National Basketball Association

Raptors-Bobcats Preview

Published Nov. 6, 2013 10:47 p.m. ET

foxsports

The Charlotte Bobcats put an end to their road plight Tuesday night in New York.

They're looking to extend someone else's Wednesday night when they host the Toronto Raptors, hoping to hand them a sixth straight loss at Time Warner Cable Arena.

The Bobcats (2-2) ended a 16-game road losing streak with a 102-97 win against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden.

"We're happy with it (the record)," Bobcats guard Gerald Henderson said. "It's not fun to come out here and lose every night. We put a lot of work into it just like every other team. So 2-2 is cool now."

They're in position to start 3-2 for the first time since 2009-10, a franchise-best start through five games, after going 21-61 a season ago.

Kemba Walker scored a team-high 25 points despite missing some of the second half with a shoulder injury. He went to the locker room but returned midway through the fourth to help hold off a Knicks comeback.

"The last four or five minutes wasn't easy," Bobcats coach Steve Clifford said. "We had a lot of guys step up and make plays. To me, those are the best kind of games to win."

Clifford says an MRI on Walker's shoulder was negative and he expects the third-year point guard to play against the Raptors.

Henderson added 18 points and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist had 16, season highs for both.

The Bobcats had their best game of the year on the glass, outrebounding the Knicks 51-33 after losing the battle of the boards in each of the first three games.

They've won two of three without power forward Al Jefferson, who has been out since playing through a sprained ankle in the season opener at Houston.

The Raptors (2-2) haven't won in Charlotte since March 29, 2010. They went 2-2 against the Bobcats last year, losing the last meeting 107-101 in Charlotte on March 20.

Coming of Saturday's victory in Milwaukee, Toronto fell 104-95 to visiting Miami on Tuesday.

DeMar DeRozan scored 21 points while Rudy Gay recorded his second straight double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

"This showed us where we're at and how much we have to work," Gay said.

The Raptors went scoreless for 4:28 to open the fourth quarter as they turned the ball over on eight of their first nine possessions. It resulted in a 12-0 Heat run and 90-74 deficit for the Raptors.

"Those turnovers in that one stretch broke our back," Raptors coach Dwane Casey said.

DeRozan and Gay have each led the team in scoring twice this year.

DeRozan leads the team with 20.5 points per game while Gay has played a little bigger with Jefferson out. He has 25 rebounds in two games after last going back-to-back games with double-digit rebounds Dec. 26-28, 2011. He's never done it in three straight.

After being traded from Memphis to the Raptors last season on Jan. 30, Gay averaged 26.5 points in two games against the Bobcats.