Bobcats Beat Boston at Home!

The Charlotte Bobcats had lost 6 straight to the defending Eastern Conference Champion Celtics.  Bad losses until Paul Silas came to the helm. Heartbreakers before that, with Ray Allen hitting walk off threes.  Totals like 59, 62, losses by 30…it seemed like a lost cause.  I’m trying to catch my breath, because the Bobcats just BEAT BOSTON!

It was an up and down night, close game, up-tempo and strong performances all around.  Unlikely heroes stepped up.  Unlikely, if you don’t watch games closely, or if you’re Larry Brown, which actually covers both of my exclusionary clauses there.  Shaun “YMCA Speed” Livingston and Gerald “Just Not Ready” Henderson stepped up huge, like they skipped steps and maybe flights of steps to get this win.

The Bobcats basically beat half of the Eastern Conference All-Star squad.  4 Celtics are on that team and the Celtic coaches will be determining playing time, or whatever you call what a coach does at an All-Star game.  It’s a big deal, that’s the main thrust here.  Big, Big, Big deal.

And all without Stephen Jackson for more than half the game.  Luckily that didn’t become the story.  It’s been a concern of fans and reporters and Cap’n Jack did what he doos and got straight tossed after, what I thought, a legitimate argument could be portrayed.  He just didn’t handle it like a normal human being above the age of 13 would or should and got a technical and continued running off at the mouth until he got his second.  But enough about that because, seriously, believe me or not, it didn’t have an effect on the outcome of the game.

DJ Augustin struggled against Rajon Rondo and Shaun Livingston did not.  Jackson had his issues and Gerald Henderson had none.  Boris Diaw had trouble covering Kevin “Dirtier Than Yo Mama” Garnett but Eduordo Najera, DID NOT.  It was one of those games that you watch and you see the puzzle pieces once it’s over, because the pace was such that you couldn’t really say how and why things were going right towards the end. It was a script fans had seen before and I expected Ray Allen or Paul Pierce to be the hero again, but they…..DID NOT!  (Patterns, everybody loves them!)

The game was very close throughout, neither team getting more than 4 or 6 points ahead in the first half (looked really good when Kwame got fouled and bowed up to Kendrick Persons, followed by Wallace’s SICK DUNK to make it +6 ‘Cats).  The third quarter was actually dominated by the Celtics, but the Bobcats never have good third quarters so who cares.  It was the fourth that mattered.  5 different Bobcats scored in the fourth quarter, which doesn’t sound like much but when I tell you who they were, you might think otherwise.  Derrick Brown scored 3 points, all in one play, all in the fourth.  Edourdo Najera scored 5 points, one of which was a three pointer, timely in the fourth quarter.  Shaun Livingston, had 11 points by halftime, but he saved his most important baskets for the stretch run.  Liv had 7 points in the final 12 minutes.

You know who is playing huge?  HUDGE!  Gerald Henderson.  He is making timely, effient baskets.  He works hard on both ends of the court, staying with Ray Allen or Rondo on defense and freeing himself for a nice midrange jumper on offense.  It’s really great to see the kid flourish, and just in time too.  As much as I was all over Tyson Chandler yesterday for being in a contract year, I’m just as happy to see Hendo get his coming up on the end of his rookie deal.  He’s going to do things, maybe not be a star or even a regular starter for that matter but he is going to contribute going forward.  He finished with 15, six of which were in the fourth quarter.

As I said at halftime, Gerald Wallace would need to bring his energy and leadership and he hit clutch free throws to close out the game!  He led the Bobcats with 19 points, 16 (SIXTEEN!!!!) rebounds, 2 assists, a steal and a block.  It’s the complete stat line you expect from a guy with all-star on his resume.

Coach Paul Silas put it together.  He gave the guys mentioned above the confidence, when it had been torn away by their previous coach.  It’s the free-flowing, confident, swagger that the Bobcats need going forward if they have any intention on eclipsing their playoff run of a year ago.  Holding Kevin Garnett to 9 points?  Only Najera could do that and Silas stuck with him!  Rondo didn’t score in the second half…

I just can’t say enough about the win.  We’ll see if the shine is still there in the morning!