Bobcats beat Jazz 104-96 in injury-riddled matchup
AP News | 2008-11-15 01:49:02
<div id="subtitle">Richardson, Felton lead Bobcats past Jazz 104-96 in matchup of injury-riddled teams</div><div><p>Raymond Felton scored 23 points, Gerald Wallace added 22 and Charlotte Bobcats won a matchup of undermanned teams, holding off the Utah Jazz 104-96 on Friday night. While the Bobcats played without top scorer Jason Richardson (knee), the Jazz were without point guard Deron Williams (ankle), sixth-man Andrei Kirilenko (finger) and center Mehmet Okur, who is with his sick father in Turkey.</p><p>It produced a night of odd lineups and matchups for two coaches with more than 2,000 combined wins, with Charlotte's Larry Brown getting his third victory since taking over the Bobcats by edging Jerry Sloan.</p><p>The backups were the difference.</p><p>While Matt Carroll replaced Richardson in the starting lineup, it was Adam Morrison who played the bulk of the minutes at shooting guard. The No. 3 pick in the 2006 draft, who missed all of last season because of a knee injury, scored 15 points, including a 3-pointer with 5:06 left that put Charlotte ahead 87-82.</p><p>The Bobcats then held on despite solid free-throw shooting by Wallace and Felton to snap a two-game losing streak.</p><p>Carlos Boozer had 26 points and 15 rebounds for the Jazz, who committed 20 turnovers in their third loss in four games following a 5-0 start.</p><p>Ronnie Price started for Williams, who was out after suffering a setback in his recovery from a left ankle injury that sidelined him for the first six games. Brevin Knight played the point down the stretch, and committed two key turnovers against his former team, and allowing Brown to inch a little closer to Sloan (1,095-1,013) on the career list.</p><p>How the coaches with the fourth- and fifth-most wins NBA history got there couldn't be more different.</p><p>Sloan, the longest-tenured coach in the four major professional sports, is in his 21st season with the Jazz. Brown has coached seven teams in that span, with Friday marking his eighth game with the Bobcats.</p><p>Before the game, Brown reminisced an exchange he had with Sloan before the deciding game of a 1992 playoff series when Brown was with the Los Angeles Clippers.</p><p>"He said to me, 'You know, Larry, this might my last game if you guys beat us," Brown said. "Think about that. I've been about eight different places since and he's won about 8 million games."</p><p>Replied Sloan: "I felt that way before every game, up until the last year or so. ... I've been real lucky my owner didn't run me off."</p><p>The Bobcats, who came in last in the NBA in scoring at 87.3 points a game, shot 47 percent and hit 19 of 20 free throws in the fourth quarter as Brown tinkered with his lineup.</p><p>Struggling center Emeka Okafor played only 8 minutes in the first half, and Charlotte rallied from an 12-point second-quarter deficit to take a 44-43 halftime lead on Jared Dudley's jumper.</p><p>Sean May also started for the first time since the opener, when Brown criticized his conditioning following knee surgery. He had eight points and four rebounds in 19 minutes.</p><p>Notes:@ Price had 14 points and five turnovers and Knight had eight points and three turnovers playing in place of Williams. They combined for eight turnovers. ... Wallace was 5-of-13, but made 12 of 14 free throws and added nine rebounds.</p><img src="http://admatch-syndication.mochila.com/images/ad.gif?aid=37034999&bid=informcom" /></div><div id="copyright"><div>
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