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Bobcats host Nets down south

Dec 3, 2010 - 4:04 PM (Sports Network) - A pair of struggling teams meet in the Queen City tonight as the Charlotte Bobcats play host to a New Jersey Nets team minus Devin Harris.

Harris, the Nets' second-leading scorer at 17.7 points per game and top assist man (6.6), is expected to miss his second consecutive game on Friday with a knee sprain suffered when teammate Kris Humphries fell on the point guard during Tuesday's 111-100 setback in New York.

Jordan Farmar filled in nicely in New Jersey's last outing, a 123-120 triple- overtime loss to Oklahoma City on Wednesday. Russell Westbrook took over in the third extra frame in that one, scoring all 13 of the Thunder's points in the session en route to the memorable victory.

Farmar scored a career- high 28 points to go with nine assists for New Jersey, which has lost four of five overall.

"I think it will only build character amongst our guys," Farmar responded when asked about what can be gained from the loss. "It will make us stronger and bring us closer together. We'll remember these experiences and what we did wrong and how we can correct it down the stretch."

Anthony Morrow extended the game with a buzzer-beating three at the end of regulation and logged 25 points, while Brook Lopez added 28 points and 11 rebounds in a losing cause.

Charlotte, meanwhile, also lost for the fourth time in five games Wednesday when David West scored a game-high 22 points, and the New Orleans Hornets clamped down defensively in the fourth quarter to upend the Bobcats, 89-73.

Gerald Wallace ended with 18 points, and Boris Diaw and D.J. Augustin chipped in 13 apiece for Charlotte, which played without star swingman Stephen Jackson, who was suspended for the game after verbally abusing an official and failing to leave the court in a timely manner following his ejection from Saturdays 104-101 loss at Milwaukee.

"We didn't handle their zone. We didn't even know they were in the zone," Bobcats head coach Larry Brown said. "It's disappointing."

Jackson will return to the lineup tonight for the Bobcats.

New Jersey has won three of its last four trips to Charlotte but the Bobcats bumped off the Nets in north Jersey earlier this season.