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It was a battle in Oakland on Friday night as the Bobcats faced the Golden State Warriors in the third game of a four-game road trip. With 10 lead changes and 12 ties, neither team was able to capture and maintain a sizeable advantage. For the Bobcats though, the final 4:10 of the game proved to be their undoing as they fell, 107-100, at the hands of the Warriors.

Trailing by just three with 4:10 left in the game, the Bobcats hit a dry spell, missing six of their final eight shots. Golden State, one of the hottest teams in the league, did not hesitate to take advantage as Jason Richardson scored two easy buckets, including a powerful dunk, to propel the Warriors on a 6-0 run and help them build a nine-point lead with 2:13 left in the game.

Three free throws followed by a three-point bucket by Matt Carroll helped the Bobcats pull within five with 26 seconds remaining, but Golden State sank four shots from the charity stripe in the final 24 seconds to help them seal their fifth-straight win.

Free throws played an integral role throughout the game. In the first quarter, the Bobcats hit 12-13 free throws, while the Warriors came up empty handed going 0-1 from the line. A made free throw by Emeka Okafor at the 4:53 mark of the first period sparked a 13-4 Bobcats run that gave Charlotte a 28-22 lead with 44 seconds left in the quarter. But it wasn't only the free throw shooting that helped the Bobcats build an advantage. Charlotte stepped it up on the defensive end with Okafor recording four of his career-best six blocked shots in the period.

In the second quarter, with Golden State within three, the Bobcats exploded, going on an 11-3 run, capped by an alley-oop dunk from Gerald Wallace to push their lead to 11 with 6:21 left in the first half. Golden State didn't fold, as guard Derek Fischer scored six of his 11 second-quarter points, during a 15-5 run that brought the Warriors to within one with 3:24 remaining in the stanza.

Just 46 seconds later, Richardson hit a jump shot to give the Warriors back the lead. The game see-sawed back and forth over the final 1:45 before Kareem Rush connected on a fade-away jumper to give Charlotte a 57-54 lead at halftime.

The Bobcats came out ice cold to start the third quarter connecting on just one of their first 11 shots. The drought enabled the Warriors to go on a 13-3 run and take a seven-point advantage at the 6:49 mark of the third. Free throw shooting again helped Charlotte get back in the game, as they connected on nine free throws over a 5:37 stretch to aid a 15-4 run and help them grab the lead back and take a four-point advantage with 1:12 left in the period.

Headed into the fourth quarter, the Bobcats held a narrow two-point advantage. Golden State, behind six points quick points from Calbert Cheaney, outscored Charlotte 10-2 in the opening 2:45 of the final period to build an eight-point margin. The Bobcats were able to once again narrow the gap to two on several occasions, before two three-pointers pushed the lead back to eight for the Warriors. Five Charlotte free throws cut the lead to three at the 4:10 mark.

The Bobcats finished the game shooting just 33.3 percent (27-81) from the field compared to 41.6 percent (37-89) by Golden State. Charlotte connected on 43 free throws while the Warriors made 25 shots from the line.

Brevin Knight and Okafor each scored 19 points to lead the Bobcats while Okafor also added 10 rebounds. Primoz Brezec once again had a strong performance for Charlotte posting his second double-double of the season with 14 points and a team-high 11 rebounds.

Three Warriors players finished with double-doubles. Baron Davis posted 21 points and 14 assists while Troy Murphy recorded 18 points and 12 rebounds. Adonal Foyle also had a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Golden State was paced in the scoring column by Richardson with 22 points.

The Bobcats conclude their four-game road trip on Sunday as they travel to Los Angeles to face the Lakers at 9:30 p.m.

NOTES: The loss drops the Bobcats to 5-12 on the season...Charlotte has lost eight straight road games...Center Primoz Brezec has posted double-figure scoring totals in the last four games...Over that stretch he is averaging 15.0 points and shooting 60.0 percent (24-40) from the field...Emeka Okafor recorded his second consecutive double-double and his 12th of the season...After missing three games with right knee swelling, Sean May returned to the court and posted three points and three rebounds in 7:53 minutes...The Warriors won the rebounding battle 57-42.

INSIDE THE LOCKERROOM
General Manager and Head Coach Bernie Bickerstaff
The problem with us was coming from our big men not getting an opportunity to score in the paint. They are playing against three or four guys, and were trying to search to find perimeter scoring. There was a point in the game where we were in the basketball game, but we settled for four straight jump shots. That was the difference in the basketball game. Our guys got tired, and they took the easy way out.

Bobcats Guard Brevin Knight
We couldn’t get any buckets at the end of the fourth. They did a good job of scoring, and that was the name of the game. We were just trying to get to the basket, get into the bonus and shoot free throws as much as possible. I am about done taking positives from losses, when we start winning, that’s when I can draw positives.

Bobcats Forward Gerald Wallace
A couple key possessions here, a stop here a rebound there, and we had this game won. Teams are too good in the NBA when given second and third chances, especially when we are in control of the ball game. I think we allowed that tonight and it showed.

(On the play of Jason Richardson and Baron Davis) They played great. They are the two stars of the team. They came and got the win and did what they needed to do.