04/26/2010 - 11:16
Trying to Stay Alive
by Devon Jeffreys

The postseason hasn't gone the way Tyson Chandler and the Charlotte Bobcats envisioned.

But now with their backs against the wall with the Orlando Magic, the Bobcats need only to worry about winning one game at a time to keep their season alive. That first chance comes tonight when Charlotte hosts Orlando at Time Warner Cable Arena in a win or go home scenario.

The Magic sent the series to the brink with a 90-86 win on Saturday in which the Bobcats once again contained dominant Magic center Dwight Howard.

Despite their limited impact on offense, it was strong defense from Tyson, Nazr Mohammed and Theo Ratliff that held Howard at bay. But for the second time in three games, Charlotte was burned by a career-high 32 points from Magic point guard Jameer Nelson. That victory gave Orlando a 3-0 edge in the series making Monday's matchup an elimination game. The Bobcats will quickly have to put their Saturday mistakes in the past if they hope to survive on Monday.

Without a postseason history, the Bobcats don't have any experience in elimination games, but TC does. Over his career, teams Tyson has played on have compiled just a 1-4 record in elimination games, but Ty seems to play his best under the pressure of a do or die moment. In those five elimination games, TC has averaged 10.2 points and 10.4 rebounds per game. He's also never been on a team that has been swept out of the playoffs, a good omen for tonight's matchup.

After Game 2, Tyson foreshadowed that things might not come as easy at home as some might expect. The venue doesn't matter if the team doesn't play well.

"We can't take that as, 'We're back in our place now, it's going to come easy for us,' because it's not," Tyson said last Wednesday night. "We have to play solid basketball on both ends. Right now, we're playing solid basketball on one end. If we can play on both, things will change. But it doesn't matter where you're playing, if you're only playing good on one end and not the other, we're not going to get a win."

Tyson then noted that the series doesn't technically start until one team wins a road game. Now that the Magic have done so, the Bobcats face a do or die proposition.

Tip-off of tonight's Game 4 is scheduled for 8 p.m. EST and the game can be seen on TNT.