QUARTER-BY-QUARTER ANALYSIS
First quarter: The Bobcats knew just how tough the night’s work would be – Seattle’s 21-6 record was proof enough. And the Sonics issued an immediate reminder with a quick 5-0 burst to open the game, getting a driving layup and three-pointer from Ray Allen. Charlotte popped right back with a 5-0 run of its own, however, and triggered a tight back-and-forth game for most of the period. Emeka Okafor scored nine and Brevin Knight passed out five assists to pace the Bobcats, who led by three at one stage. Seattle, consistently getting the ball to its top shooters in the right spots, never skipped a beat despite Charlotte’s push. The Sonics sprinted down the stretch of the quarter, outscoring the Bobcats 18-7 for an eight-point lead, 30-22, at the finish. Allen and Rashard Lewis combined to hit 8-of-12 shots, score 19 and lead the Sonics on an overall 54.8 percent shooting spree. Charlotte slipped in the closing minutes to 41.7 percent (10-of-24).

Second quarter: Seattle’s shots continued to fall with many of them coming from beyond the three-point arc. The Sonics, hitting 60 percent on three-pointers at one late stage of the second period, closed the half with 6-of-11 accuracy on the bonus shots. And their bench, averaging 36.3 points for the season, began to make more of an impact, getting 12 points from Vladimir Radmanovic and outscoring Charlotte’s reserves 28-11 in the half. All the firepower left the Bobcats struggling to stay in it. They fell behind by 13 midway through the quarter and were never closer than seven. Primoz Brezec had 12 points and Okafor 11 (with five rebounds) but it wasn’t enough. Seattle led by 12, 57-45, at halftime.

Third quarter: Just when it appeared that the Sonics were in position to put this one out of reach in a hurry, the Bobcats said no. They opened the third quarter with much more intensity on both ends of the floor, attacking offensively and defensively and rushing back into contention. Okafor hit a jumper, Gerald Wallace followed with a fast break layup and Keith Bogans added another layup in a 6-0 start, slicing Seattle’s lead from 12 to six in a 70-second span. From that point on through the rest of the third and to the final moments of the fourth the battle was on and the competition furious. After the initial burst, the Bobcats gradually worked the margin down even more, finally reclaiming the lead with 2:51 to play on the second of two straight Okafor jumpers. The game was tied at 75 at the end of the period with Charlotte’s defense playing a key role. The Bobcats cooled Seattle to 35.0 percent shooting in the quarter (7-of-20), while hitting 57.1 percent of their own attempts (12-of-21).

Fourth quarter: The Sonics gave Charlotte one more opportunity to fold before the finish, rushing ahead by six in the opening minutes and by seven midway through the period. Okafor again led the way, scoring eight points overall and hitting timely field goals as the Bobcats closed to within two, 91-89, on a Wallace layup with 2:52 remaining. It was as close at they would come. Seattle immediately answered with an 8-2 run, taking the separation back to eight points (99-91) with 55.9 seconds left. Sonics reserve Antonio Daniels scored eight of his 10 points in the quarter, six of them in the final three minutes, and Lewis matched Daniels’ output in the quarter. The Bobcats, who made 11-of-13 free throws overall, didn’t go to the line in the last period while the Sonics had 10 free throw opportunities and made eight of them. Lewis finished with 27, Radmanovic 21 and Allen 18 for the Sonics. Okafor had 27 points and 10 rebounds for his 18th consecutive double-double performance for the Bobcats. Brezec scored 22 and Knight had 15 assists.

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GM & HEAD COACH BERNIE BICKERSTAFF SAYS...
(on the game) We were much better (in the second half). Defensively we got blocks and contested shots. I’m proud of those guys. We didn’t get the W, which is what we want, we’re not into moral victory. But I’m proud of those guys in that room that laced them up.

(on his team’s play) I may be biased, but in my opinion the twelve guys in that room that suited up tonight deserve better than what they got. They played against a great basketball team and they played well. They got back in the basketball game. Those guys deserve better than what they got.

(on the officials’ lack of calls, leaving Charlotte without a free throw opportunity in the fourth quarter) We’re 12 down, and Seattle is good. They play well, they shoot the basketball. But it appears when we got back in the game, that every play whether it was a defensive play or an offensive play, they got a second chance.

(was that your fault or a different factor?) We were after it. These kids compete too hard night in and night out (to miss the reward of a victory).

(on seeing progress in the Bobcats) There’s no doubt about it. We made 11 out of the 13 free throws that we had. That is much of an improvement. Primoz (Brezec) shot the ball in the second half, which made a huge difference. He was encouraged by his teammates and the coaching staff to shoot the basketball. If you notice that from the other team, when they are open, they pull the trigger. That’s what you have to do. That’s what happens, you have three or four guys understand this guy is going to pull the trigger and they go to the boards. They all get the boards. My hats off to our guys, (Seattle) was a good basketball team.

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INSIDE THE LOCKER ROOM

KAREEM RUSH
(on Seattle’s shooting) We were more conscious of getting out there in the second half because they made so many shots in the first half. They were just making shots. A team’s not going to be able to shoot that well for the whole game, so we knew that they were not going to keep falling. They just made bigger plays toward the end.

(on the Bobcats’ performance) We’ve just got to get more patient. I’ve been doing that a lot, taking the first open shot. We need more ball movement, more wide-open shots that guys can knock down. We’re still young. We haven’t been together that long. So we’re still learning each other’s games.

PRIMOZ BREZEC
(on the game) We played hard. We played a great team. They’ve got great shooters. Whenever they penetrate somebody’s got to help (defensively), and that leaves somebody open. They’ve got four shooters from the three-point line. It’s tough to play against Seattle. A couple of times (Antonio) Daniels penetrated and I had to stop him and that left (Vladimir) Radmanovic wide open. I think we played the right way, they just made the tough shots.

EMEKA OKAFOR
(on the game) They shot the crap out of the ball, everybody on the floor. You think you have them, they swing it and swing it and then swoosh. They have good rebounders to gather the misses. Sometimes you’re like, ‘Man, they must have a cheat code or something.’ But we hung in there.

(on his 12-of-16 shooing) When we were warming up, (assistant coach) J-B (John-Blair Bickerstaff) made me take 10 extra jump shots. It felt good and it carried over to the game.