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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- The Charlotte Hornets have won five
consecutive games but aren't exactly feeling invincible.
|  | | New Jersey's Stephon Marbury dishes off in front of Charlotte's Jamal Mashburn. |
The Hornets struggled for three quarters and had to climb out of
a 14-point deficit before Jamal Mashburn rallied them to a 91-88
victory over the New Jersey Nets on Wednesday night.
In their current winning streak, the Hornets have needed big
fourth quarters to beat four of the five teams.
"If we keep doing this it's going to bite us," Charlotte coach
Paul Silas said. "We're not that good that we can just not be on
all cylinders and not blow people away. We can't keep letting this
happen."
Charlotte trailed by 14 midway through the third quarter when
David Wesley scored 13 of his 26 points to cut the score to 70-69
at the end of the period.
But the Hornets let New Jersey build its lead right back up,
allowing the Nets to open the fourth quarter with a 15-4 run that
gave them an 85-73 lead with 6:58 to play.
"We can't keep living like that," Wesley said. "We can't keep
putting ourselves in a position to dig out of holes, Fortunately we
did tonight, but someone's going to catch us."
The Nets could have been the team to do that, but they went cold
over the final six minutes of the game and scored only three more
points. Stephon Marbury shot 4-for-11 in the fourth quarter,
missing three consecutive 3-pointers in the final minutes.
"I need to figure out how this team is going to learn to close
out games," Nets coach Byron Scott said. "They're standing
around, shooting 20- to 30-foot 3-pointers, letting the clock tick
down to two or three seconds, and it's mind-boggling to me."
While the Nets were missing everything they threw up at the end
of the game, Mashburn finally starting hitting some shots.
He scored 10 of his 23 points over the final 1:51 to rally
Charlotte and overcome his own poor shooting night.
"We shouldn't have been in a position that I needed to do
that," Mashburn said. "We had a bad shooting night and we let
them stay in the game way too long."
Mashburn shot just 5-for-20 from the floor and had only 10
points at the start of the fourth quarter when Charlotte trailed
70-69.
But he started an 8-1 run with two free throws to help Charlotte
cut New Jersey's lead to 86-81 with 3:01 to play. He then scored
the final 10 points of the game for the Hornets.
Marbury missed a 3-point attempt, Mashburn got the rebound and
converted at the other end with a 17-footer.
Keith Van Horn then missed a 3-pointer, Eddie Robinson got the
rebound and passed the ball to Mashburn, who was fouled by Kenyon
Martin. Mashburn made both free throws to cut it to 86-85 with 1:27
left.
Marbury then missed another 3, Robinson got the rebound and
Mashburn hit a turnaround jumper to put Charlotte up 87-86. Marbury
then missed consecutive 3s and Mashburn answered with four consecutive free throws.
Wesley led Charlotte with 26 points. Mashburn added nine assists
and eight rebounds.
Marbury led the Nets with 19 points on 8-for-22 shooting. Van
Horn and Johnny Newman scored 15 each, while Martin, Lucious Harris
and Aaron Williams added 10 each.
Game notes
The Hornets can still file for relocation this season
because the NBA extended the deadline for teams to do so until
March 26. ... The Hornets have won five in a row since forward
Derrick Coleman went on the injured list. ... New Jersey was called
for a delay of game in the third quarter for not coming out of the
huddle quickly enough after a timeout. ... Evan Eschmeyer was New
Jersey's only starter who didn't score in double figures, scoring
nine points.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
New Jersey Clubhouse
Charlotte Clubhouse
RECAPS
Indiana 99
Milwaukee 86
Toronto 95
Atlanta 88
Charlotte 91
New Jersey 88
Minnesota 111
Detroit 100
Philadelphia 79
Miami 69
Houston 95
Chicago 78
Orlando 97
Phoenix 91
Utah 101
Vancouver 83
Denver 107
LA Lakers 101
Sacramento 122
Golden State 101
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