point in the NBA.

QUOTABLE: "We played great defense down the stretch and really crashed the boards and it worked out for us tonight. It was big for us. We needed shooters out there tonight and some guys really step up. It makes us feel good, but it was tough out there tonight."
-- Portland forward Aldridge.

THE STAT: Aldridge is the first player with 25 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and three blocks in a game this season. Aldridge had a monster night for the Blazers in leading them to their second straight road overtime victory. He was 12-of-17 from the floor and collected his third consecutive 20-point game for the team.

TURNING POINT: Portland gave up the first 12 points of the fourth quarter and seemed lost of offense. The Trail Blazers started the quarter shooting 1-of-7 with four turnovers. However, they quickly turned things around after the Bobcats opened the door. Batum drained a 3-point basket that kick started a 10-0 run by Portland. Damian Lillard then scored seven straight and the Blazers sliced the lead to single digits.

HOT: Gordon was on fire for the Bobcats in the second half. Gordon scored 22 of his game-high 29 points in the second half and single handedly kept the Bobcats in the game. He set a franchise mark for most threes in a half with 7 and was 7-of-10 from the floor and 7-of-9 from behind the arc. Gordon is averaging 24.7 points in his three contests. He also set the franchise mark for 3s in a game with eight. Over his last five games, he has scored at least 19 points four times and is averaging 20.4 points and has connected on 23-of-36 from behind the arc.

NOT: Charlotte's defense fell apart in the final 4:33 of the fourth quarter. The Bobcats led 97-79 but were outscored 23-5 down the stretch in the final period and 39-15 over the last 10:33 of the game.

FANTASY SPOTLIGHT: Batum filled up the stat sheet against Charlotte Monday. The Portland forward had 19 points, 13 rebound, seven assists and added a steal and a block. Batum has had a Jekyll-and-Hyde road trip to date. He averaged 14 points in the prior five games and alternated between double figure and single figure scoring. The last two games though Batum has flourished and so have the Blazers, he is averaging 19.5 points, 10.0 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.5 blocks in the two wins.

INSIDE THE ARENA: Portland owner Paul Allen was in attendance at the game in Charlotte and sat courtside across from the Trail Blazers bench. Charlotte's owner, Michael Jordan, was also in attendance and watched his team's implosion from his suite with longtime agent David Falk.

ROOKIE WATCH: Lillard scored 24 points and added a game-high nine assists. It was his 11th 20-plus point game this season. He leads all rookies in scoring, assists, steals and minutes played. Since 1985, Lillard is just the third player to record 300 points & 100 assists in 1st 17 career games. The other two were Allen Iverson and Derrick Rose.

NOTABLE: Charlotte guard Gerald Henderson returned to action after missing 13 games with a sprained left foot. Henderson scored five points in 15 minutes of action. Kemba Walker has scored in double figures in 15 of 16 games this season and gone for 20 or more on four occasions. Byron Mullens recorded his third double-double of the season while Jeff Taylor scored in double figures for the seventh time in eight games. The Bobcats made a season-high tying 13 three-point field goals.

UP NEXT: For the Trail Blazers, Wednesday @ Indiana, Saturday vs. Sacramento, Monday vs. Toronto. For the Bobcats, Wednesday vs. New York, Friday @ Milwaukee, Saturday vs. San Antonio.

• Trail Blazers: Claver, Williams
• Bobcats: Thomas

• Trail Blazers: --
• Bobcats: --

• Lead Changes: 7
• Times Tied: 3

• Arena: Time Warner Cable Arena, Charlotte, NC
• Officials: #25 Tony Brothers, #73 Tre Maddox, #38 Michael Smith
• Attendance: 12640
• Duration: 2:29