# Cavs vs Bobcats - 7PM EST - Dec 8th



## Benedict_Boozer

_vs_







​
*Cleveland Cavaliers* 
_vs_
*Charlotte Bobcats*

*Charlotte Bobcats Arena*
Charlotte, NC
Saturday, December 8th, 2007
7:00 pm EST


*Projected Starting 5*
*Cavaliers*:
*






PG - Daniel Gibson







SG – Shannon Brown







C – Zydrunas Ilgauskas







SF – Sasha Pavlovic







PF – Drew Gooden​* 
*Bobcats*:*







PG – Raymond Felton







SG – Jason Richardson







C – Primoz Brezec







SF – Gerald Wallace







PF – Emeka Okafor​*
*NOTES:*
*



The Cleveland Cavaliers have looked lost without LeBron James.

Even with James sidelined again on Saturday, however, the Cavaliers could have a good shot to snap their longest losing streak in nearly two years as they visit the Charlotte Bobcats -- the only Eastern Conference team with a longer active skid.

"It's definitely tough because we're struggling right now with me not being out there," James said. "I want to go out and help the guys."

Cleveland (9-11) had won four straight games with James in the lineup when the league's leading scorer sprained his left index finger while driving to the basket against Detroit on Nov. 28. He left the game, which Cleveland lost 109-74, and hasn't played since.

That defeat was the first of five in a row for the reigning conference champions -- their longest losing streak since a six-game skid Jan. 10-20, 2006. They were averaging 102.1 points and shooting 45.0 percent from the field in James' full games, but have scored only 78.2 per game and shot 37.8 percent during the slide.

"It's tough. The coach is struggling because he's trying to find new combinations. When LeBron is on the floor, 80 percent of our offense runs through him, and we feed off of him and that's why we're good," Cleveland center Zydrunas Ilgauskas said.

"But when you're missing that big part, all of a sudden you have to find the offense somewhere else. And sometimes I think we try to do too much individually."

James, averaging career highs of 30.7 points, 8.1 assists and 7.6 rebounds, is considered day-to-day but already has been ruled out of this game.

"Teams better get their wins now," James said. "They try to kill us and talk trash about us now ... When we get our guys back, it's going to be a different story."

One of those guys may be coming back Saturday.

Larry Hughes practiced Friday for the first time in weeks and is listed as questionable. He has been out since Nov. 4 with a leg injury.

Cleveland, though, is still without veteran forward Donyell Marshall (sprained wrist), and Anderson Varejao won't return until next week after his contract holdout recently came to an end.

"We can win games, but obviously we're going to have to get some bodies healthy for us to be able to get back to where we were at the end of last year," Cavs coach Mike Brown said after Wednesday's 105-86 loss at Washington.

A meeting with the Bobcats (6-11) could help solve the Cavaliers' problems. Cleveland has won nine of 11 games all-time against Charlotte, which is in the midst of a seven-game slide that has derailed the team's best start in franchise history.

The Bobcats were 6-4 before the skid, setting a franchise record for the latest in a season the team had been over .500.

Charlotte lost its third consecutive home game on Wednesday, blowing a seven-point fourth-quarter lead to fall 91-82 against Chicago. The Bobcats went 6-for-26 from 3-point range, and center Emeka Okafor took only seven shots.

"We don't need 26 3-point shots. We need to try to get to the rim," Charlotte coach Sam Vincent said. "We don't need the jumpers. We need to be trying to get the ball inside to Emeka even more."

Okafor has been limited to 10 points in back-to-back games, totaling only 13 rebounds in those contests despite averaging 11.9 this season. He's scoring a career-low 12.9 points per game despite shooting a career-best 53.5 percent from the field.

Despite their struggles against the Cavaliers, the Bobcats won both of their home games against them last season for their first two wins against Cleveland.

Gerald Wallace had 27 points, 11 rebounds and five blocked shots as Charlotte earned a season series split with a 108-100 overtime victory at Bobcats Arena on March 20 when these teams last met.

Click to expand...

*


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## futuristxen

No Lebron. No thanks!


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## Benedict_Boozer

Sasha 2 nice drives early


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## Benedict_Boozer

Shannon Brown continues showing some flashes and nice athleticism around the rim

Cavs up 19-11 early, solid start


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## SamTheMan67

damn were actually playing good. shannons looking good wtf?


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## SamTheMan67

can we still sign shannon even though we didnt pick his option up?


