The Charlotte Bobcats are better than the Minnesota Timberwolves, but you could barely tell it from the way both teams played tonight. The Cats topped the Wolves, 108-95, but for much of the game, Charlotte played down to Minnesota's level, allowing the 14-win team to stick around until the fourth quarter.
While the Bobcats are still beating the teams they should (for the most part), it's troubling that they're settling for split decision victories rather than pummeling their cupcake opponents for 7th-round TKOs. Not that this is their conscious choice, but something's happened the past few games in which the Cats haven't been able to outclass other teams.
Game thread comments, lowlights, and highlights after the jump.
GAME THREAD COMMENTS
drapht00 -- Something weird I cheer for every night. Keeping the opponent below 90. Even when we lost to the Heat, I thought "Sweet, they didn’t even score 90."
RV21 -- It's official. Larry Brown hates our bench and would never play them if his life depended on it.
BAD
-- I get it. Larry Hughes is an upgrade on Stephen Graham. A slight upgrade. Probably. Just so we're clear, though, Larry -- can I call you Larry? -- just so we're clear, you really do believe that there's no value in playing Gerald Henderson or Derrick Brown in Hughes and Graham's place? Because what scant statistical evidence we've been given on the rookies indicates that Brown is already a better offensive player than either of those guys, albeit at different positions, and Henderson hasn't been so much worse than Graham that you can dismiss his youth and sheer athleticism as indicators that he might be a more valuable contributor with more experience. I've said this before: Every other non-D'Antoni, non-title contending, team has figured out how to give minutes to rookies. You're not doing your job if you don't.
GOOD
-- Gerald Wallace is still The Man. 23 points on 16 attempts, with 3 blocked shots. He didn't get monster rebounding numbers, but that's okay with the defense he played and his efficient scoring.
-- Stephen Jackson rocked the rock that rocks the rock. He scored 37 points on 24 shots, and grabbed 5 rebounds to boot.
-- Raymond Felton had what may have been his most Pure Point Guard-ish game, scoring 16 points on 8-10 shooting, and dishing 8 assists.
-- Tyson Chandler and Tyrus Thomas were rebounding beasts, with 9 and 8 in under 22 minutes, respectively. Throw in Theo Ratliff's 4 blocks in 30 minutes, and that more than made up for Boris Diaw's sub-par night.