Indiana Pacers beat Charlotte Bobcats again; New Orleans Hornets thump Cleveland Cavaliers – NBA Roundup
Indiana Pacers 102 vs. Charlotte Bobcats 88
With David West struggling to find his shot, Tyler Hansbrough sprinted off the bench to drop 22 points and grab 9 rebounds, leading the Indiana Pacers to a 102-88 win at the Time Warner Cable Arena on Wednesday night.
Corey Maggette scored 20 points for the Bobcats, who also got 15 points from D.J. Augustin and 14 from Kemba Walker. A 13-3 run midway through the first quarter propelled the Bobcats to a 19-10 lead, which by the end of the frame
was reduced to 28-23. The Pacers really turned the heat late in the second and with 3:46 left in the half; they sprinted to a 12-0 to carve out a 50-40 lead.
The teams went into the locker room with the Bobcats trailing by 8. A strong showing by the hosts however meant that the game got tied at 62, midway through the period. That was when the Pacers exploited the size advantage and
pounded the Bobcats on the glass to first start a 16-6 run and then turn the screws further in the last quarter to seal the win.
New Orleans Hornets 89 vs Cleveland Cavaliers 84
On a cold shooting night for top overall draft pick Kyrie Irving, the New Orleans Hornets found 22 points and 13 rebounds from Chris Kaman for an 89-84 win. Irving managed a poor 2 of 13 from the floor as the Cavs failed to counter
the Hornets, who never trailed in the game.
The Hornets were leading by 12 at the start of the fourth, but let their guard loose in the ensuing passage to allow the Cavaliers an 11 point unanswered run for a 70-71 game with 8:34 remaining. New Orleans failed to score a field
goal for the next three minutes, but the Cavaliers out matched their cold shooting by missing their next 12 attempts from the floor and committing 3 turnovers. The Cavalier slump allowed the Hornets to slowly build a 81-74 lead and after that, they never looked
back.
Antawn Jamison had team highs of 22 points and 12 rebounds for the Cavaliers.