By STEVE REED
AP Sports Writer

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) – The Washington Wizards may have found the recipe for winning this season: playing the Charlotte Bobcats.

Well, that and a balanced offensive attack.

The Wizards (4-16) defeated the Bobcats for the second time in four nights Saturday 102-99 as six players scored in double digits, including JaVale McGee, who led the way with 22 points and 10 rebounds.

The week’s two wins equal the Wizards’ total number of victories in their first 17 games combined.

John Wall added 13 points and 10 assists for the Wizards (4-16). They also got 21 points from Nick Young, while reserves Trevor Booker and Jordan Crawford chipped in with 16 and 12 points, respectively.

“We had good balance,” Wall said. “I think tonight nobody cared about who scored. We just went out there and played basketball. That’s what you’ve got to do to win. Some nights it’s going to be different people leading in scoring and you’ve just got to live with it.”

Washington’s victory offset a terrific performance from rookie Bobcats rookie Kemba Walker, who had 20 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds. Walker became the first rookie this season to register a triple-double.

Three rookies accomplished the feat a year ago: Wall, Blake Griffin and Jordan Crawford.

Coach Paul Silas has asked Walker to look for his teammates more since moving over to point guard following the injury to D.J. Augustin last week. On Saturday night Walker seemed to heed the message.

He seemed to see the floor better than he has in his previous three starts at the point.

“I was just more patient tonight,” Walker said. “I’ve been watching a lot of film with the coaches and they’ve been showing me certain opportunities that I have on the court that I haven’t been taking. Tonight, I just took those opportunities and that just made things a lot easier.”

Silas said Walker, the ninth overall pick in the NBA draft, is starting to develop some point guard skills, which is encouraging.

“He really is coming along and he’s a really good rebounder for his size,” Silas said. “He gets in there all the time and he’s putting up numbers on the board scoringwise. This is really going to help them, as I told all the guys.”

For two teams battling to stay out of the NBA basement, it was a fairly intense game.

Wall said he could sense the Bobcats (3-18) wanted this game after losing earlier this week to the Wizards. The Bobcats have lost eight straight.

“We knew they wanted revenge for what we did to them on Wednesday night so we were coming out knowing it was going to be a tough match,” Wall said. “We figured out how to close out the game down the stretch.”

Well, sort of.

The Wizards made it more interesting than it needed to be.

Trailing 102-99 with 41.2 seconds left, the Bobcats had a chance to tie, but burned almost the entire shot clock, unable to get a look at an open 3-pointer as the Wizards stepped up the defense. Eventually, Boris Diaw drove the lane but missed and McGee quickly grabbed the rebound.

The Bobcats immediately fouled.

McGee had a chance to put the game on ice but with the Wizards leading by three missed two free throws with 6 seconds remaining. The Bobcats got the rebound off the second miss and called timeout.

They set up an inbounds play but Matt Carroll missed a deep 3-pointer at the buzzer.

“I caught it a little deeper than I wanted and I was kind of hurried,” Carroll said. “I had a good look, but it just didn’t fall.”

It was Washington’s first win on the road.

“It feels good to get this first one because it’s much earlier than last year,” Young said. “It took us like 30-something games last year, so this is a big improvement.”

McGee was the latest center to have a field day against the Bobcats, exposing their lack of an interior defense. McGee shot 9 of 14 from the field and had good success using his hook shot.

Booker also ripped up the Bobcats, hitting on all 6 of his shots, most of those in and around the lane.

“Book, with his ability to roll to the basket and catch and finish was huge,” Wizards coach Randy Wittman said. “I don’t think he missed a shot did he? I mean 6 for 6, that was huge.”

The Bobcats got a good effort from Diaw, who was back in the starting lineup and contributed 21 points and 10 assists. Byron Mullens scored 23 points, while Carroll and Tyrus Thomas each added 13.

