CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Gerald Wallace had 31 points and 16 rebounds, Emeka Okafor hit the clinching free throws with 2.7 seconds left in overtime and the Charlotte Bobcats beat the Portland Trail Blazers 102-97 on Saturday for their third straight win.
Okafor had 22 points and 11 rebounds, outplaying foul-plagued Greg Oden as the Bobcats used tough defense over the final minute to secure their longest winning streak since March.
LaMarcus Aldridge had 21 points, and Brandon Roy added 17 but shot poorly from the field and the line for the Blazers, who finished 2-2 on their East Coast trip.
After Rudy Fernandez missed a tying 3-point attempt, Okafor hit two free throws to ice the improving Bobcats’ latest close victory.
Raymond Felton, whose jumper with 0.7 seconds left gave the Bobcats a win in Detroit on Tuesday night, broke a tie on a driving layup with 49 seconds left. After Roy missed a shot in the lane, Felton’s miss was rebounded by Okafor, and Felton hit one of two free throws with 5.7 seconds left to make it 100-97.
Short-handed Portland then failed to get a high percentage shot, with Fernandez’s shot failing to hit iron.
The Trail Blazers found out earlier Saturday that starting point guard Steve Blake would miss another two to four weeks with a sprained right shoulder, longer than originally expected.
Sergio Rodriguez started his second straight game in his place and rookie Jerryd Bayless saw significant time, adding 14 points.
But Portland made only 16 of 31 free throws, with Roy the biggest culprit. Harassed most of the night by Raja Bell, Roy shot 7-for-18 from the field and made only three of 10 from the line.
Oden, too, did little. finishing with eight points and three rebounds, and he fouled with more than 6 minutes left in regulation after two spectacular three-point plays by the high-flying Wallace.
Felton lobbed the ball to Wallace who leaped above the 7-foot Oden’s outstretched hand, grabbed the ball with one hand and slammed it as Oden’s lower body bumped Wallace away from the basket.
After the crowd stopped gasping and Oden was charged with his fifth foul, Wallace sank the free throw to give Charlotte a 78-77 lead with 6:41 left.
On the next possession, Wallace drove hard into the lane, did a 360 and banked in a reverse layup as a helpless Oden hacked him to foul out. Wallace again hit the free throw to put Charlotte ahead 81-77.
The Blazers rallied from an 88-83 deficit with 1:13 left in regulation, tying it when Roy tipped in his own miss with 9.1 seconds left.
Felton then missed a fadeaway 20-footer at the buzzer, sending Charlotte to overtime for the third time in its past five home games.
The Bobcats didn’t have center DeSagana Diop, acquired a day earlier from Dallas for shooting guard Matt Carroll and center Ryan Hollins. Diop was scheduled to fly into Charlotte late Saturday.
Notes: Blazers officials were mum on adding Memphis F Darius Miles
$18 million salary to their payroll and paying the ensuing luxury tax. Miles played his 10th game of the season Friday, triggering the move. The Blazers waived Miles at the end of last season and said a doctor determined he hadn’t recovered from knee surgery. … Brown was eager to see Diop in a Charlotte uniform. “His defensive presence, his length, his ability to block shots, that’s something I never think you can have enough of,” Brown said. … Blazers coach Nate McMillan, a North Carolina native, bought 80 tickets.
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