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## Brandname

Larry Hughes coming in.

Please play well!!


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## SamTheMan67

WOW gooden!


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## Benedict_Boozer

Larry Hughes back in action - looks like he bulked up a bit..

Great put-back by Drew


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## SamTheMan67

larrys driving as long as he drives he will be a decent player


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## Brandname

Shannon doesn't look bad when we don't use him as the primary ball handler. He'd be a decent player paired next to a good pg.


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## SamTheMan67

holy crap larry


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## Brandname

Wow, Larry with a NICE block! I'm scared.


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## SamTheMan67

lol watch larry just go nuts all of a sudden and become an allstar


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## Benedict_Boozer

SamTheMan67 said:


> can we still sign shannon even though we didnt pick his option up?


It will be alot more difficult. He can sign with anyone and we can't match

Dumb move by Ferry


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## Benedict_Boozer

Brandname said:


> Wow, Larry with a NICE block! I'm scared.


Larry generally has looked decent when he's healthy, which is like 3 games a year

I do like that he bulked up


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## Benedict_Boozer

Larry playing well early...

Lebron pumped up on the sidelines


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## Brandname

Larry hits a 3. I swear, I'm not gonna get my hopes up.


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## SamTheMan67

YES larrys lookign really good. good hops shots looking good!


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## Brandname

Great defense by Hughes there, just a great shot by JRich.


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## SamTheMan67

****k yess


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## SamTheMan67

i like that hughes didnt force a jumpshot there because usually whens he hot he will take any shot


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## Brandname

Ouch. Hurts to give up a 3 at the end of the quarter.


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## SamTheMan67

Dude if larry can stay healthy and be a 15ppg scorer on a decent percentage we will be such a better team


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## Benedict_Boozer

Every game during this stretch w/out LBJ has gone the same. Cavs in it early or leading after the 1st then they collapse.

Let's see if we can avoid that in this game


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## SamTheMan67

Benedict_Boozer said:


> Every game during this stretch w/out LBJ has gone the same. Cavs in it early or leading after the 1st then they collapse.
> 
> Let's see if we can avoid that in this game


they had a couple difficult 3's/ contested 2's off loose rebounds at the end of this quarter


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## hroz

Bet you guys are happy to have Larry back. Admittadely he isnt a pure PG but he can penetrate.


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## SamTheMan67

z shoulda moved there


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## Brandname

Ira taking fadeaways. Ticket to success.


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## Brandname

The best thing Larry can do for our team is to not overestimate his abilities. He needs to stick with what he's good at and not force jumpers.


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## SamTheMan67

wow larry


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## SamTheMan67

devin browns been crappier and crappier


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## Benedict_Boozer

Weak foul call on Hughes


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## SamTheMan67

larry should do that pump and drive when he catches like that


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## Brandname

Yeah not sure about that offensive foul call. But I'll live with it. 

The most important part of that sequence was that Larry tried to pull the shot back down rather than recklessly letting it go. I really like how he's played so far in this game. Very under control.


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## SamTheMan67

dude i think if larry stop forcing things and just makes the extra pass he will receive it back in a better position and cut his misses by a ton


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## Brandname

Nice pass by Damon there.


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## Benedict_Boozer

Damon Jones is a smart basketball player

And WTF is up with Devin Brown getting lit up defensively lately. He is getting beat off the dribble WAY too much


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## Brandname

Nice attacking by Larry there. Dude looks like an actual NBA player tonight.


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## Brandname

Wow Gooden got SO LOST on defense there.


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## Brandname

Larry tried to hammer that down! Awesome!


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## SamTheMan67

damn larry is looking REALLY good driving


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## Brandname

Dude, what's gotten into this guy?


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## SamTheMan67

LOL larrys crossing people


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## SamTheMan67

is larry hughes lebron now? holy **** that was a sick crossover


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## Brandname

hmmm perfect time to sit Larry I guess.


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## futuristxen

Wow. Haven't seen this Larry Hughes on the Cavs before. I wonder how long it will last? He looks really strong.


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## Brandname

Never thought I'd say this. But get Larry Hughes back in the game.


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## Benedict_Boozer

Brandname said:


> Never thought I'd say this. But get Larry Hughes back in the game.


Mike Brown has a horrible feel for when to sub players in and out


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## Brandname

There were AWFUL looking free throws by Dwayne Jones. How can so many NBA players be so bad at FTs?