Notes: Washington shot 53% from the field and won despite being outrebounded by the smaller Bobcats 42-32. … The Bobcats were playing without five players, including their two leading scorers: Gerald Henderson and Augustin. Augustin has missed the last four games with a toe injury, while Henderson sat out after re-injuring his back in Friday night’s loss to the 76ers.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

CBSSports.com wire reports
Jan. 28, 2012

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Washington Wizards may have found the recipe for winning this season: playing the Charlotte Bobcats.

Well, that and a balanced offensive attack.

The Wizards (4-16) defeated the Bobcats for the second time in four nights Saturday 102-99 as six players scored in double digits, including JaVale McGee, who led the way with 22 points and 10 rebounds.

The week’s two wins equal the Wizards’ total number of victories in their first 17 games combined.

John Wall added 13 points and 10 assists for the Wizards (4-16). They also got 21 points from Nick Young, while reserves Trevor Booker and Jordan Crawford chipped in with 16 and 12 points, respectively.ebounds and 11 assists. The 6-foot-1 Walker joined Stephen Jackson and Boris Diaw as the only players in franchise history to record such a feat.

“We had good balance,” Wall said. “I think tonight nobody cared about who scored. We just went out there and played basketball. That’s what you’ve got to do to win. Some nights it’s going to be different people leading in scoring and you’ve just got to live with it.”

Washington’s victory offset a terrific performance from rookie Bobcats rookie Kemba Walker, who had 20 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds. Walker became the first rookie this season to register a triple-double.

Three rookies accomplished the feat a year ago: Wall, Blake Griffin and Jordan Crawford.

Coach Paul Silas has asked Walker to look for his teammates more since moving over to point guard following the injury to D.J. Augustin last week. On Saturday night Walker seemed to heed the message.

He seemed to see the floor better than he has in his previous three starts at the point.

“I was just more patient tonight,” Walker said. “I’ve been watching a lot of film with the coaches and they’ve been showing me certain opportunities that I have on the court that I haven’t been taking. Tonight, I just took those opportunities and that just made things a lot easier.”

Silas said Walker, the ninth overall pick in the NBA draft, is starting to develop some point guard skills, which is encouraging.

“He really is coming along and he’s a really good rebounder for his size,” Silas said. “He gets in there all the time and he’s putting up numbers on the board scoringwise. This is really going to help them, as I told all the guys.”

For two teams battling to stay out of the NBA basement, it was a fairly intense game.

Wall said he could sense the Bobcats (3-18) wanted this game after losing earlier this week to the Wizards. The Bobcats have lost eight straight.

“We knew they wanted revenge for what we did to them on Wednesday night so we were coming out knowing it was going to be a tough match,” Wall said. “We figured out how to close out the game down the stretch.”

Well, sort of.

The Wizards made it more interesting than it needed to be.

Trailing 102-99 with 41.2 seconds left, the Bobcats had a chance to tie, but burned almost the entire shot clock, unable to get a look at an open 3-pointer as the Wizards stepped up the defense. Eventually, Boris Diaw drove the lane but missed and McGee quickly grabbed the rebound.

The Bobcats immediately fouled.

McGee had a chance to put the game on ice but with the Wizards leading by three missed two free throws with 6 seconds remaining. The Bobcats got the rebound off the second miss and called timeout.

They set up an inbounds play but Matt Carroll missed a deep 3-pointer at the buzzer.

“I caught it a little deeper than I wanted and I was kind of hurried,” Carroll said. “I had a good look, but it just didn’t fall.”

It was Washington’s first win on the road.

“It feels good to get this first one because it’s much earlier than last year,” Young said. “It took us like 30-something games last year, so this is a big improvement.”

McGee was the latest center to have a field day against the Bobcats, exposing their lack of an interior defense. McGee shot 9 of 14 from the field and had good success using his hook shot.

Booker also ripped up the Bobcats, hitting on all six of his shots, most of those in and around the lane.

