Bismack Biyombo holds nerve at the death as Charlotte Bobcats edge out New Orleans Hornets – NBA Recap
I you think that thrillers can only be produced by the best teams in NBA, the think again because on Monday night, in the clash of the league lightweights, Charlotte Bobcats used a late third quarter surge and a clutch swat from
rookie Bismack Biyombo to grind out a 73-71 win in a Big Easy humdinger.
With time running out, only 5 seconds left in the game and the scores at 71-73, Al Farooq Aminu inbounded the ball to Trevor Ariza, who raced to the rack from the right wing, but was emphatically rejected by Biyombo as the Bobcats
held on for only their sixth win in 40 games this season.
"I just knew Bismack was going to be there," Gerald Henderson said after the game. "I didn't know if they [Hornets] were going to call a foul or not, but I knew he was going to go up and get the ball."
The Bobcats are by far the most undersized team in NBA, but on the night, they out-rebounded the Hornets 47-37 and also beat them in the points in the paint, 48-32. They were led by 15 points from Henderson while Kemba Walker added
14 points off the bench. The highlight of the night though was Biyombo. With 6-of-7 shooting, the centre had 12 points, hauled down 7 rebounds and also made 4 blocks.
Jarrett Jack paced New Orleans with 15 points, nine assists and four rebounds, Chris Kaman had 16 boards to go with 12 points, the tally also shared by Marco Belinelli and Trevor Ariza.
A 12-2 run early in the first quarter helped the Hornets take a 12-4 lead and they stretched it to 26-18 early in the second. The Bobcats reeled off an 8-2 run in the ensuing passage and then finished the half strongly to make
it a two point game at the break, 35-37.
Hornets started the second half with a 9-4 spurt only to be answered with an 8-2 Bobcats reply and the back and forth action meant that the teams stayed close at 55-51, advantage Hornets, entering into the last two minutes of the
quarter.
With 2:05 to go, Biyombo made a dunk to initiate an 11 point unanswered run and which Henderson finished with a three point play to give Charlotte a 61-55 lead.
An 8-0 burst at the start of the fourth pushed the lead to 71-58 and the Bobcats seemed to have the situation under control.
But, then they decided to show why they are the worst team in NBA this season.
The visitors clanked their next eight field shots; clearing way for an 11-0 Hornets run which brought the scores to 69-71, 2:22 remaining. Aminu had 6 of his 8 points during the spurt.
Boris Diaw made a deuce to increase the Bobcats lead to 4 again but with 1:04 left, a Jarrett floater made it 71-73. Both team fluffed their next possessions and after Diaw missed a three, the Hornets had a chance to take the game
into overtime. Ariza however couldn’t get past Biyombo.
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