Charlotte Bobcats Claw Back for 101-96 Win Over Toronto Raptors

In a matchup featuring the Eastern Conference cellar dwellers, the Toronto Raptors found yet another way to lose on Wednesday night as the Charlotte Bobcats stole a 101-96 victory on Diwali Heritage Night at the Air Canada Centre.

The Raptors once again were unsuccessful in a late game situation as they lost another close contest and extended their losing streak to six games. With only one win on the year, the team is becoming increasingly frustrated with their current situation.

“Yeah, it’s really getting old,” said Raptors guard Sonny Weems, who finished with 20 points off the bench. “We have to change it real quick or I don’t know what’s going to happen.”

Down 99-96 with just over 12 seconds left in the 4th quarter, Toronto had the ball for one final possession in an attempt to tie the game. The ball came to Bargnani at the top of the key but he had the ball knocked out of his hands by veteran Bobcats guard Stephen Jackson. The Raptors lost possession without even attempting a game-tying shot.

"We knew they were going to switch on him with 12 seconds to go," said Raptors coach Jay Triano on his team’s final possession. "We had an option for a two if Jose (Calderon) could turn the corner. He saw the body, threw it to there and were hoping he (Bargnani) could get it off before the guy (Jackson) closed out on him and he couldn’t get it off."

Jackson thought he was lucky to swat the ball out of Bargnani’s hands.

“It was my fingertip, I barely got my hand on it,” said Jackson. “That strip can go either way. That’s one of those plays that you hope you get, if you don’t, you made a bad decision. If you do, you’re the hero. He had been killing us all game and I just wanted to make it uncomfortable and thank god I was able to get my hand on the ball."

“I just lost the ball,” said a frustrated Bargnani, who lead all scorers with 23 points and finished just shy of a double-double. “There are no other words to describe it. I just lost the ball and it slipped away.”

The Bobcats were led by Jackson and forward Tyrus Thomas in the fourth quarter as they both exploited the Toronto defence for 10 and 12 points, respectively, over the final 12 minutes.

Charlotte featured a balanced scoring attack as Jackson paced his team with 20 points, while Gerald Wallace finished with a quiet double-double, 19 points and 14 rebounds as well as 4 blocks. Thomas also added five blocked shots, all in the second half, to go along with his 14 points and point guard D.J. Augustin chipped in 16 points as well.

Wallace praised his team’s efforts in closing out the game, especially Jackson and Thomas.

He (Jackson) made some big shots,” said Wallace. “Tyrus made some big free throws at the end. That’s what we need, guys stepping up every night in that situation, in clutch moments and closing out the games. I think we did a great job tonight, especially in the last two or three minutes closing out the game, getting shots we wanted, boxing out and rebounding.”

Two areas where Toronto has performed consistently well all year has been their rebounding and bench scoring. Toronto’s bench came up with another big performance, outscoring Charlotte’s bench by an impressive 49-30. Weems and Amir Johnson injected much needed energy when they were on the floor, chipping in 20 and 16 points respectively. Julian Wright had a good night as well, showing great hustle as he finished with 9 points, 4 rebounds and two assists.

The Raptors also outrebounded their opponents once again, finishing with a slim 38-36 advantage. Reggie Evans put in another great effort on the glass by pulling down 10 rebounds, while Bargnani and Johnson added 9 boards each.

Perhaps the one area which may have cost the Raptors the game were the points scored off turnovers. Both teams had 17 turnovers each, however, Charlotte scored 21 points compared to Toronto’s 13.

“We have five guys running the floor and everybody gets excited and trying to run, it gets crowded and we end up turning it over and they throw it the other way because there is a guy behind the play at the other end. The energy level is good, we’re trying to make something happen, sometimes we end up turning it over and it goes back.”

The Dinos were shorthanded on Wednesday night as they were without centre David Andersen (flu-like symptoms) and guard Leandro Barbosa (strained left shoulder).

Missing Barbosa especially hurt the Raptors late in the game.

"He’s one of the best we have at just isolating and breaking somebody down," added Triano. Any time we get into a screen-roll action late in the game, teams are going to switch so you need to have that type of player. Leandro (Barbosa) is one of our best at it, but there’s nothing we can do about him being hurt."

With the loss Toronto now sits at the bottom of the Eastern Conference with a 1-7 record, including a dismal 1-3 at home. The schedule doesn’t get any easier for the Dinos as they embark on a four-game road trip starting in Orlando on Friday night. However, all Raptors fans will be focused on the following evening in the much anticipated first match-up against Chris Bosh and the Miami Heat.