“Book, with his ability to roll to the basket and catch and finish was huge,” Wizards coach Randy Wittman said. “I don’t think he missed a shot did he? I mean 6 for 6, that was huge.”

The Bobcats got a good effort from Diaw, who was back in the starting lineup and contributed 21 points and 10 assists. Byron Mullens scored 23 points, while Carroll and Tyrus Thomas each added 13.

Notes

• Washington shot 53 percent from the field and won despite being outrebounded by the smaller Bobcats 42-32.
• The Bobcats were playing without five players, including their two leading scorers: Gerald Henderson and Augustin. Augustin has missed the last four games with a toe injury, while Henderson sat out after re-injuring his back in Friday night’s loss to the 76ers.

CHARLOTTE, N.C.
– JaVale McGee scored 22 points and had 10 rebounds as the Washington Wizards defeated the Charlotte Bobcats for the second time in a week, 102-99 on Saturday night.

The matchup between two teams tied for the fewest wins in the NBA came down to the final shot, but Matt Carroll’s 3-point attempt at the buzzer fell short.

McGee had a chance to seal the game with less than 6 seconds to go, but missed two foul shots. But that was about all McGee didn’t do right, as shot 9 of 14 from the field. Like many others this season, McGee exposed Charlotte’s poor interior defense, using an effective hook shot in the lane.

John Wall added 13 points and 10 assists for the Wizards (4-16).

The Wizards also got 21 points from Nick Young, while reserves Trevor Booker and Jordan Crawford chipped in with 16 and 12 points, respectively.

Kemba Walker became the third Bobcats (3-18) player to register a triple-double, recording 20 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists. The 6-foot-1 Walker joined Stephen Jackson and Boris Diaw as the only players in franchise history to record such a feat.

Diaw, back in the starting lineup for the Bobcats, had 21 points and 10 assists. Byron Mullens scored 23 points, while Carroll and Tyrus Thomas each added 13.

The Bobcats have lost eight straight.

The Wizards held the lead for most of the game, but the Bobcats battled back from 12 points down to take the lead at 92-90 on a dunk by Mullens. But that lead was short-lived as McGee hit a running hook in the lane two possessions later to give the Wizards a 96-94 lead they would never relinquish.

Trailing 102-99 with 41.2 seconds left, the Bobcats had a chance to tie, but burned almost the entire 24-second clock unable to get a look at an open 3-pointer as the Wizards stepped up the defense. Eventually, Diaw drove the lane but missed and McGee quickly grabbed the rebound.

The Bobcats immediately fouled.

McGee missed both shots and the Bobcats called timeout with 4.6 seconds left.

Carroll got a good look on the ensuing inbounds play, but his 3-point attempt to tie the game hit off the front rim.

Notes: Washington shot 53 percent from the field and won despite being outrebounded by the smaller Bobcats 42-32. … The Bobcats were playing without five players, including their two leading scorers: Gerald Henderson and D.J. Augustin. Augustin has missed the last four games with a toe injury, while Henderson sat out after re-injuring his back in Friday night’s loss to the 76ers.

CBSSports.com wire reports
Jan. 24, 2012

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — If you think this has been a crazy NBA season already, try this one on for size: Carmelo Anthony was held to a career-low one point and the New York Knicks won by 33.

Yep, that’s crazy.

And yet that’s exactly what happened Tuesday night as the Knicks routed the Charlotte Bobcats 111-78 to snap a six-game losing streak.

Tyson Chandler had 20 points and 17 rebounds to help the Knicks overcome another poor shooting night from Anthony, whose only point came on a technical free throw in the third quarter.

Anthony missed all seven shots from the field.

Only once in his previous 42 games with the Knicks had Anthony failed to finish in double digits. That came last March 18, when he had six points. His previous career low was two points when he was with the Denver Nuggets.

Anthony did contribute 11 rebounds and four assists.

