Knight stars as Bobcats beat Raptors

Jumaine Jones added 17 points and 11 boards and Primoz Brezec added 17 points and eight rebounds for the Bobcats, who have won two of their last three games.

Mike James had a game-high 32 points and 10 assists and Matt Bonner added 14 points in the loss for the Raptors, who have dropped their last eight games.

The Raptors trailed much of the game, but they closed the third quarter with the final five points and started the fourth with a 9-2 run and led 75-72 after Morris Peterson drained a three-pointer with 8:43 left in the game.

James gave Toronto an 84-80 lead when he put in a layup with 3:26 remaining. Three straight baskets by Charlotte, though, gave the team an 86-84 lead with 1:24 to play.

Bonner tied the game again with 58 seconds to play, but Knight and Jones countered with back-to-back layups and Knight put his squad up 92-86 with 22.3 seconds left after he calmly drained two from the charity stripe.

Peterson hit a jumper with 17 seconds left to get the Raptors back to within four points, but Knight drained two more from the line with 16.3 seconds left to seal the win.

The first quarter was a tight-run affair, but Charlotte took a 23-22 lead into the second quarter.

The Raptors were trailing 29-22 early in the second quarter, but they went on a 13-4 run and grabbed a 35-33 lead thanks to back-to-back jumpers by James.

The Bobcats, though, closed the first half with an 11-5 burst and had a 50-46 lead going into the locker room.

Charlotte continued to lead throughout the third quarter and had a nine-point advantage, 70-61, after Melvin Ely hit two free throws with 1:13 left in the period. However, Toronto closed the quarter with five straight points and trailed 70-66 going into the final 12 minutes.

Game Notes

Toronto travels to Miami for a game on Tuesday...The Bobcats return home for a game against Memphis on Wednesday...Toronto won the season-series, 3-1...The Bobcats improved to 7-32 on the road this year...Toronto is 14-25 as the host...Charlotte won the battle of the boards, 44-35, and outshot Toronto, 45.5 percent to 44.7 percent...Gerald Wallace had 11 points and 14 boards for the Bobcats, while Raymond Felton ended with 10 points and 12 assists.