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Bobcats pick up franchise-record sixth straight win

Mar 8, 2009 - 5:40 AM NEW YORK (Ticker) -- Gerald Wallace collected 23 points and 13 rebounds as the Charlotte Bobcats extended their winning streak to a franchise-record sixth straight game with a 114-105 win over the New York Knicks on Saturday.

Boris Diaw added 22 points and Raymond Felton recorded 19 points and 10 assists for the Bobcats, who are making a push toward the playoffs.

"It's not over yet," Diaw said of the streak. "We're seeing if we can get to 17 (games).

"It's real important for us. If we want to get to the playoffs, we have to get streaks. We just can't win every other game."

Their record winning streak has them within one game of the Chicago Bulls for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

"It's great," Wallace said. "It's very special. It gives us something to look forward to because right now we're in that playoff push. This is something that we can look forward to building on."

Al Harrington scored 24 points for the Knicks, who have dropped four of five.

"To me if you don't play hard, you don't settle (for bad shots)," New York coach Mike D'Antoni said. "It is all part of things. If you don't make the extra effort, you will settle for shots. If you don't make the extra effort, you won't rotate, you won't defend as well as you should. It is more of a whole malaise over the team that we didn't do what we should do."

Charlotte was clinging to a 70-68 lead with 7:13 left in the third quarter before Felton sparked an 11-4 run with a 3-pointer. Emeka Okafor, who finished with 12 points, capped the spurt with an emphatic dunk.

The Bobcats stretched the lead to as much as 97-80 on a pair of free throws by Wallace with 8:10 left in the contest.

"We've been playing at a high level," Charlotte coach Larry Brown said. "There's a lot of people in that locker room that I think are playing great. There's nobody defending better than Raja (Bell). Gerald (Wallace) has played at a high level. Raymond (Felton) gets better every night and Boris is a special player. So we have a lot of guys that are playing terrific."

Nate Robinson scored 10 points in the final 5:10 to keep New York within shouting distance, but Diaw hit a 3-pointer, Felton nailed a jumper and D.J. Augustin hit four free throws in the final 1:07 to keep Charlotte ahead.

"We tried to stop their penetration," Wallace said. "They had a lot of high pick-and-rolls and spread the floor. If we could keep guys in front of us and force them to shoot jump shots, contested jump shots, and just rebound and limit their second-chance points, then we'd be good. I think we did a great job of that."