QUARTER-BY-QUARTER ANALYSIS
First quarter: Playing their second game of a four-game road trip, the Bobcats were sluggish coming out of the gate making only one of their first six shots. The Jazz wasted no time taking advantage of the Bobcats misses to build an early 8-3 lead. Jazz shooting guard Gordan Giricek was hot early scoring seven points and helping the Jazz extend their lead over the Bobcats to eight (14-6) with 7:17 left in the first quarter. The Bobcats got five quick points from Gerald Wallace to cut the lead to two. Trailing by 5 with 2:49 left in the quarter, the Bobcats, sparked by six points from Jason Kapono, took advantage of an 8-2 run to claim a one-point lead. Jazz rookie Kirk Snyder answered, scoring four points in the last 34 seconds of the quarter to give the Jazz a 27-24 lead at the end of one.

Second quarter:To start the quarter, the Bobcats took advantage of several missed shots, turnovers and fouls by the Jazz to go on a 7-0 run and build a 31-27 lead. At that stage of the game, however, Jazz forward Andrei Kirilenko returned to the game and scored seven points during a 13-2 run by the Jazz that gave Utah a seven point lead over Charlotte. The Bobcats, triggered by two dunks from Wallace, went on a 9-2 surge of their own to tie the game at 47 with 1:50 left in the half. Utah scored five answered points to end the quarter and give them a 52-47 advantage at halftime.

Third quarter: The Bobcats kept the score close to start the third quarter and trailed the Jazz by only three (65-62) at the 7:09 mark of the period. The Jazz offense then went into high gear, as they put points on the board in their next six possessions. This output sparked a 13-5 run that gave Utah an 11-point lead over Charlotte with 4:52 left in the period. The Jazz, who shot 60 percent in the quarter, led the Bobcats by the same 11-point margin (87-76) as the horn sounded to signal the end of the third. The Bobcats committed 8 turnovers in the quarter compared to just three by the Jazz.

Fourth quarter: Despite facing a double-digit deficit and playing in a very hostile environment, the Bobcats refused to surrender as the teams faced off for the final 12 minutes of the game. With Utah holding a nine point advantage (93-84) with 7:56 to go in the game, the Bobcats went on a tear. Behind eight points from Brevin Knight, the Bobcats outscored the Jazz 19-8 over the course of the next six minutes. Melvin Ely hit a driving lay-up and then connected on a free-throw to complete a three-play that tied the score at 101 with 2:41left in the game. Gerald Wallace capped Charlotte's run by hitting two free throws to give the Bobcats their first lead (103-101) since the second quarter. With the score tied at 105 with 36 seconds remaining, Knight stepped to the line and split a pair of free throws to give Charlotte a one-point edge. On the other end of the court, the Bobcats defense stepped up it's play. A blocked shot by Bobcats center Primoz Brezec gave the ball back to Charlotte with 19 seconds remaining. Jason Hart went to the free throw line, where he connected on one of two free throws to push the Bobcats lead to two. Utah's Giricek missed a three-point shot on the other end, which led to a Gerald Wallace dunk that sealed the comeback and gave the Bobcats a 109-105 victory. After being outrebounded 28-20 through the first three quarters, the Bobcats hit the glass hard in the final stanza, outrebounding the Jazz 15-3 in the fourth. Gerald Wallace finished with a career-high 28 points and Brevin Knight added 21 as the Bobcats recorded their second road win of the season.

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GM & HEAD COACH BERNIE BICKERSTAFF SAYS...
(on the game) “It gives us another win and rules out the Philadelphia Syndrome (laughs). It’s good for the guys to reach down and compete when you’re undermanned, and that’s what this team does all the time. It's a terrific win for them, against a basketball team that we pattern the way we like to play basketball...the way Jerry Sloan coaches, the way his team plays in terms of execution and how hard they play.”

(on Gerald Wallace) “He was physical, he was focused. I thought the little jump hook down the stretch was really big, and he made his free throws. That’s what happens when you get an opportunity to step up, and he took advantage of it. He put pressure on a coaching staff.”

(on playing without Emeka Okafor) “We miss him in two areas, his 14 points and 11 rebounds a game. Guys stepped up and they played more minutes in that situation. All it does is help the confidence of those guys, so when he gets backs you have to keep playing at the same plateau. A lot of times guys will wait for that cavalry to come across that mountain. My hat’s off to everybody.”

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INSIDE THE LOCKER ROOM

BREVIN KNIGHT
(on Gerald Wallace getting to the basket instead of settling for jumpshots) “Gerald understands that. We tell Gerald that, get to the basket and get some easy ones. And then you build from there. We also don’t want him to pass up shots to force himself to get to the basket. That’s the other thing we tell him, if you’re standing out there wide open, shoot the ball. We belive in him. Tonight he was very aggressive. He did what he does. He gets to the bucket, its hard to stop him when he gets there. He goes over the top and finishes well at the basket.”

(on fourth quarter run)“We just wanted to run at them. We knew we were small inside, short with inside guys. So we just wanted to push the break, we wanted to get out there and let our wings get inside and create as much as we could, and then we would take our chances.”

GERALD WALLACE
(on getting to the basket)" I think that's one of my strengths, getting into the open floor running and just getting to the basket. I think the guys did a great job tonight getting me the ball out in the open and letting me just run the floor."