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## Brandname

SHANNON BROWN! Wow!


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## Benedict_Boozer

WOW

LOL @ Lebron


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## SamTheMan67

Omg


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## Benedict_Boozer

Ferry is a real ******* for not picking up his option
Mike Brown is a real ******* for never playing him


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## Brandname

Is it just me or do Shannon's handles look quite a bit better this year? Still really bad, but a lot better IMO.


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## SamTheMan67

his handles are pretty crappy but lebrons were kinda suspect early too and now their among hte best in the league


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## Benedict_Boozer

More than his handles his decision making is much better


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## SamTheMan67

Well i'm just dreaming but if larry can play good we can throw sasha on the bench play larry with daniel, then bring sasha snow s. brown off the bench for defense/ offensive burst


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## Brandname

Gooden with a terrible long distance shot.


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## Brandname

Damn, really sloppy start to the 3rd, as usual.


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## Benedict_Boozer

Cavs continue the trend of getting smoked in the 3rd qtr


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## Brandname

How Emeka Okafor can ask for Dwight Howard money and go out there and get 1 REBOUND in the first half baffles me.


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## Brandname

WEAK fouls called here. I hate that, takes players out of the game.


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## Benedict_Boozer

Bobcats making a run, will the Cavs respond


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## Brandname

Bring Larry in for Sasha here. 

I don't think I understand the Snow substitution.


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## Benedict_Boozer

Boobie = SNIPER


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## Benedict_Boozer

Okafor is alot more raw than I thought


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## Brandname

Traveling? Close call, looked like nobody had control.


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## Brandname

So whatever happened to that NBA dress code thing?


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## Benedict_Boozer

Cavs killing themselves tonight with stupid mistakes

Z has to convert on those inside shots


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## Brandname

EXCELLENT defense by Larry there.


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## Brandname

We've scored 7 in the quarter. Egh.


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## Benedict_Boozer

Hughes again with excellent defense. By far his strongest game of the season


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## Benedict_Boozer

I kind of like Larry off the bench. He gives us a much needed scoring threat and floor general 

Sasha is playing so horribly though he will prob go back to the bench


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## Benedict_Boozer

Hughes finishing at the rim....


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## Brandname

Dude. Larry Hughes.


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## Brandname

I don't mind those shots from Shannon. He wasn't really being crowded, and he's not that bad of a shooter.


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## Brandname

That was a pretty weak call against DJ.


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## Benedict_Boozer

Nice close to the 3rd qtr

Newble 10 pts off the bench


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## Brandname

Why do officials call fouls that they don't see? 

When they start assuming a foul happened, that's when you're going to get players flopping like fish.


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## Brandname

Excellent shot to end the quarter by Hughes.


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## Benedict_Boozer

Hughes drills another one. 

It really seems like the weight lifting he was doing while he was out is helping his game. He looks much stronger


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## Brandname

Benedict_Boozer said:


> Hughes drills another one.
> 
> It really seems like the weight lifting he was doing while he was out is helping his game. He looks much stronger


lol, I'm watching on a widescreen TV without the aspect ratio turned to the proper 4:3. 

Everyone is stretched out horizontally and Hughes looks huge!


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## Brandname

WHAT?! Phantom call.... terrible refs.


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## Brandname

Wallace exaggerated the contact there like crazy.... this is becoming as bad as soccer!


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## Brandname

I like the move of putting Larry on Felton.


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## Brandname

That looked like a goaltend, but doesn't matter, we scored anyway.


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## Benedict_Boozer

Good hustle by Newble


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## Benedict_Boozer

Make Okafor finish some of these damn shots. We keep bailing him out with fouls


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## Brandname

Larry is just attacking. It's wonderful.


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## Brandname

Ball hit the rim there.


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## Brandname

Man, these refs are getting pretty much everything wrong.


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## Brandname

ugh, terrible call.


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## Benedict_Boozer

Odd lineup choice by Mike Brown.

This lineup without a center never really works


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## Benedict_Boozer

Great shot by Shannon B.

Cavs up 2 with 5 mins left


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## Brandname

I don't understand why Snow is in over Hughes right now.


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## Benedict_Boozer

Boobie draws the foul shooting the 3

Teams are running at him so hard he will get alot of those


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## Brandname

Benedict_Boozer said:


> Boobie draws the foul shooting the 3
> 
> Teams are running at him so hard he will get alot of those


I guess he only got 2.

