Tuesday, Nov. 03, 2009

Bobcats, Wallace top New Jersey

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Gerald Wallace had 24 points and a career-high 20 rebounds and the Charlotte Bobcats held the New Jersey Nets without a point for more than 10 minutes in rallying for a 79-68 victory on Monday.

The Nets' ineptitude allowed Charlotte to go on a 24-0 run bridging the third and fourth quarters, wiping out the Bobcats' horrible offensive start. D.J. Augustin added 21 points in Raja Bell's return from a wrist injury.

The Nets dropped to 0-4 thanks to a brutal stretch where they lost Yi Jianlian to a sprained right knee and went nearly 11 1 / 2 minutes without a field goal. The Nets went 0-for-11 from the field with nine turnovers before Chris Douglas-Roberts' three-point play ended the scoreless drought at 10:03.

Douglas-Roberts had 20 points and Brook Lopez added 18 in a game where neither team shot better than 37 percent.

Two nights after Nets coach Lawrence Frank said the team's defensive effort was "pitiful" in a loss to Washington, the offense was even worse and the injuries kept piling up.

The Nets played their second straight game without point guard Devin Harris, who was in Chicago where a specialist told him he has a strained groin and not a more serious injury.

Then New Jersey lost Yi midway through the third quarter when a falling Wallace rolled into his leg. Yi was helped to the locker room and didn't return.

It started the Nets' downfall - after the Bobcats tied a team record with only eight field goals in the first half.

The Nets tied a team low with seven points in the third quarter on 2-of-15 shooting. That allowed the athletic Wallace to take over. He shot 7-of-14 from the field and 10-of-13 from the line while dominating the glass.

NEW JERSEY: Douglas-Roberts 7-17 4-5 20, Yi 1-4 2-3 4, Lopez 8-14 2-2 18, Alston 1-8 0-0 2, Lee 4-10 5-5 13, Simmons 0-5 0-0 0, T.Williams 4-9 2-3 11, S.Williams 0-0 0-0 0, Boone 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-67 15-18 68.

CHARLOTTE: Wallace 7-14 10-13 24, Diaw 4-7 6-6 14, Chandler 2-8 4-4 8, Felton 4-12 1-2 9, Bell 1-8 0-0 3, Radmanovic 0-7 0-0 0, Graham 0-1 0-0 0, Mohammed 0-3 0-0 0, Augustin 6-14 9-10 21, Henderson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-74 30-35 79.

3-Point Goals-New Jersey 3-10 (Douglas-Roberts 2-2, T.Williams 1-1, Alston 0-2, Simmons 0-2, Lee 0-3), Charlotte 1-15 (Bell 1-6, Wallace 0-1, Diaw 0-1, Radmanovic 0-3, Augustin 0-4). Fouled Out-None. Rebounds-New Jersey 41 (Simmons 7), Charlotte 59 (Wallace 20). Assists-New Jersey 11 (Alston 5), Charlotte 12 (Diaw, Felton 3). Total Fouls-New Jersey 25, Charlotte 22. Att.-9,380 (19,077).