EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Stephen
Jackson had 17 points and nine rebounds and the Charlotte Bobcats got a
big game from their bench to beat New Jersey 105-95 Monday night in the
Nets' final game at the Izod Center in the Meadowlands.
Gerald Henderson led the bench crew
with 14 points, while fellow reserves Tyrus Thomas and D.J. Augustin
added 13 and 11.
With Miami's win over Philadelphia
earlier Monday, the Bobcats were cemented into the No. 7 playoff spot in
the Eastern Conference and will meet the defending conference champion
Orlando Magic in the first round of the playoffs this weekend.
Devin Harris had 22 points and
Terrence Williams added 21 and 13 rebounds for the Nets, who will play
the next two seasons at the Prudential Center in Newark, before moving
into a new arena in Brooklyn in 2012.
The victory was the ninth in 12 games
for the Bobcats, who gave starting small forward Gerald Wallace the
night off so he could rest his bruised left shoulder for the playoffs.
Charlotte blew a 15-point halftime
lead and had to rally late in the third quarter with Jackson leading a
six-point run to go ahead 81-77 heading to the fourth quarter.
After the teams exchanged a couple of
baskets, Augustin hit a baseline jumper and Henderson, who also had
seven rebounds, converted a three-point play to push the lead to 90-81.
Tyson Chandler added a free throw and
Thomas made two more to stretch the advantage to 93-81 and New Jersey
never got close again.
The Nets finished 655-518 in the
Meadowlands.
Bobcats coach Larry Brown was the
Nets coach when they played their first game in what was then Brendan
Byrne Arena, losing 103-99 to the Knicks.
Brown was back for the last game and
walked away with a win this time.
Trailing by 15 at the half, the Nets
opened the third quarter with an 18-5 spurt and eventually took a 74-73
lead rebound follow by Yi Jianlian with 3:16 left in the quarter.
Jackson then sandwiched a jumper and a
strong driving layup around a basket by Boris Diaw to give Charlotte a
79-74 lead.
Harris had 12 of the Nets' 33 points
in the quarter in which coach Kiki Vandeweghe played his starters almost
the entire period.
Notes
Henderson had two
highlight-reel plays late in the second quarter with a dunk over Nets G
Devin Harris and a reverse play with a pump fake. … Thomas returned to
the Bobcats' lineup after missing three games with a dislocated right
thumb. … Nets reserve F Kris Humphries injured his right elbow in the
first half and did not return. … Backup point guard Keyon Dooling was
inactive with a groin injury, while starting small forward Jarvis Hayes
missed his second straight game with a sprained right ankle. … The
teams split four games this season.