THE FACT: Kemba Walker's start marked his 150th consecutive career game played with the Charlotte Bobcats since being drafted in 2011. He celebrated with 23 points on 8-of-14 shooting and seven assists.
THE LEAD: With big man Al Jefferson out with a knee injury, under-sized Walker nailed a clutch 3-pointer late in the 4th quarter to secure the Charlotte Bobcats season home opener 90-84 against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
QUOTABLE: "Man, we stuck with it. When we had pressure we played great and we did stuff that that wasn't so great. We stayed with each other. In those huddles we were getting on each other, telling each other to play harder and harder and we came away with a win."
- Walker
THE STAT: Walker has scored in double figures in 25 of his last 26 games, dating back to last season.
TURNING POINT: With 3:22 remaining in the 4th quarter, a tie-breaking tip in by Josh McRoberts was negated by a basket interference penalty. The Bobcats responded with high-pressure defense, followed by a poor shot and a Gerald Henderson rebound. On their next possession Henderson swung the ball to Walker up top, who drained his third 3-pointer of the game, giving the Bobcats the lead for the final time.
QUOTABLE II: "Right now (our mental approach) is not good," said Mike Brown. "Especially to start the game and we are getting too many, 'My bad's' and when you get two or three 'My bad's' from each individual, it adds up. Guys don't understand. You can say, 'My bad', but we want to be a championship level team and we can't have 15 'My bad's" in the first half."
INSIDE THE ARENA: Carolina Panthers head coach Ron Rivera sat near the Bobcats bench, walking over during warm-ups introducing himself to Bobcats first-year coach Steve Clifford. Welcome to Charlotte, Steve.
ROOKIE WATCH: Cody Zeller's home season debut got off to a timid and slightly awkward start. Zellar's first shot attempt barely grazed the front of the rim and early on the Bobcats rookie looked timid and uncomfortable. As the game progressed, Zellar gradually settled in, driving to the basket, diving for a loose ball, and produced nine points, five rebounds with 18:52 played in the game.
NOTABLE: Andrew Bynum will most likely not play in tomorrow night's game in Indiana. Brown indicated that it would be highly unlikely Bynum would play games on back-to-back days right now due to his continued recovery process related to his knee injuries.
UP NEXT: For the Bobcats, Saturday @ New Orleans, Tuesday @ New York, Wednesday vs. Raptors. For the Cavaliers, Saturday @ Indiana, Monday vs. Grizzlies, Wednesday @ Milwaukee.
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