Game Day April 2, 2010
By Steve Martin for Foxsportscarolinas.com
Huge day for Bobcats Nation. The Bucks are in town and they have been flat out getting it done since the All Star Break. They lost narrowly to Cleveland Wednesday night 101-98. It marked the Bucks first loss to a winning team in the last 6. The Bucks are safe and secure in 5th place in the East with their 41-33 record. As close Miami seems to them, as well as the Bobcats, the Bucks are in a very good position because they own the tiebreakers with Miami, Charlotte, Toronto, and Chicago. They lead the Bobcats in their season series 2-1 and have a better conference record than the Bobcats.
The Bucks shoot just under 44% as a team but they make up for with the 3rd highest number of 3-pointers with 579. They are 14 shy of tying a team record. The key to the Bucks success are twofold. 1. With the exception of Michael Redd, they have stayed relatively injury free. 2. They've replaced Redd capably with John Salmons. In a deal they struck with Chicago that cost them Hakim Warrick, the Bucks got a splasher from the wing. The Bucks are 17-5 since the trade.
The Bobcats magic number to clinch is 5. Any combination of Bobcats wins and Bulls losses totalling 5 puts the Bobcats into the playoff for the first time. The Bobcats are just 3 wins away from assuring themselves of their first ever winning season. The records keep rolling in on the 6th edition of the Bobcats.
It's possible that Nazr Mohammed will be back and ready to play after 20 games out with back spasms. Tyrus Thomas told me yesterday that he's feeling better after a sprained ankle suffered late last week. Stephen Jackson still has a twinge with his Achilles, but vows that the games are too big to miss now. It helped that he only had to play 25 minutes against Philadelphia Wednesday.
A key matchup tonight will be the Bobcats center fleet against Andrew Bogut. #6 for the Bucks has had a great season and he's blocked a shot in each of the last 37 games. He's second in the NBA in blocked shots. The Bucks magic number is 3 to clinch a playoof spot, but a win tonight assures them of their first winning season in 6 years. That's a lofty accomplishment for a team that was 18-25 on January 23.
See the game tonight in Charlotte on Fox Sports Carolinas, Time Warner channel 40 at 6:30 with Bobcats Live. Dish Network folks can see the game on channel 473, Direct TV has it on channel 645.
