New York beat Charlotte by a score of 111-96, even catching some fans off guard. "We knew the lines in Vegas listed us as favorites," said New York coach Bob. "And we knew we had a great shot going in, but really expected a more competitive game. I don't know whether we were really that good or whether they had something else on their minds. Whatever, we're thrilled to get this kind of win over an excellent team like Charlotte."

Said Charlotte star Mitchell, "Coach kept yelling at us 'you know you're better than that,' and he was right. We just didn't have the intensity or whatever today, and it showed in our game. The good thing is that we know we can't play much worse than we did out there, and that we could have won if we'd played as good as we're capable of playing."

New York was led by Crawford (15 points, 11 boards, 7 assists, a steal, 3 blocks), Speight (21 points, 3 steals), Graham (18 points, 1 assists). Charlotte was led by Mitchell (26 points, 0 assists), Williams (16 points, 1 assists, 3 steals), Jones (18 points, 4 assists, a steal).

box score New York roster Charlotte roster