Cavaliers 102 - 94 Hornets
Final
  for this game

Two rookies headline Cavs-Bobcats matchup

Jan 16, 2012 - 3:48 PM (Sports Network) - It's Kyrie vs. Kemba Part Deux when Cleveland finishes up a grueling seven-game road trip by paying a visit to the Queen City to take on the Charlotte Bobcats.

The Cavs already topped the Bobcats in Cleveland earlier this month behind Kyrie Irving's 20-point performance.

Irving, the No. 1 overall pick in June's draft out of Duke, has helped make the Cavaliers competitive again, although no one had the answer for Kobe Bryant in Cleveland's last encounter on Friday. The Lakers superstar poured in 40 points and LA dropped the Cavaliers, 97-92, to give head coach Mike Brown a win against his former team.

Irving netted 21 points to pace Cleveland, which trailed by as many as 19 but pulled within one possession midway through the fourth quarter. Ramon Sessions netted 12 points for Cleveland, which is 2-4 on its season-long trek.

"I thought we could have played a lot better," Cavs coach Byron Scott said. "You can't turn the ball over 20 times against quality teams like this."

Kemba Walker, meanwhile, was the ninth overall pick in the draft after leading UConn to a national title. The dynamic guard had just two points in his first battle against Irving and the Cavs but had a bit of a breakthrough on Saturday.

Making his first start in his 13th professional game, Walker scored 23 points -- five coming after the Warriors pulled within two possessions down the stretch -- as the Bobcats snapped a six-game skid with a 112-100 win over Golden State. Walker added four rebounds five assists and two steals in place of the benched Boris Diaw, who has started a franchise record 235 straight contests.

Gerald Henderson netted a game-high 26 points, Byron Mullens added 20 and D.J. Augustin finished with 16 points and seven assists for the victors.

"Oh boy, it was just wonderful tonight to see the guys just play and just run the court," coach Paul Silas said. "A little change I thought really helped that, putting Kemba in. I think time is the key to life and it was the right time for him to get in there and he's ready."

Irving leads all rookies in scoring this season at 17.0 ppg while Walker is netting 11.1 ppg.

The Cavs have won two straight over the Bobcats but have dropped their last four visits to Charlotte.






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