THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Gerald Wallace scored 25 points and the Charlotte Bobcats pulled away in the second half to beat the Indiana Pacers 103-94 on Wednesday night.
Wallace had his best outing in just his second game back after missing seven games because of a broken rib and had a partially collapsed lung.
Wallace, who also had 10 rebounds and seven assists, was 5-of-17 from the field, but made 15 of 17 free throws.
Ekema Okafor had 12 points and 12 rebounds, Raymond Felton added 16 points, Vladimir Radmanovic had 15, Boris Diaw 14 and Raja Bell 11.
Troy Murphy had 18 points and 16 rebounds for the Pacers, who played most of the game without all-star forward Danny Granger.
Granger, Indiana’s leading scorer at 25.3 points per game, sprained his right foot early in the second quarter.
He did not return after coming out with 10:50 remaining in the half, finishing with 12 points on 4-of-9 shooting.
Jarrett Jack had 18 points, Marquis Daniels 14 and Rasho Nesterovic 10 for the Pacers.
Despite Granger’s absence, Indiana managed to cut a nine-point deficit to three at the half, and pull within a point five times in the third quarter, the last at 61-60 on Jack’s layup with 7:19 left.
But Felton scored seven points during a 16-3 run that gave Charlotte its biggest lead of the game, 77-63.
Notes: With Thursday the NBA’s trading deadline, Charlotte coach Larry Brown said that the Bobcats may not be done making roster moves. “I don’t anticipate anything happening, but people are on the phone,” Brown said. “We’re trying to improve our club any way we can. We’ve made a lot of positive moves, but we’ll see what happens.” … Charlotte forward Cartier Martin, who was signed for the rest of the season before the start of Wednesday’s game, scored three points. He hit a three-pointer from the corner with 2:03 left in the second quarter. … Forward Sean May and guard Sean Singletary were inactive for the Bobcats for the second straight game, while three players — forwards Mike Dunleavy (sore right knee) and Josh McRoberts (flu), and centre Jeff Foster (sprained right ankle) — were out for the Pacers.