“Sometimes defenses are going to load up on him because they understand he’s our number one option,” said Chandler. “So when they load up and he hits the open guy like he did tonight, we’re still effective – and he’s still effective – because of that.”

On this night the Knicks didn’t need much scoring from their premier player.

Chandler picked up the slack as the former Bobcats star shot 9 for 10 from the field, six of those coming on dunks. Amar’e Stoudemire chipped in with 18 points and eight rebounds while Landry Fields added 18 points and four assists for the Knicks, who won for the first time since Jan. 11.

The Knicks dominated inside the paint, outrebounding the Bobcats 53-33 while handing them their fifth straight loss.

They had 14 dunks against the defenseless Bobcats.

“We didn’t come out ready to play,” Charlotte center Byron Mullens said. “I mean Carmello scores one point and we still get beat by 33? That’s uncalled for. It makes us look bad. I know we’re a young team but there aren’t any excuses for getting beat by 33 and their main player scoring one point.”

Anthony didn’t seem fazed by his off night.

“I needed a night like this where I didn’t have to do too much and we still won the game by a lot,” said Anthony. “We got a long road trip ahead of us. We got another one tomorrow at Cleveland so it’s another day. This one is over. We won a game, team effort. Get ready for tomorrow.”

Still, Anthony’s recent shooting slump has to be a concern for the Knicks.

He came into the game shooting just 35.4 percent from the field over his previous eight games.

The Bobcats have plenty of problems of their own.

Point guard D.J. Augustin will miss at least three more games with a right toe injury which means they will rely heavily on rookie Kemba Walker.

Walker led Charlotte with 22 points but struggled early on with turnovers, seemingly bothered by the Knicks’ bigger guards. Gerald Henderson and Derrick Brown each scored 15 points for the struggling Bobcats.

“We just didn’t have enough,” Bobcats coach Paul Silas said. “We had really two players that played tonight, that’s Kemba Walker and Gerald Henderson. I think Brown scored a little bit there at the end but that was it. When Carmelo Anthony goes 0 for 7, come on, you know? We should at least be in the game.”

Boris Diaw, who had averaged 21.5 points per game in his previous two games against the Knicks, had just four points on 1-for-6 shooting from the field.

The Knicks jumped out to a 52-42 halftime lead behind a near-perfect first half by Chandler, who was 6 of 6 from the field with 13 points and nine rebounds and simply outplayed Mullens.

“Tyson was unbelievable,” Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni said. “I thought he was phenomenal.”

“I think a lot of offensive rebounds came because we were attacking the rim,” Chandler said. “When we get great penetration off the pick and roll I kind of got some easy lanes. That’s the biggest help to get to the glass and get the opportunity to put it back in.”

It was a good start for the Knicks in their first of four straight road games.

“It was important that we start playing better,” D’Antoni said. “We can’t get too excited because we have a game Wednesday night (at Cleveland) and we need to win that too.”

Walker was 5 of 6 from the floor for 15 points in the first half but turned the ball over four times.

The 6-foot-1 Walker seemed to be bothered by the 6-foot-5 Iman Shumpert and 6-foot-7 Landry Fields. However, the Knicks failed to take advantage of very many of Charlotte’s nine first half-turnovers, regularly missing easy layups. Shumpert even missed a breakaway dunk, clanging it off the back of the rim.

Still, the Knicks began to pull away in the third quarter as the Bobcats shot just 6 of 24 from the field. The Knicks were a solid 9 of 10 from the field during that same span and then expanded the lead in the fourth quarter while resting their starters, including Anthony.

Notes

• The Bobcats will be without Augustin for at least three more games after he injured his right toe earlier in the week.
• Knicks center Josh Harrellson had successful surgery Tuesday on his fractured right wrist and will miss six weeks of action, according to the team.
• Bobcats owner Michael Jordan sat courtside with his former agent David Falk.

