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Wallace leads comeback as Bobcats down Pacers in OT

Dec 31, 2007 - 11:13 PM By Derek Smith PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (Ticker) - Gerald Wallace scored 10 of his 36 points in overtime to lead Charlotte to a 107-103 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Monday afternoon.

The 36 points are a season high for Wallace while the win snapped a four-game losing streak for Charlotte and sent the Pacers to their fourth straight loss.

"It was a big win for us," Wallace said. "We wanted to finish off the year on a good note. We started attacking more and we were able to get things turned around."

Emeka Okafor's dunk with 4:16 on the clock in overtime put Charlotte ahead for the first time since the 5:00 mark of the second quarter.

"The guys really stayed after it," Charlotte coach Sam Vincent said. "I though (Okafor) came in off the bench with a lot of energy and made some big plays down the stretch."

Marquis Daniels tied the game 96-96, but a Wallace 3-pointer gave Charlotte the lead for good at 99-96. The Pacers pulled within one on a pair of Danny Granger free throws.

Wallace made his second three of overtime to push the lead to 102-98. After a Jermaine O'Neal jumper, Jason Richardson split a pair of free throws to extend the Charlotte lead to three, 103-100. Wallace then closed out the overtime scoring with four straight free throws.

"We should have won this game going away," Indiana's Mike Dunleavy said. "If there are any adjustments to be made it needs to be the ability to close out games."

Jermaine O'Neal capped a 10-4 run which put the Pacers ahead 13, 87-74, early in the fourth quarter, but Charlotte would not go away quietly.

"We were kind of getting beat up throughout. Our guys just continued to fight," Vincent said. "We got a couple of key stops and pushed the ball and the guys started to believe again."

Wallace scored 10 points in an 11-1 run which pulled the Bobcats within three points at 88-85. During the stretch Indiana's Mike Dunleavy and Troy Murphy fouled out on consecutive plays leaving the Pacers without two of their leading scorers in the game for the stretch run.

"This was a huge win for us," Richardson said. "Guys buckled down on the defensive end and we got the ball to Gerald (Wallace) on the offensive end. He just took the game over, going to the basket and finding the guys open."

Daniels responded for Indiana with two of his 10 points in the quarter to stop Charlotte's run.

Matt Carroll drained a three from the right corner to cut the lead to just two points and Okafor sank a pair of free throws on the following possession to tie the score 92-92.

O'Neal made a jumper from the right wing with :22.5 to play giving the Pacers the lead once again, but Okafor responded again for Charlotte tipping a miss by Wallace with 13 seconds left.

Neither O'Neal or Wallace were able to score on the team's final possessions setting up the overtime period.

"It's always a tough way to lose," O'Neal said. "We've had a quite a few games like that this year. We've got to figure out a way to change that."

The Pacers were led by O'Neal's 20 points and game-high 13 rebounds. Indiana had a balanced attack with six players in double figures including all five starters, but were doomed by nine turnovers in the fourth quarter and overtime period.