03/29/2010 - 08:17
Three Straight for TC, Cats
by Devon Jeffreys

Tyson Chandler and the Bobcats are on the brink of doing something very special for the city of Charlotte.

The Bobcats won their third straight game on Friday night, defeating the Washington Wizards for the second time this week, 107-96, at Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte. The victory moved them three games ahead of the Toronto Raptors, who occupy the final Eastern Conference playoff spot and 3.5 games ahead of the Chicago Bulls who are the first team on the outside looking in.

With 10 games remaining, even a mere 6-4 finish should be enough to get the Bobcats into the postseason for the first time in franchise history. It would be the first time that Charlotte has experienced playoff basketball since 2002, when the Hornets still called Charlotte home.

On Friday night, the Bobcats weren't at their playoff best, according to coach Larry Brown, as he told reporters after the game.

"No matter who we play, it's a playoff game," Larry Brown said. "It doesn't matter whether Washington is in the playoffs or not. Every game is like a playoff game. If we're fortunate enough to make it, we want to be going into a situation where we're playing our best."

But Charlotte's ability to pull out a win anyway showed that the team is continuing to mature.

Tyson finished with four points, five rebounds, a steal and a block. No. 6 checked into the game with 30 seconds left in the first quarter and pulled down the first of his five rebounds early in the second. But TC did most of his work late in the game. After recording zero points and two boards in the first three quarters, Ty went off for three boards and four points in the fourth quarter as Charlotte pulled away.

Michael Lee of the Washington Post described the fourth quarter action:

"The [Wizards] had some hope that the streak would come to an end when Nick Young made a turnaround jumper early in the fourth quarter to cap a 10-0 run that brought them to 85-81. The Bobcats scored the next six points, with Tyson Chandler providing an emphatic rebound dunk and later blocking Young's dunk attempt, sending him crashing to the floor."

TC had two resounding dunks in the fourth the putback off a Tyrus Thomas miss, his second rebound in nine seconds, one on each end, made it 89-81. Several minutes later the Bobcats pulled ahead by double digits and No. 6 put an exclamation point on it with an alley-oop off of a feed from Raymond Felton to make it 98-86.

Tyson was a perfect 2-2 from the field and of his five boards, three came on the offensive end.

NEXT UP
The Bobcats have received rave reviews for their defense this weekend, with features in both the New York Times and USA Today.

The Cats have allowed the fewest points per game in the league this season and by limiting the Wizards to 96 points on Friday extended their streak of games without allowing 100 to 13. Tyson told the NY Times, it's just been a matter of the team coming together on both sides of the ball:

"This was a team with great, young talent," Chandler said. "They were just missing a couple pieces. Now, the pieces are starting to come together."

The Cats will look to make it 14 in a row under 100 and four in a rowi in the win column when they host the Toronto Raptors tonight 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
Brown's patchwork defense may weave playoff tale (New York Times, March, 27, 2010)
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/28/sports/basketball/28bobcats.html
Bobcats' success fueled by well-rounded defense (USA Today, March 26, 2010)
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/nba/2010-03-25-3575808802_x.ht...
Wizards lose 14th straight, 107-96 to Bobcats (Washington Post, March 27, 2010)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/26/AR201003...
Bobcats enter rare territory (Charlotte Observer, March 27, 2010)
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/03/27/1341245/bobcats-enter-rare-t...
Wizards vs. Bobcats Play by Play (NBA.com, March 26, 2010)
http://www.nba.com/games/20100326/WASCHA/gameinfo.html