Stephen Jackson’s MRI on Monday revealed no structural damage and his current status is day-to-day.
"Stephen Jackson said his left knee was sorer today than yesterday, but expects to start Game 2 of the Charlotte Bobcats’ series against the Orlando Magic.Jackson hyperextended his left knee on Sunday after a collision with Gerald Wallace. An MRI on Monday revealed no structural damage, but a small bone bruise. He is officially listed as day-to-day, but will remain listed as a starter."
Tania Ganguli has that story here.
Rob Mahoney believes that the Bobcats won the matchup with Dwight Howard.
"The Bobcats were certainly successful in getting under Howard’s skin, and Dwight picked up five fouls while trying to impose his will on both ends of the court. Only half of that effort could be deemed a success.You can’t blame Howard for responding to his frustration with increasingly physical play, as the dark arts employed by less athletic and sizable opponents (read: everyone) in defending/denying Dwight in the post and boxing him out are far more insidious than his own play. It’s not that Howard is innocent; he holds, pulls, pushes, and grabs just like the long line of successful centers before him. That doesn’t mean he’ll be happy about two defenders holding him down though, or being pummeled from all angles when he goes up for a dunk."
You can find that story here.
The Bobcats say they were not rattled by Dwight Howard.
"Obviously Howard’s blocks impacted the game, particularly the six he had in the first quarter. But by the end of the game, the Bobcats scored more points in the lane (38, to the Magic’s 26) and Howard had committed five fouls.“Never — it’s impossible to block every shot,” Stephen Jackson said, when asked if Howard’s blocks discourage drives. “We can’t settle for jumpers. Me and Gerald are physical guys, and we like attacking the rim. Whether he’s there or not, we have to keep attacking it.”"
Rick Bonnell has that story here.
Gerald Wallace is going to keep attacking the basket.
"Wallace had 25 points and 17 rebounds in Game 1, which was 20 points and 10 rebounds more than Howard, who led the NBA for the second consecutive season in both rebounds and blocked shots.“Obviously, he did a great job with nine blocks, but it didn’t stop us from going to the basket. He won’t affect the way we attack,” Wallace said. “No one is afraid that he’s a bully, or a factor under the basket.”"
Tim Povtak has that story here.
The Magic think Howard will be fine as long as he plays smart.
"The other problem for the Magic is obvious. Howard can get into foul trouble dealing with the waves of Bobcats coming his way. He was limited to about 28 minutes in Game 1.He had 11 blocks in the regular-season series — and 16 fouls.And when the Bobcats continue to wrestle with Howard, he can also lose his cool and pick up more ticky-tack fouls. He was whistled for one retaliation foul and finished with five fouls.“Their big guys are going to hit him every chance they get and if he gets one foul in retaliating, they’ve done their job,” Van Gundy said. “He’s just going to have to understand that no matter how many times they hit him, he can’t hit back.”"
Brian Schmitz has that story here.
Sebastian Pruiti breaks down Dwight Howard’s fourth quarter put-back dunk with still frames and video. He always does great work and you can see it here.
Raymond Felton is not the only Bobcat to blame for Jameer Nelson’s 32-point night in game one.
"“We kind of left Ray out there to dry,” guard Stephen Jackson said of how little defensive help Felton got early.The problem runs to the core of what got the Magic to the NBA Finals last season; how do you keep Howard from dunking you into submission without conceding open jump shots to every other Orlando player?"
You can find that story here.
The Bobcats made the playoffs for the first time in franchise history but they have players who have been there before.
"Stephen Jackson is an NBA champion and quite memorably makes love to pressure. Boris Diaw played a key role in several playoff runs for the Suns. Larry Hughes, while a mess on the court, at least knows what the playoffs are. Tyson Chandler has won a playoff series. Theo Ratliff is roughly 732 years old.That leaves Gerald Wallace and Raymond Felton as the only members of the core without significant playoff experience. But if the playoffs are about mental toughness and playing hard at every opportunity, Gerald isn’t exactly someone you need to be worried about. Felton had some trouble containing Jameer Nelson early, but even if that’s related to inexperience, it wouldn’t explain the collective screw-up Charlotte evinced to begin the game."
Eric Freeman has that story here.
The Bobcats has video practice reports from Monday. You can watch those videos here.
(Andrew Melnick is Howard the Dunk’s lead blogger and a contributor on the Fansided Front Page and at Sir Charles In Charge. Subscribe to his RSS feed, add him on Twitter to follow him daily and you can get the HTD app here).