Bobcats 92, Wizards 89

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No Live Blog, Truth's DVR went on strike

Queen City Hoops
Bobcats Baseline

Highest Plus/Minus: Andray Blatche (+13)
Lowest Plus/Minus: JaVale McGee (-12)
Best Five Man Unit: Mike James, Caron Butler, Dominic McGuire, Antawn Jamison, Darius Songaila (+6 in the 3rd Quarter)
Worst Five Man Unit: Mike James, Nick Young, Caron Bulter, Darius Songaila, JaVale McGee (-6 in the 3rd Quarter)

Four Factors:

Photo of the Game:

(Photo by Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images)

Javaris Crittenton will make layups, but he will not make them with a smile on his face.

Game Thread Comment of the Game: "71% shooting is a.) great, and b.) unsustainable." by Jon L

Jon L's comment would end up being prophetic as the Wizards fell apart during the stretch, only making 7 of their 18 shots in the 4th, opening the door for the Bobcats to eek out the win on the road.

It fit the classic profile for a crushing Wizards defeat.  Let's run through the checklist:

• Lose to a team that's ten games under .500 at home?  Check!
• Allow a former teammate (Juwan Howard?) to go off for a season high (12 points!!!)?  Check!
• Let two borderline D-League players (Shannon Brown and Adam Morrison) combine for 20 points?  Check!
• Watch as the opposing team makes a tough shot down the stretch to turn the momentum while the Wizards miss a much easier shot that could've won the game?  Check!

It was a tough defeat, but certainly not one that we haven't seen before.  Still, there's a lot of good that can be taken away from last night's game to build on for the rest of this stretch.

• For the first time in about a week, the Wizards came out of the gate with a strong start.  After hearing Caron's comments on Gilbert's status, I wouldn't be shocked if that wasn't behind some of the sluggish play this week, but that's just me speculating.  Regardless of whatever caused it, it's nice to see they're out of that funk.
  
• Javaris Crittenton had another solid game last night.  He's still finding his way with the offense, but he's definitely coming along and he's being rewarded with more playing time.  He's played over 20 minutes in the last 3 games and 4 of the last 6.  He's still trying to find his shot, but the rest of his game has come along very nicely.
• Speaking of finding his shot, Nick Young has been hot like fire the last two games, hitting 18 of his 24 shots (75%!).
• In keeping with the youngsters theme, I'd be remiss if I didn't show off JaVale's monster dunk from last night:

• In the last match-up, Emeka Okafor destroyed the Wizards inside.  This time, the Wizards did a much more respectable job on the big man, holding him to 9 points and six rebounds.  Also, renowned Wizard-killer Gerald Wallace was shut out of the point tally completely.  Maybe focusing too much on those two cost them in the end, but you can't fault them for trying a new strategy.
  
• People say that playing point guard is lot like being a quarterback.  Maybe that explains why Charlotte's starting point guard had as many turnovers as the starting quarterback of the team that plays in Charlotte.
  
• Finally, for those of you wondering, the last time the Wizards only attempted three three-pointers in a game was February 25, 2004.  You may remember that as the game where Gilbert refused to shoot the ball for the first 3.5 quarters of the game.  In this case, I wouldn't be shocked if it was something more along the lines of Tapscott stressing penetration and everyone taking it a little too seriously.