Bobcats beat Cavs to end slide

Gerald Wallace scored 22 points and Raymond Felton went 8-for-8 from the foul line in the final 16 seconds as the Charlotte Bobcats snapped a seven-game losing streak with a 96-93 win over the slumping Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday night.

Playing again without LeBron James, the Cavaliers couldn't hold onto a three-point lead early in the fourth quarter, then missed several chances down the stretch to lose their sixth straight game.

Felton's two free throws with 3.1 seconds left put Charlotte up 3. Without any timeouts left, Cleveland was forced to inbound from the backcourt and Larry Hughes' halfcourt shot at the buzzer was well short.

Hughes scored 22 points in his first game in over a month after being sidelined with a bone bruise in his left leg. Shannon Brown and Daniel Gibson each scored 15 for the Cavaliers, who committed 27 turnovers.

Emeka Okafor added 19 points, Jason Richardson 18 and Felton scored 15 for Charlotte, which went 14-for-14 from the free-throw line in the final minute.

After Charlotte built an eight-point lead in the third quarter, Hughes scored eight points in a 19-8 quarter-bridging run that gave Cleveland a 75-72 lead with 8 minutes left.

Matt Carroll's two free throws and jumper with 2:43 left put Charlotte ahead 82-79.

The Bobcats wouldn't relinquish the lead, but the Cavaliers stayed in it late on Brown's three-point play and Gibson's 3-pointer. But the two also combined to miss three free throws in the final minute.

Drew Gooden tipped in a missed free throw to make it 94-93. But Felton answered with two free throws before Hughes' desperation shot failed to hit iron as an animated James watched from the bench.

James missed his fifth straight game with his sprained left index finger, despite an extensive shooting session before the game that included some acrobatic dunks that brought cheers to the early arriving fans. James consistently knocked down outside jumpers before spending another game in street clothes and leaving 30.7 points per game on the bench for Cleveland.

Not that the Bobcats were in much better shape. Carrying the league's longest losing streak coming into the game, coach Sam Vincent put his team through two difficult days of practice that included a heated exchange between Vincent and Okafor at the end of Friday's workout.

Vincent was upset that Charlotte wasn't getting the ball to Okafor. They changed that in the first half, with Okafor scoring 13 points as the Bobcats built a 49-42 lead.

The Cavaliers rallied to tie it at halftime on Brown's soaring one-handed dunk that brought James out of his seat and about six steps onto the court.

The teams met three days after the Cavaliers matched Charlotte's offer sheet for restricted free agent Anderson Varejao. Still working his way back into shape and sorting out visa issues, Varejao did not make the trip.

Notes:@ Apparently, Varejao has a ways to go to be in top condition. Varejao played a pickup game with assistant coaches on Friday, the day he reported to the team. "My coaches said that he looked pretty the first couple of games, but by the third game he was gassed," said coach Mike Brown, who was noncommittal if Varejao would play Tuesday against Indiana. ... Bobcats C Ryan Hollins had 4 points in 9 minutes in his return after missing five games with a shoulder injury.