The struggling Charlotte Bobcats haven’t played many close games in the new
year, though one of those tight contests came against the Atlanta Hawks less
than a week ago.

They still couldn’t earn a victory, which have been few and far between for
the Bobcats this season.

Atlanta looks to beat Charlotte for the eighth time in the last nine
matchups at Philips Arena when the teams meet Thursday night.

The Bobcats (2-8) have been beaten by at least 12 points four times in their
seven games since Jan. 1, including an 82-70 loss to Houston on Tuesday. It
marked their fewest points in a home game since a 93-62 loss to Boston on Dec.
11, 2010.

“I thought we were tired and couldn’t really do anything, couldn’t execute,
couldn’t run, couldn’t defend,” coach Paul Silas said after his team’s fourth
game in five nights..

D.J. Augustin went 4 for 13 and had 11 points, while Boris Diaw scored four
points and finished 2 for 13.

“It’s just one of those nights. Even layups. We had shots right at the hoop
but we couldn’t convert,” Silas said. “We just didn’t have it. We played a tough
game Monday night (in New York), and then to come back and have to play, that’s
rough. It’s rough.”

It wasn’t the first time Silas mentioned fatigue as a reason for the
Bobcats’ struggles, and it’s what kept Tyrus Thomas from playing Tuesday. It’s
unclear if Thomas will return for this matchup after being held out due to
fatigued legs while playing big minutes over the previous three contests.

Charlotte has lost eight of nine since beating Milwaukee in its season
opener Dec. 26, with the only win coming at New York on Jan. 4. Two nights
later, the Bobcats overcame a nine-point fourth-quarter deficit against Atlanta,
but eventually fell 102-96 in overtime.

Josh Smith had 23 points and 12 rebounds in that contest for the Hawks
(7-4), who had their three-game winning streak snapped with a 96-84 loss at
Indiana on Wednesday.

Smith scored a team-high 16 points, but Atlanta couldn’t overcome 18
turnovers and a nine-point third quarter after heading into the half down three.

“We did everything wrong,” coach Larry Drew said. “We turned the ball over,
we missed layups, we missed blockout assignments. Everything that could have
gone wrong went wrong in the third quarter. It seemed like we just hit a wall
after that.”

Atlanta shot only 37.5 percent after hitting 51.2 percent of its shots
during its winning streak.

The Hawks, though, were playing without two key players, and they may be
without another Thursday.

Marvin Williams did not travel with the team due to an ankle injury, and
Tracy McGrady was held out Wednesday because of back spasms. Al Horford then
suffered a sprained shoulder midway through the first quarter and did not
return.

Though initial X-rays came back negative, Horford will be evaluated again
before the morning shootaround to determine if he will play against Charlotte.

Atlanta had won seven straight home meetings against the Bobcats before an
88-86 loss Feb. 12. Augustin and Diaw went 2 for 11 with six combined in
Charlotte’s win, while Smith scored a team-high 28 in the defeat.

Despite a sore foot, Miami’s Dwyane Wade has knocked down game-winning
baskets in the final seconds in back-to-back contests.

The Charlotte Bobcats have already found themselves on the wrong end of one
of those shots.

Wade looks to lead the Heat to their second victory over the Bobcats in five
days and help Miami open with five consecutive wins for the first time in
franchise history in Sunday night’s rematch at AmericanAirlines Arena.

After trailing for all of 14 seconds in victories over Dallas and Boston,
the Heat (4-0) received their first real scare of the season in Charlotte on
Wednesday. They fell behind 11-0 in the opening minutes and faced a 15-point
halftime deficit before outscoring the Bobcats 24-10 in the third quarter to get
back in the game.

A 3-pointer by Gerald Henderson with 12 seconds remaining in the fourth put
Charlotte up by one, but Wade responded by banking a 10-footer over Henderson
with 2.9 seconds left to lift the Heat to a 96-95 win, their sixth straight
victory in the series. Wade, who finished with 10 points on 5-of-13 shooting,
got the call to take the final shot despite sitting out almost the entire third
quarter with a bruised foot.

The injury caused Wade to be a game-time decision for Friday’s game in
Minnesota, but the seven-time All-Star suited up and hit another game-winner.
With the score tied, Wade converted an alley-oop layup off an inbounds pass from
LeBron James with 4.6 seconds to play to give Miami a 103-101 victory.

“D-Wade, that’s two game-winners back-to-back, right? Good for him,” James
said. “I like it.”

While Wade’s clutch baskets have helped the Heat match the 2004-05 club for
the best start in franchise history, James is handling the largest share of the
scoring. James finished with 34 points Friday on his 27th birthday after scoring
35 against the Bobcats. He has already reached the 34-point mark three times and
is shooting 59.8 percent.

Chris Bosh also stepped up Wednesday, finishing with a season-high 25
points. He only grabbed six rebounds, as Charlotte had a 53-30 edge on the
boards.

Although the Bobcats (1-2) had Miami on the ropes, they turned in a sluggish
performance against Orlando on Friday night.

