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Bobcats hold on, top Raptors

Nov 7, 2013 - 5:02 AM Charlotte, NC (SportsNetwork.com) - Gerald Henderson had a game-high 23 points with four assists and three rebounds and the Charlotte Bobcats held off the Toronto Raptors late to secure a 92-90 win at Times Warner Cable Arena Wednesday night.

Charlotte center Bismack Biyombo altered DeMar DeRozan's 7-foot shot attempt that would have tied the game with 27.9 seconds left. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist rebounded the ball with the shot clock and game clock within two seconds of each other.

Toronto chose not to foul, allowing the clock to run down all the way to under five seconds before Henderson jacked up a long 3-pointer as the shot clock expired.

Charlotte's Josh McRoberts batted the ball up in the air on the rebound attempt as the horn sounded, and the Bobcats earned their sixth consecutive home win against Toronto -- tying a franchise mark for the longest against a single opponent.

"I wouldn't have fouled either," said Bobcats head coach Steve Clifford speaking of the final play. "There was a two second differential and we got a little bit lucky there because there is plenty of time because you can advance the ball. You have a chance to make a stop and a rebound, we were fortunate the ball hit the rim. We didn't execute the play the way were supposed to execute it and we caught a break."

Rudy Gay paced Toronto with 20 points and center Jonas Valanciunas had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds in the losing effort.

Charlotte used a torrid start in the first quarter to jump out to a 32-18 lead after one. The Bobcats shot 15-of-20 (75 percent) from the field and were led by Henderson's 12 points.

"Usually our defense fuels our offense and we didn't get many stops early on, they made a lot of shots to start the game off. We have to come in more defensive minded," said Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry.

Toronto trailed by nine with two minutes left in the second quarter before hitting three consecutive 3-pointers, one from Lowry and two from DeRozan, to tie the game at 51. Both teams traded a bucket apiece in the final minute and the score was knotted entering halftime.

The Raptors took their first lead of the game right out of the break on a Gay turnaround jumper and led by as many as five with 8:50 remaining in the third.

Charlotte answered with an 11-0 run, highlighted by a Biyombo dunk to cap the run, and the Bobcats never relinquished the lead for the rest of the game.

Early in the final frame Toronto cut the deficit to 80-78 with 8:32 left, but a McRoberts layup and free throws from Ramon Sessions and Henderson gave the Bobcats an eight-point lead.

Gay scored a layup assisted by DeRozan with 3:07 left to pull within six and then Landry Fields hit a running hook shot after a missed layup from McRoberts to cut the deficit to four at 90-86 with 2:32 remaining in the game.

Fields blocked Walker's 17-footer and DeRozan made a driving layup with 2:04 left to make it a one-possession game.

Kidd-Gilchrist hit a layup with 1:11 left to make it 92-88 and DeRozan added two free throws at the other end before the scoreless final minute.

DeRozan, the Raptors' leading scorer entering the game at 20.5, scored only 14 points on 5-of-16 shooting.

Walker finished with five points on 2-of-13 shooting, a night after suffering a shoulder injury against New York.

Game Notes

This was the first of three meetings between the two teams this season ... Charlotte's Al Jefferson missed his fourth consecutive game with an ankle sprain ... Both teams will play next this Friday when Charlotte hosts the New York Knicks and Toronto travels to Indiana.