By STEVE REED

AP Sports Writer

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Detroit Pistons got back in the win column Friday night, while the Charlotte Bobcats got a talking to from owner Michael Jordan.

Jonas Jerebko tied a career high with 22 points and the Pistons won the race to three victories Friday night against the Charlotte Bobcats, 98-81 to snap a six-game losing streak.

Both teams entered the game with identical 2-9 records and on lengthy losing streaks.

The Pistons got strong inside play from Jerebko and Greg Monroe, who chipped in with 19 points and nine rebounds. They dominated inside, scoring 50 points in the paint through the first three quarters to open a 78-59 lead.

This one wasn’t even close as the Pistons led by 12 at the break and were never challenged in the second half.

Jerebko, from Sweden, tied his previous career high from back in 2009.

“I was trying to take it to the basket and get a couple of easy ones that way instead of just shooting jump shots,” said Jerebko, who also had nine rebounds. “I got a couple of easy ones, layups and then the jump shots came after that. We had some glimpses against Milwaukee and tonight I think we had a complete game instead of just half a game and I think it showed on the court.”

Pistons coach Lawrence Frank wouldn’t say it was his team’s best performance of the season, but called it a step forward.

“There are a couple of different outcomes that happens in a game,” he said. “You lose, and you play the right way. You win and play the right way. You lose and don’t play the right way, and you win and don’t play the right way. I thought we won and we played the right way, with purpose.”

The Pistons got numerous uncontested shots in the middle and made the most of them. When Jerebko and Monroe weren’t ripping up the Charlotte interior defense with some nifty passing, Ben Gordon and Brandon Knight were hitting from the outside.

All five starters finished in double digits for the Pistons, including Gordon with 14 points and Knight, who added 13 points and had 10 rebounds.

“My teammates attacked the gap of the zone that created opportunities for me and I was able to knock them down,” Knight said. “Players like (Damien) Wilkins and (Rodney) Stuckey that created certain opportunities for me, those shots wouldn’t have gone in or I wouldn’t have been able to take them.”

The Bobcats have lost six straight, prompting Jordan to meet with his players in a closed-door session inside the locker room for about five minutes after the game.

“He just came in the locker room and said we have to play better than that,” said Bobcats forward Boris Diaw, who has been held to a combined three points in his last two games.

Coach Paul Silas was again critical of his players’ toughness after getting outrebounded 46-34.

“Well, I saw a team that dominated us inside,” Silas said. “Points in the paint, like 52, I think, to 36. That’s kind of the game right there.

“We’ve got to have more toughness and we didn’t tonight. It’s just not a good sign for us.”

When asked how you teach toughness, Silas seemed a loss for words, but hinted that changes could be coming in the future if he doesn’t see improvement.

“I think it’s engrained in you,” Silas said. “I can talk about it as much as I want to but if a player is not tough, there’s nothing I can really do. You know, you’ve just got to seek out the players that are and that are willing to take the hit and are willing to hit back, that kind of thing and you go forward with that.”

Byron Mullens led Charlotte with 18 points, the eighth time in 10 games he’s reached double digits. Mullens remains one of the few bright spots for the Bobcats, who continue to struggle with their shooting and rebounding with veteran leader Corey Maggette still out with a strained hamstring.

Kemba Walker had 16 points and D.J. Augustin had 13 assists for Charlotte.

It was the Bobcats’ fourth game in five days and they looked like a very lethargic team. They’ll complete a back-to-back-to-back Saturday night against Golden State.

The Pistons host the Warriors on Sunday.

NOTES: Jerebko had struggled with foul trouble in recent games with 14 fouls in four games, but it wasn’t a problem against the Bobcats. … The Pistons hit 7 of 14 3-point attempts, while the Bobcats made just 1 of 8. … Diaw attempted a free throw for the first time in nine games, over 200 game minutes. … The Bobcats have by far the league’s worst point differential, losing by an average of 13 points per game. … Augustin came within one of tying a career high for assists.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.