Share
To paraphrase the Dean Smith/Michael Jordan line, only Larry Brown could hold Nazr Mohammed to 18 points.
OK, let's be fair: Mohammed took himself out at one point from pure exhaustion. But those 18 points in 18 minutes were as big a reason as any why the Charlotte Bobcats broke a seven-game losing streak in a 104-88 victory Sunday against the Indiana Pacers.
Mohammed didn't find out he was starting until about 11/2 hours before game time, when center Tyson Chandler took himself out of the line-up because of back spasms. In what looked like one of those Wally Pipp moments, Mohammed made 8 of 10 shots from the field, charging an offense that looked frozen in place throughout the losing streak.
Those 104 points were a season-high for the 4-9 Bobcats, the worst offensive team in the NBA.
"I'm happy with the win. But I've been humbled," Mohammed said of not expecting more minutes. "After going through what I did last season - not playing at all - I just want to win and be part of winning."
Mohammed hadn't scored this many points since the second-to-last game of the 2007-08 season. He was shelved most of last season, as Brown tried to develop DeSagana Diop as the backup center. But in his two starts, filling in with Chandler injured, he's 13-of-17 from the field for a combined 31 points.
"I thought he played great," Brown said of Mohammed. "He got in a little foul trouble and he took himself out because he got tired - that's a good sign."
There were numerous good signs for a team that struggled throughout a three-game road trip to find its footing offensively. The Bobcats made 50 percent from the field, with forward Boris Diaw hitting 8-of-13 for 17 points. And the bench, which had been virtually nonexistent of late beyond Flip Murray, contributed 40 points.
Brown decided he'd been overplaying the starters and no one topped 37 minutes Sunday. Rookie Derrick Brown was the biggest beneficiary of that shift, picking up 24 minutes and contributing 13 points and four rebounds.
This wasn't garbage time, either: He scored all his points and grabbed all but one of those rebounds in the first three quarters.
But in the end, this was Mohammed's night.
"It's my 12th year and I'm not going to be an All-Star. Maybe I have four or five more years (as a pro) if I stay healthy," Mohammed said.
"Winning is the only thing that's going to satisfy me - to win and feel like I contributed."
