QUARTER-BY-QUARTER ANALYSIS
First quarter: The Bobcats came out of the gate strong -- jumping out to a 12-3 lead just over three minutes into the game. In a sign of things to come, the opening run was orchestrated by veteran point guard Brevin Knight, who had three assists and a basket in the stretch. After Grant Hill hit a jumper and added a pair of free throws to cut the lead to four, Primoz Brezec answered with six points in a 9-2 Charlotte run as the Bobcats extended their advantage to 21-9 at the 5:32 mark. Jameer Nelson led the Magic back into the game with two assists and a jumper as Orlando rolled off seven consecutive points. The teams traded baskets for the rest of the quarter before DeShawn Stevenson converted a three-point play in the final seconds to cut the Charlotte lead to 29-27 after one.

Second quarter: Bernard Robinson and Jason Hart combined for the first six points of the second quarter as the Bobcats quickly extended their advantage to 35-27. Orlando then rolled off six consecutive points to pull within two after a Grant Hill reverse layup with 7:50 remaining. Charlotte maintained a slim lead throughout the rest of the period and led by five in the final minute of the half before Orlando hit another big basket -- this time a three-pointer by Nelson -- in the final seconds to cut the margin to two at the break (53-51). Emeka Okafor and Brezec had 12 points each for the Bobcats. Nelson had 11 points and 10 assists for the Magic. Hill led all scorers with 17 points.

Third quarter: Two free throws by Jason Kapono and a layup by Brezec gave Charlotte a 57-51 lead just over a minute into the second half before the Magic put together a 9-2 run to grab their first lead (60-59) since it was 2-0. The teams swapped the lead four times over the next couple minutes before the Bobcats again grabbed the lead behind the play of Knight and Okafor. Charlotte led by between two and six points for the rest of the period before yet another late basket by Orlando cut the margin to two (75-73) entering the fourth.

Fourth quarter: Orlando tied the game twice in the opening moments of the fourth quarter and was within one at 83-82 with 8:11 remaining when Jason Hart nailed a three-pointer after a steal by Knight to ignite a 12-2 run that blew the game open. It was the first of three steals by Knight in the rally that led to baskets for the Bobcats, including a highlight reel alley-oop pass from Knight to Gerald Wallace for a slam dunk. Hill slowed the run with a three-point play, but it was only temporary as Charlotte pushed its lead to as much as 16 in the closing moments. Knight just missed a triple-double with 15 points, 15 assists and eight steals. For only the second time in franchise history, the Bobcats had three players score 20 or more points -- Okafor (23 pts, 10 rebs), Wallace (22 pts, 9 rebs) and Brezec (20 pts, 7 rebs). Hill led the Magic with 28 points. Stevenson added 23 points and Nelson had 18 points and 13 assists.

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GM & HEAD COACH BERNIE BICKERSTAFF SAYS...
(on the game) That was probably one of the more consistent games we’ve played.  From the start of the game all the way to the end when we answered some critical situations, when they went up a couple of times, our guys hung in there and kept their composure.

(on the Bobcats' fourth-quarter run) I thought the poise at that point was good, and the “Little Man” (Knight) had the ball.  That’s what he does for us.  He gets the ball moving, and he made the passes to the right people and we made shots.  Again, what we did best was, normally in a situation like this where you’re the visiting team, you expect the home team to make a run and go up on you.  We had the poise to stay true.

(on his team's performance) I thought collectively we played well as a basketball team.  There were some key shots Emeka blocked, some key shots Primoz made, and Gerald takes a lot of pressure off because of his athleticism and getting rebounds and getting into the passing lanes, which has been missing with us.

(on his team's effort) I don’t think we know what time it is as a basketball team.  They had some success with the things they were doing and they were smart enough to stay with those things.  We found the hot man, because the Magic kept switching up the defenses.  They went zone, then man.  We talked about in the locker room at the start of the game, we kept asking the guys to come out of the gate strong.  You try to set your game plan and play with purpose.  The last two games, at the beginning, we didn’t play with purpose.  You should build to the final crescendo -- keep playing and keep playing.  It was a game against a team that needed a win.

(on how physical the game was) It was very physical.  It was like, even though we won’t know anything about it, it was like a playoff game.  We can only dream.  And I like the fact we didn’t step back in that situation.

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INSIDE THE LOCKER ROOM

BREVIN KNIGHT
(on the game) Tonight we found ourselves a little rhythm by running that side pick-n-roll.  We were getting shots out of it.  This was one of our better executing games from the defensive end and offensive end.

(on slowing the tempo) We tried to make it a half-court game as much as possible.  We played them the last game and knew that they really got out on the break and that is where they really hurt us.  We just wanted to slow it down and we did a good job of banging with them when we had to.

(on winning as an expansion team) It feels good just for us to get a win, especially on the road.  It has been tough for us to win all season, especially for us getting used to playing with each other.  We are not going to get a lot of respect in this league.  It is a learning process.  We have a lot of guys who haven't played a lot of minutes in the NBA, and are now getting their opportunity to play.  It is a learning experience for a lot us. I think it will benefit us in the long run.

(on Orlando) They are a good team.  There are some teams you just don't match up well against or play well against.  Maybe for them, we are that team.  I think for us, Houston was another team that had problems with us.  We had problems with Boston.  That is just the nature of this game.

(on the rookie battle) Emeka held his own.  They really tried to go at him (Howard).  They made an effort to throw the ball into Dwight and have him go to Emeka. He was guarding him one-on-one and we didn't even have to trap.  He played him very tough.

EMEKA OKAFOR
(on the game) We showed that we are learning.  We have been in that situation before and now we have learned from our mistakes and capitalized.  We held them off and got the win.  We didn't get panicked at all.  We stayed poised all the time.

(on future success) We can't really use past success (versus Magic) to indicate future success.  You have to come out and play hard.  We have to stick to what we do best.

(on the defensive effort) Defense was the key tonight.  It stopped their run and disrupted their offense and that is what contributed to our offense.

(on Dwight Howard) He (Howard) is a great player.   He has one hell of a future.  He is strong.  He is hungry and he wants to do everything.  He is going to be a valuable asset to the Magic.