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Wallace, Bobcats set to duel Granger, Pacers

Mar 21, 2009 - 4:49 AM By Jeff Mezydlo Stats Senior Writer

Indiana (28-42) at Charlotte (31-38), 7:00 p.m. EDT

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (AP) -- Gerald Wallace will do anything he can to help the Charlotte Bobcats reach the postseason for the first time in franchise history.

Despite a sore knee, the veteran forward looks for another big effort while trying to help lead the Bobcats to a fourth straight victory Saturday night against the visiting Indiana Pacers.

Two nights after posting a double-double despite bruising his knee in a 104-88 win over Sacramento, Wallace had 30 points -- on 9-for-13 shooting -- with nine rebounds and eight assists in 42 minutes of Charlotte's 102-89 victory at Toronto on Friday.

"Gerald has no regard for his body," Charlotte center Emeka Okafor said. "He sacrifices for the team and he's clearly our energy guy. He's out there flying and diving and doing whatever it takes to win."

The latest result moved the Bobcats (31-38) within one game of Chicago for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Despite limping through the second half against the Kings on Wednesday, Wallace finished with 25 points and 12 rebounds. He is averaging a team-leading 16.9 points with 7.6 rebounds overall, with 26.5 points and 10.0 boards per game in his last four contests.

"I play off adrenaline," Wallace said. "Nine times out of 10, my body is always sore. I just like to get in the game and keep playing. When I'm going I'm all right."

Wallace had 25 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists in Charlotte's 103-94 home win over Indiana on Feb. 18.

Boris Diaw also scored 30 points Friday for Charlotte, which shot 50.6 percent to win for the ninth time in 12 games.

While the Bobcats are last in the East averaging 93.7 points, they are shooting 49.7 percent and averaging 104.9 points in their last four contests. They have also held each of their last three opponents to fewer than 90 points.

Despite losing 108-100 at Minnesota last Saturday, Charlotte has taken advantage of a favorable stretch in its schedule by beating Sacramento, and Toronto twice. The Bobcats will try to improve to 3-1 this season against Indiana before visiting Washington -- last in the East -- on Wednesday.

While Charlotte continues its push for the playoffs, Indiana (28-42) is quickly falling out of postseason contention.

The Pacers will try to avoid equaling a season-high sixth straight loss after falling 94-92 to Dallas on Friday. Dirk Nowitzki's game-winner with 1.1 seconds left dropped Indiana 4 1/2 games behind the Bulls for the final playoff spot.

"They're all tough when you lose with a shot like that at the end," said Indiana's Troy Murphy, who had 14 points and 11 rebounds. "I feel like we've had a lot of games like that this year. For some reason or another, we can't seem to pull these ones out."

Danny Granger had 18 points with 11 rebounds for the Pacers, who shot 40.5 percent for the second straight game. Indiana is shooting 41.1 percent during its five-game skid.

In his third game since missing 11 with a foot injury suffered against Charlotte last month, Granger was 8 for 26 from the field Friday after scoring 35 points in a 95-85 loss to Portland on Wednesday.

The All-Star is averaging 24.8 points on the season and 27.8 in his last four games against the Bobcats.