Bobcats Deliver Big Against the Hornets

Emeka Okafor went to the free-throw line with a chance to give the city of Charlotte, N.C., some much-needed closure.

The rookie made two free throws with five seconds left in overtime to give Charlotte’s new NBA team a win over its old -- a 94-93 Bobcat victory over the New Orleans Hornets on Tuesday night.

“Any win is important for us, but this one, you could just sense the fans wanted it,” Okafor said. “They wanted us to beat the Hornets and we sensed it meant a lot to the city. So I was a little nervous, but I just went up there and made them.”

It was the first meeting between the Hornets -- who called Charlotte home for 14 seasons -- and the expansion Bobcats, the team that replaced them after they fled to New Orleans at the end of the 2001-02 season following a nasty falling out with the city.

Junior Harrington had given New Orleans a 93-92 lead with a three-point basket with seven seconds left.

The Hornets had one foul to give, and used it coming out of the timeout. But Okafor beat P.J. Brown under the basket and referee Bennie Adams called Brown for a foul, sending Okafor to the line for the game-winning free throws.

“You don’t see too many games end like that, just given to the other team,” Brown said.

Hornet Coach Byron Scott was equally upset with the call that led to his team’s 11th consecutive loss.

“That was the worst call I’ve seen in about 12 years, period,” Scott said. “If [Okafor] makes a play and scores, then that’s one thing. You don’t bail them out and that’s what [Adams] did, he bailed them out.”

Okafor had 20 points and 12 rebounds. David Wesley had 23 points for Charlotte.

Sacramento 89, Milwaukee 86 -- Chris Webber took an inbounds pass from Mike Bibby and made a three-pointer at the buzzer at Milwaukee to help the Kings win for the 14th time in 16 games.

Bibby had 27 points and Webber finished with 23 for the Kings.

Philadelphia 110, Denver 102 -- Allen Iverson had 31 points and 10 rebounds, and reserve Willie Green scored all of his season-high 17 points in the final 16 minutes, helping the 76ers overcome an 18-point, second-half deficit at Philadelphia.

New York 87, New Jersey 79 -- Jamal Crawford scored 30 points in a game defined by ineptitude on offense at East Rutherford, N.J.

The Nets had a stretch of 15:02 spanning the third and fourth quarters in which they went 0 for 17 from the field with 13 turnovers. The Knicks overcame a shooting drought in which they had no field goals in the final 6:31 and scored their final 10 points from the free-throw line.

Golden State 111, Dallas 107 -- Clifford Robinson scored a season-high 25 points to help the Warriors end a 12-game losing streak at Dallas.

Jerry Stackhouse had 27 points for Dallas, which trailed by as many as 17 in the third quarter before losing its third straight at home and sixth overall on its home court this season, one more than all of last season.

Minnesota 100, Portland 89 -- Wally Szczerbiak scored a season-high 28 points to lead the Timberwolves at Minneapolis.

Indiana 108, Atlanta 97 -- Jamaal Tinsley had a season-high 29 points at Atlanta to help the Pacers to an overtime victory that ended a seven-game losing streak, their longest since 1993.