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Bobcats-Nets Preview

Dec 3, 2009 - 8:32 PM By NICOLINO DIBENEDETTO STATS Writer

Charlotte (7-10) at New Jersey (0-18), 8:00 p.m. EDT

The New Jersey Nets earned the dubious record of the worst start in NBA history in their last game. A five-game stretch against losing teams might be their best chance yet at picking up their first victory of 2009-10.

The Nets open the stretch when they host the Charlotte Bobcats on Friday night.

New Jersey (0-18) didn't come close to avoiding the worst start in league history Tuesday night, falling 117-101 to Dallas after allowing the Mavericks to shoot 81.0 percent in the first half. With the defeat, the Nets broke the mark shared by the 1988-89 Miami Heat and 1999 Los Angeles Clippers.

"At this point, I feel the streak has definitely gotten the best of us. It's really not starting to get to us now," guard Chris Douglas-Roberts said after scoring 24 points. "So when a team goes on a run, we kind of, it's almost like we give up, which is really unfortunate but that's what it looks like to me. We kind of give up and just lay down instead of trying to fight."

The Nets appear to have a decent chance to end their misery over the next eight days, as they face the Bobcats (7-10) before taking on New York, Chicago, Golden State and Indiana. Those teams were a combined 30-55 going into Thursday night's action.

New Jersey will have general manager Kiki Vandeweghe on the bench as he assumes the role of interim coach for the remainder of the season. Vandeweghe is taking over after Lawrence Frank was fired following last Friday's 109-96 loss at Sacramento, which gave the club its longest losing streak at the time.

Tom Barrise filled in for two games after Frank's dismissal and will return to an assistant's role. He will be joined by Del Harris in that capacity.

Not surprisingly, the Nets are at the bottom of the league in scoring and shooting, averaging 86.6 points and 40.6 percent from the field.

They will take on a Charlotte club that is averaging 88.3 points on 42.7 percent shooting, ranking it 29th in both categories.

New Jersey is 14-5 all-time against the Bobcats, but lost 79-68 at Charlotte on Nov. 2. The Nets hold a 6-3 advantage at home.

The Bobcats are looking to take advantage of the Nets after getting overpowered 108-90 by Boston on Tuesday. That ended their season-high four-game winning streak.

"It was like the varsity against the JV," coach Larry Brown said as he attacked his team's effort and defense.

"I'm happy for our fans. They got to go home and watch (North) Carolina and Michigan State," he said of the high-profile college game being played at the same time. "If any of them were smart, they would have left early and watched that game."

Gerald Wallace will try to rebound from his worst performance of the season, as he scored five points and went 1 of 6 from the floor. The forward leads Charlotte with 15.2 points and 11.6 rebounds a contest.

He had 24 points and a season-high 20 rebounds in the Nov. 2 meeting with New Jersey.