03/11/2010 - 14:28
TC, Bobcats Hitting Stride
by Devon Jeffreys

For the Charlotte Bobcats, the return of Tyson Chandler came just in the nick of time.

When Tyson returned to the Charlotte lineup last Friday against the Los Angeles Lakers, the Cats were on the downturn, having lost five of their last six.

But since then, the Cats have won four straight, led by a reinforced defense with TC in the middle.

The Bobcats completed a back-to-back sweep on Wednesday night, toppling the Philadelphia 76ers 102-87, one night after defeating their division rivals, the Miami Heat, 83-78 on Tuesday night in Charlotte.

Tyson scored 12 points on Wednesday, camping out in the paint where he was all over the boards, as reported by RotoWorld:

"Tyson Chandler had 12 points and five rebounds in 15 minutes off the bench in Wednesday's blowout of the Sixers.

This was clearly Chandler's best game since returning from that foot injury. He was the first big off the bench, ahead of Tyrus Thomas, and was really active on the glass. We suspect Chandler's playing time will gradually rise and he'll eventually settle into the 20 minute a game range."

Ty's five boards were one more than he pulled down in nearly 17 minutes against the Heat on Tuesday. He finished with five points and four boards, a block and a steal in the victory over Miami. His progress led to a compliment from David Arnott of Bobcats blog Rufus on Fire:

"Tyson Chandler and Theo Ratliff are doing their jobs…Chandler looks like he's staying within himself and making sure he makes the correct play rather than aiming for the spectacular play -- leave that to Tyrus Thomas."

But Tyson's success hasn’t come purely on the defensive end as No. 6 has also been remarkably efficient on the offensive side of the ball since his return.

He's 8-of-9 from the field, taking high percentage shots including dunks and layups. He's also drawn a plethora of fouls and is hitting from the charity stripe at a 69 percent (9-13) clip. His 12 points on Wednesday marked his first time scoring in double digits since December 20th at Madison Square Garden.

NO ADMITTANCE
Their offense has had it's peaks and valleys, but there's no question what has put the Charlotte Bobcats firmly in the playoff hunt this season, their defense.

Charlotte is limiting opponents to just 93.8 points per game, the lowest number in the league. Over those last four games, that defense has been even better. They've limited the high scoring offenses of the Los Angeles Lakers, Golden State Warriors, Miami Heat and Philadelphia 76ers to an average of 84.5 points per game.

Bobcats coach Larry Brown praised his defense after the victory over Miami, as quoted by Bobcats Break:

"We’ve become a better team in the last week," said Bobcats Head Coach Larry Brown. "I think the key is we are defending much better. In general, I thought we contested shots. We didn’t give up second shots. We didn’t get in foul trouble. There were a lot of positive things.

"We defended great and we rebounded great in the second half. But we have never defended better than that against a quality team."

Tyson's return to the lineup has increased Charlotte's presence inside, where they have been thin because of injuries to Ty, DeSagana Diop and Nazr Mohammed. But with No. 6 back clogging the lane for penetrating opponents, the Charlotte defense has become even more difficult to conquer.

"We didn’t have a great first half defensively against Miami, but the second half was spectacular, Brown said after Wednesday night's win. "We didn’t have a great first half against Golden State, but in the second half we defended much better. Against L.A., the whole game we were pretty darn good (defensively), and tonight for the most part we were pretty darn good. For the most part, that’s thanks to the things Gerald (Wallace) talked about – communicating on defense and getting aggressive defensively."

The defensive aggressiveness has the Cats sitting in the seventh spot in the East's playoff race, just two games out of the fifth spot with 19 games to play.

NEXT UP
The Bobcats return from their trip to Philadelphia for a Friday night showdown with the Los Angeles Clippers at Time Warner Cable Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. EST and the game can be seen on Fox Sports Carolinas.

RELATED STORIES
Bobcats extend winning streak with convincing win over 76ers (Bobcats Break, March 10, 2010)
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Bobcats come back, defeat the Heat 83-78 (Rufus on Fire, March 9, 2010)
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