What’s harder to believe? That the Charlotte Bobcats outscored the Washington Wizards by 22 points in the lane Tuesday or that the Bobcats are on a winning streak?

One probably doesn’t happen without the other. The Bobcats protected the rim and drove with abandon. That was good for a 92-76 victory, the first time since the end of the 2010-11 season this team has won two in a row.

The point guards, Ramon Sessions (21 points) and Kemba Walker (17), attacked the Wizards’ defense. Keeping Washington out of the paint was more a group effort, a dramatic change from last season when Charlotte habitually gave up 50 points in the paint. Credit Brendan Haywood and Byron Mullens with clogging the middle and Tyrus Thomas for taking a second-half charge.

“This defense is on the same page,” said Walker. “We’re all taking slides and playing hard.”

You couldn’t have said that as recently as five days ago, when the Bobcats gave up 111 points at New Orleans. Since then, coach Mike Dunlap did some rethinking about his approach.

“Not putting ourselves as much in harm’s way,” Dunlap described. “Not as much pressing, so not as many possessions. And we tweaked our zone.”

Whatever that was, it worked the past two games, including a 15-point comeback Saturday against the Dallas Mavericks. At the other end, the Bobcats are driving aggressively. As Dunlap described, he wants this group a “rim-and-free throw team first.”

That’s good for a 3-3 record entering Wednesday night’s road game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. That doesn’t sound like much, but remember it nearly is half the victories from last season’s 7-59 debacle.

The Bobcats were a little shorthanded Tuesday – Matt Carroll was traded during the afternoon to New Orleans for a yet-to-arrive Hakim Warrick and Ben Gordon missed the game with a family emergency. That placed Sessions into an even bigger role in the backcourt. Pairing Sessions and Walker together at the end of games has been a winning combination so far.

It hasn’t caused the defensive meltdown one easily could have predicted.

“Sometimes we live our fears as coaches,” Dunlap said of playing two point guards together. “We’ll say, ‘He’s giving up three inches (to an opposing shooting guard) when that really doesn’t hurt us.”

No Wizards player particularly hurt the Bobcats on Tuesday. Forward Trevor Ariza came closest with 19 points, but this victory was surprisingly decisive. And potentially attitude-changing.

“Confidence and a little bit of swagger,” Dunlap described, “is a long time in coming.”

Percentages: FG .298, FT .656. Three-Point Goals: 5-31, .161 (Ariza 2-8, Webster 1-2, Beal 1-6, Price 1-7, Singleton 0-1, Crawford 0-2, Martin 0-2, Pargo 0-3). Team Rebounds: 14. Team Turnovers: 17 (19 PTS). Blocked Shots: 10 (Okafor 3, Booker 2, Seraphin 2, Ariza, Crawford, Vesely). Turnovers: 17 (Crawford 5, Barron 2, Booker 2, Pargo 2, Price 2, Ariza, Beal, Okafor, Seraphin). Steals: 5 (Ariza, Beal, Booker, Martin, Price).

Percentages: FG .397, FT .844. Three-Point Goals: 3-13, .231 (Sessions 1-2, Mullens 1-3, Walker 1-4, Taylor 0-2, Williams 0-2). Team Rebounds: 8. Team Turnovers: 13 (15 PTS). Blocked Shots: 7 (Mullens 2, Thomas 2, Haywood, Kidd-Gilchrist, Taylor). Turnovers: 12 (Taylor 3, Kidd-Gilchrist 2, Sessions 2, Thomas 2, Haywood, Mullens, Williams). Steals: 8 (Haywood 2, Mullens 2, Walker 2, Higgins, Taylor). Technical Fouls: Thomas, 0:00.3 first; Defensive three second, 9:41 third.

Att.—11,139 (19,077). T—2:12. Officials—Monty McCutchen, Olandis Poole, Scott Wall.