:whoknows:


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## Benedict_Boozer

Brandname said:


> I don't understand why Snow is in over Hughes right now.


I don't get it either


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## Brandname

Bad foul by Shannon. Hughes finally replaces Snow.


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## Benedict_Boozer

Nice play by Larry drawing the foul.


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## Brandname

Wouldn't it be great to have Lebron on the floor right now? I'd feel very confident that we'd win.

Now? Not so much.


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## Basel

I haven't read through this thread, but I noticed on Yahoo that Larry Hughes is back. How's he doing for the Cavs? Better than he did before the injury? Looking at the stats, it appears he's having a pretty good game.


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## Benedict_Boozer

Come on Z, you can't get blocked on that shot 

Being in the penalty is killing us


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## Brandname

What an amazing block by Gerald Wallace.


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## Brandname

Basel57 said:


> I haven't read through this thread, but I noticed on Yahoo that Larry Hughes is back. How's he doing for the Cavs? Better than he did before the injury? Looking at the stats, it appears he's having a pretty good game.


He's playing very, very well. I'm so pleasantly surprised. But cautiously, too.


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## Benedict_Boozer

This is a loss.


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## Brandname

That didn't look like a travel at all.


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## Brandname

They had to know we were gonna foul Emeka.


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## Benedict_Boozer

Okafor again gets to the FT line. 

Make him finish a shot for once please


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## Benedict_Boozer

WTF is up with all the turnovers. Horrible execution down the stretch

Not having a closer (Lebron) is killer in tight games like this


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## Brandname

Larry's only shooting 38% from the field but he's having a better game than he's had in a long time because he's attacking. 8/9 from the FT line.


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## Benedict_Boozer

We haven't even gotten a shot at the basket the last 5 possessions

Also why foul there? Your only down 3 with 31sec plus on the clock


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## Brandname

Just as I say that, turnover. Bad bad execution down the stretch here.


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## Brandname

Wow, Shannon. Where did that come from, lol.


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## Benedict_Boozer

Nice drive by Shannon, missed the FT.

Comedy of errors down the stretch here. This game was really winnable


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## Brandname

*sigh*

This sucks.


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## Brandname

They replayed that travel against Gibson. It wasn't a travel.

The refs dropped the ball in this game almost as much as we did, lol.


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## Brandname

Neither team wants to win, lol.

Stupid stupid play by JRich.


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## Benedict_Boozer

Need a miss


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## Brandname

So you're saying there's a chance....


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## Benedict_Boozer

Clutch 3 by Boobie.

Still have a chance down 1 with 10 secs left


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## Benedict_Boozer

Felton killing it on the FT line


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## Benedict_Boozer

Let's see how Mike Brown does setting up an out-of-bounds play

Charlotte might foul here


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## Brandname

You simply have to find a way of getting Gibson a shot here.


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## Brandname

I can't believe they fouled him. 

Man, the Bobcats just suck.


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## Benedict_Boozer

I see why the Bobcats lose so many games. 

Just stupid, stupid mistakes by them down the stretch


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## Brandname

Arr... missed the first.


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## Benedict_Boozer

Brandname said:


> I can't believe they fouled him.
> 
> Man, the Bobcats just suck.


They may suck but without Lebron, we are even worse


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## Brandname

Benedict_Boozer said:


> They may suck but without Lebron, we are even worse


True, but they've made so many stupid mental errors down the stretch. I can't believe it.


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## Benedict_Boozer

Bobcats deserve the win.

They made their FT's, we missed ours with the game on the line


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## Benedict_Boozer

How does Felton keep getting the ball? We needed to put someone else on the line


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## Brandname

Felton won this game for the Bobcats. They should all thank him.


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## Benedict_Boozer

0-6 without Lebron. 

From 9-6 to 9-12.


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## futuristxen

Benedict_Boozer said:


> 0-6 without Lebron.
> 
> From 9-6 to 9-12.


Incredible. How many games did Hughes miss with his hand injury? What if something like that is happening to Lebron?

Hey we could reaally use some lottery balls this summer.


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## Shaoxia

futuristxen said:


> Incredible. How many games did Hughes miss with his hand injury? What if something like that is happening to Lebron?
> 
> Hey we could reaally use some lottery balls this summer.


The Cavs players really need some balls. They were much better than this when LeBron was out for some games in past seasons. I think they don't care much until he comes back.


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