This Thanksgiving weekend, the Bobcats' new coach had the good sense to pull Emeka Okafor in a late game free throw situation. Previous coach Sam Vincent famously blew a seemingly sure victory over the eventual NBA champion Boston Celtics at home last November. That was the first of many steps to Vincent lasting a single season in that job.
Vincent's replacement, Larry Brown, made the situation substitutions appropriate to pulling off a seven-point overtime victory in Indianapolis. This was the Bobcats' first road victory since Brown took over this season, but it also continued a trend for this offense-deprived team: They're 5-1 when reaching 90 points this season and 0-9 when they don't. Foul shooting was crucial to this game: The Bobcats reached the foul line 41 times (to the Pacers' 22) and made 78 percent of their attempts to hold off a second-half push.
BOBCATS 115, PACERS 108 (OT): Raymond Felton had perhaps his best game as a Bobcat, with 31 points, seven assists and 3-of-6 shooting from 3-point range. Felton and rookie guard D.J. Augustin played off each other throughout the overtime, despite Augustin playing off the bench to make room for Jason Richardson's return.
