Posted on Fri, Jan. 25, 2008

Bobcats throw this one back

Down by 3 late, Charlotte threat fizzles against Dallas

RICK BONNELL

The Charlotte Bobcats are still too new for throwback jerseys. They're not too new to play a throwback game.

Remember those first two Bobcats teams? They'd surprise you with their feistiness against an elite opponent, only to fritter away a winnable game in the last three minutes.

That's what happened in a 102-95 loss to the Dallas Mavericks Wednesday at Bobcats Arena. They were down three with 21/2 minutes left and had multiple opportunities to put the pressure back on the Mavericks.

Instead, they missed three straight shots and then point guard Raymond Felton was called for a charge, drawn by Dallas guard Devin Harris, negating a prime opportunity to score.

Game over, with the Mavericks (28-13) scoring six unanswered points.

"The only frustration I have," coach Sam Vincent said, "we have three or four possessions when we don't get a real good shot.

"I feel like we've got to get to that point where we know who to go to and we get a real good shot from them."

Although the right guys were shooting -- Gerald Wallace and Jason Richardson are consistently good for 20 or more per game -- they didn't put up great shots.

Wallace missed a 3-pointer early in the shot clock, after Emeka Okafor (19 points, 10 rebounds) rebounded his own missed free throw. Wallace later missed a drive, though that was partially because of his lacking explosion; he played all 48 minutes with a strained left calf.

There was a consensus all around -- from Felton, Richardson and Wallace -- that they should learn from this one.

"We've got to get a little bit smarter," said Richardson (22 points, eight rebounds and five assists). "Find better shots than what we took."

You must play smart offense because you know the Mavericks will. They found their shooters and there are plenty of those: Harris finished with 23 points and Dirk Nowitzki and former Wake Forest star Josh Howard had 20 and 21, respectively.

The Mavericks were particularly precise in the first quarter, generating 30 points to build a 13-point lead.

That was troubling to Wallace (22 points, 11 rebounds), also in a throwback way: He thought his team had solved the early-season problem of lethargic starts.

"Today we kind of walked around on our heels" early, Wallace said. "Then we expended all our energy, just getting back into the game."