If the Charlotte Bobcats are going to find a way into the Eastern Conference playoffs they need to win - and keep winning. The Cleveland Cavaliers would like nothing better than to deny the Bobcats of a playoff birth and send the injury-plagued team home with a loss.
After winning four straight games to finish out the month of March, including a one-point win over the Cavaliers, the Bobcats have lost two-straight games, including a nasty home-loss to the Washington Wizards on Sunday. The Bobcats are playing without Tyrus Thomas, Stephen Jackson, Shaun Livingston and Eduardo Najera. The Bobcats now trail 8th-place Indiana by two full games, and time is running out.
"If we get some of our guys back it still gives us a chance," head coach Paul Silas told the Bobcats' official website. "I just don't give up. That's not my nature and I don't want it to be the nature of my players."
The Cavaliers, on the other hand, have failed to hold on to the momentum created by their emotional 102-90 win over the Miami heat last week. Three straight losses, including that loss to Charlotte, have followed as the Cavs have fallen into their old bad habits.
"It is always so hard to win with this team because we are so young and we have so many missing pieces," coach Byron Scott said. "The other night it was offensive rebounds, against Washington it was turnovers, it is always something."