Bobcats wear down weary Durant, Sonics

Gerald Wallace scored 27 points, Jason Richardson added 23 and the Charlotte Bobcats wore down a weary Kevin Durant and the Seattle SuperSonics in a 100-84 win on Saturday night.

Raymond Felton added 13 points and 12 assists, Emeka Okafor added 12 points and 15 rebounds, and the Bobcats set a franchise record by limiting Seattle to 31 percent shooting, a night after the Sonics won an emotional double-overtime game in Atlanta.

Kevin Durant, who hit the game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer Friday, was held to 16 points on 3-of-12 shooting. Chris Wilcox had 20 of his 24 points in the first half and Damien Wilkins scored 19 for Seattle, which had a two-game winning streak snapped following their 0-8 start.

The Bobcats, off since Wednesday, used a quick burst by Richardson at the start of the second half to take control. Richardson hit four 3-pointers and scored 14 points in less than 3 minutes to erase an eight-point deficit.

The Bobcats never trailed again, using their fresh legs to pull away early in the fourth quarter. Matt Carroll and Walter Herrmann hit 3-pointers to put Charlotte ahead 83-70. Wallace's alley-oop dunk on Felton's feed extended the lead to 90-74 with just over 7 minutes left.

Seattle couldn't get back in the game. Durant, the No. 2 pick in the draft, made all 10 of his free throws to partly offset his struggles from the field. Wilkins, who scored a career-high 41 points against the Hawks, shot 5-for-16.

Wally Szczerbiak (0-for-9 from the field) and Nick Collison (0-for-5) helped Charlotte shatter its previous best field goal percentage defense of 36 percent against Memphis last season.

Hoping to wear down the Sonics, the Bobcats ran at every chance, building a 10-point lead midway through the second quarter,

But the Sonics, playing zone, got back into it when Charlotte committed five of its first 13 first-half turnovers during a 18-6 run to close the half that gave Seattle a 49-47 lead.

With a green-clad cheering section from a group home Wilcox sponsors, the Raleigh, N.C., native had 20 points and seven rebounds by halftime. That made up for a subpar first half from Durant, who had five points on 1-of-5 shooting.

Durant hit two free throws and had a driving layup early in the third quarter to give Seattle a 58-50 lead.

After coach Sam Vincent called a timeout, Richardson took over, demanding the ball during his burst as Charlotte moved to 5-4, the latest the fourth-year franchise has ever been above .500.

Notes:@ Sonics C Robert Swift (knee) missed his fourth straight game, while F Kurt Thomas (hamstring) missed his second straight . ... Bobcats F Othella Harrington missed both shots and committed a foul in two scoreless minutes in his first game of the season following arthroscopic knee surgery. Vincent said if Harrington struggles, he'll push management to sign another big man. "If for some reason his knees don't hold up, then that need is still there," Vincent said.