Charlotte wanted little to do with Magic center Dwight Howard on defense,
settling mostly for jump shots. The Bobcats shot a season-low 36.1 percent and
had only 20 points in the paint in a 100-79 loss.

Henderson and D.J. Augustin could not find their rhythm against Orlando.
Henderson, who had a team-high 21 points against Miami, scored eight on 4-of-13
shooting Friday, while Augustin misfired on 8 of 11 shots and finished with 14
points after scoring 20 while shooting 7 of 11 on Wednesday.

“It didn’t seem like we had energy,” Charlotte coach Paul Silas said. “We
weren’t shooting the ball well. It’s just one of those games where nothing was
happening in our favor. At all.”

This will be the first road game of the season for the Bobcats, who play
five of their next six away from Charlotte. They’ve lost six of their last seven
in Miami, where they are 3-11 all-time.

Read More: nba lockout, Indiana Pacers, New Orleans Hornets, Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Clippers, Charlotte Bobcats, Atlanta Hawks, Cleveland Cavaliers

The first two weeks of the 2011-2012 NBA Season have been cancelled after the league failed to reach an agreement with the Player’s Association on Monday night (Oct. 10, 2011).

As a result, the following games on the Boston Celtics schedule have been cancelled:

Nov. 2: Cleveland Cavaliers at Boston Celtics
Nov. 4: Boston Celtics at Atlanta Hawks
Nov. 5: Boston Celtics at Indiana Pacers
Nov. 9: Charlotte Bobcats at Boston Celtics
Nov. 11: Los Angeles Clippers at Boston Celtics
Nov. 12: Boston Celtics at Cleveland Cavaliers

Unfortunately the work stoppage may continue after the two-week period expires as no new developments have been reported and the two sides are currently far apart on most (if not all) of the major sticking points.

The NBA and the Player’s Association are expected to meet at some point next week, which leaves them little time to save the remainder of the season if by some miracle the wrinkles are ironed out in time to play ball.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Charlotte Bobcats keep losing key players to injury. Then they keep watching their opponents miss game-winning shots at the buzzer.

It adds up to an unlikely playoff push.

Boris Diaw had 26 points and 11 assists and hit the tiebreaking free throw with 14 seconds left on Wednesday night in a 98-97 win over Cleveland, a victory which wasn’t sealed until Anthony Parker’s runner bounced off the rim as time expired.

In their four-game winning streak that keeps them one game behind Indiana for the Eastern Conference’s last playoff spot, the Bobcats have seen four key players go down with injuries — and six potential game-winning shots by the opposition fail to fall.

“We’ll take that luck,” guard Gerald Henderson said.

A night after an emotional home victory over LeBron James and Miami, Cleveland again looked nothing like the team with the NBA’s worst record. Ramon Sessions had 24 points and J.J. Hickson overcame foul trouble to score 20 points and grab seven rebounds as the Cavaliers shot 52 percent from the field.

But they couldn’t execute their offense in the closing moments to fall to 5-31 on the road.

“I told the guys after the game (Tuesday) night that we’ve won, it’s been a pretty good game, but we would come out flat the next game,” Cavaliers coach Byron Scott said. “We didn’t do that. We competed a lot better. … Boris Diaw just took over the game in the last few minutes.”

These nailbiting games have become commonplace for the Bobcats. They rallied from 13 points down to beat Boston 83-81 on Friday after the Celtics missed two 3-point attempts in the closing seconds. After holding off New York in the final minute a night later, Milwaukee missed three game-winners in the closing moments of Charlotte’s 87-86 victory Monday.

“You see the sweat on me?” Bobcats coach Paul Silas said.

Silas had to work almost as hard as his unheralded players to find an effective lineup to put on the floor.

Top scorer Stephen Jackson tweaked his nagging left hamstring midway through the first quarter, an injury that’s had him in and out of the lineup for more than a month.

“I don’t know how long it’s going to take, to tell you the truth,” Silas said. “Every time he comes back, he’s feeling great and then something happens for him to go down again.”

D.J. Augustin (12 assists) returned from an ankle injury and Kwame Brown (16 points and eight rebounds) played after missing a game due to a family emergency for Charlotte. But backup point guard Shaun Livingston (bruised tailbone) remained out and forward Tyrus Thomas was sidelined with pain and swelling in his surgically repaired left knee.

Charlotte trailed by eight points in the third and 97-95 with 2:02 left. Diaw’s half-hook on the next possession tied it, before missed shots by both teams set up a wild finish.

Diaw got the ball in the post and drew a foul on Ryan Hollins. He hit the first free throw but was short on the second.

The Cavaliers grabbed the rebound, but advanced it slightly before calling a timeout, forcing them to put the ball into play from the side in the backcourt. After Sessions struggled to get into the frontcourt, Scott called a second timeout with 2.8 seconds left.

Parker got the ball on the left side, but Dominic McGuire got a fingertip on his off-balance, 13-footer and it clanged off the rim.