Gameday Blog: Nice Night for Some History

By Steve Martin, Bobcats Play-by-Play
For Foxsportscarolinas.com

March 16, 2010

Indianapolis-- It's a rare clear day in mid-March in the Hoosier state. Looks like a great day to make history. The Bobcats have won a record tying 6 straight games and sit in 6th in the wild Eastern Conference playoff race. Tonight offers another opportunity to stay ahead of the crowd back of the Bobcats in 7-8-9 as well as elevate their conference record to 2 games over the .500 mark.

Indiana is 21-45 but they have split with the Bobcats on the season. It's been 3 months since they last met, December 16th here at Conseco Fieldhouse. The Pacers squeaked out a 101-98 win behind Troy Murphy's 26 points. The Pacers season has been marred with injuries and they'll have some key people out tonight. Point guard T.J. Ford, forward Jeff Foster and rookie Tyler Hansbrough all will miss tonight's game. Sharpshooter Mike Dunleavy caught a ball that caromed off the rim in pre game warmups against Milwaukee on Sunday over the right eye and missed the game with a contusion. He is questionable tonight.

The Bobcats will be without Gerald Wallace for the second straight game, although he is improving and has shed his walking boot. He is targeting the games this weekend against Atlanta and Miami for a possible return. Newcomer Larry Hughes is still 2 days away from his first practice and could also be ready for the big road double dip on Friday and Saturday.

The win streak numbers are impressive for the Bobcats. They've outscored opponents 97.6 to 87.5. Their shooting percentage is .479 from the field as opposed to .429 for their 6 opponents. They also enjoy a rebounding edge of 44.8 to 37.1.

The boards will be key tonight against Indiana. Even though the series is split so far, the Bobcats have enjoyed a 5 rebound edge. Once again 3-point shooting has favored the opponent. Indiana has made 17 three's in the two games, while the Bobcats have only managed 5. Troy Murphy is the player the Bobcats can ill afford to let go off tonight. Murphy has turned it up lately, averaging 16.6 over the last 5 games. He's coming off his 28th double-double of the season in Sunday's loss at Milwaukee.

With Wallace out, Stephen Graham stpes back into the starting lineup. In 6 starts this season, Graham averages 7.5 points and 3.5 rebounds. Stick Graham into the lineup more than 20 minutes a game and his numbers go up to 9.4 points per game and 5.1 rebounds. That has happened 7 times this season. Against Orlando Sunday night, Graham scored 12 and hauled down 6 boards. No wonder Coach Brown is so quick to put Graham into the game when Gerald is hurt or in foul trouble.

Scott Fowler of the Charlotte Observer had a great blog description of Stephen Jackson. He said Jackson always takes the floor with the thought that he's the best player on the floor, even when he isn't. Jack may not have been the best player on the floor when the game started in Orlando, but he was unquestionably the best when the game ended.

We'll start with Bobcats Live at 6:30 on Sports South. You can catch the game on Channel 60 if you are a Time Warner customer in the Charlotte area, Dish has the game on Channel 451, while Direct TV has it on Channel 650.