Bobcats Lose to Timberwolves

It's hard to condemn the Bobcats for anything in their 108-100 loss to the lowly Timberwolves. That's because it was the second half of a back to back, on the road, in freaking Minneapolis, the night after a grueling battle with the Rockets.

Raymond Felton was almost completely ineffective, primarily because he had back spasms that kept him out for a few stretches, but also because he, like every other starter, was a step slow. Unfortunately for Ray, that's pretty much his only superior skill, and so it was magnified on him.

Kevin Love stretched Emeka to the perimeter and made him work on the block. An already tired opponent is a good thing, and Love took advantage, scoring 22 points in 34 minutes and playing a big part in keeping Okafor to 9 points and only 5 boards in 31 minutes.

Diaw couldn't get anything going from the field, shooting 5-12, including 1-6 from three. However, he did pick up a bit of the rebounding slack with 7.

Raja played exceptionally well tonight, but wasn't particularly noticeable. Sure, he shot 8-19 from the field, including 4-9 from beyond the arc, but his most impressive feat was keeping Mike Miller to 7 points in 29 minutes.

The two guys who played like they were competing for a playoff spot and not like they'd just gotten off a hellish flight after a brutal game were Gerald and DJ. Wallace played 46 minutes of inspired ball, racking up 26 points and 10 rebounds on 8-11 shooting. Augustin shot 7-10 and ended with 18 points.

However, too many miscommunications, too many slow rotations, and too many open dunks for the T-Wolves doomed the Cats. Again, like I said, the circumstance makes it difficult to pin blame on anyone, but losing is never fun, and the Bobcats are a far better team than they just showed.