Bobcats welcome Nets to Time Warner Cable Arena

The Charlotte Bobcats return home from a disastrous road trip Wednesday night when they welcome the Brooklyn Nets to Time Warner Cable Arena.

The Bobcats played four games out west and lost them by a combined 105 points, or an average of 26.25 ppg. In total, Charlotte has dropped seven in a row and three straight at home.

After a 22-point loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, a 30-point setback to the Utah Jazz and a 36-point humiliation at the hands of the Sacramento Kings, the Bobcats fell to the Portland Trail Blazers 122-105 Monday night.

The Blazers went 12-for-24 from long range on Monday. The Bobcats were 1- for-10.

"I felt like we scored enough points to win," said Gerald Henderson, who had 14 for Charlotte. "We just couldn't match them with their three's. That's a lot of points to score."

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Kemba Walker had double-doubles for Charlotte. Kidd-Gilchrist scored 17 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, while Walker had 15 and 11 assists.

The Nets head to Charlotte losers of two straight and four of their last five.

The most recent setback for the Nets came Saturday in Chicago against the Bulls. Chicago buried Brooklyn in the second quarter, 25-12, and won rather comfortably, 96-85.

Brook Lopez led the Nets with 22 points, but only grabbed three rebounds in 34 minutes. Deron Williams had 14, Andray Blatche 13 and Joe Johnson scored 11 in his second game back after missing three with a heel issue.

One of the interesting subplots of the loss to the Bulls was the lineup the Nets employed to try and negate the strength of Chicago's bigs, Joakim Noah and Carlos Boozer.

Interim head coach P.J. Carlesimo played the 6-foot-11 Blatche and the 7-foot Lopez on the floor together.

"It gives us another shot-blocking presence inside, obviously gives us a bigger front line," Carlesimo said of playing Lopez with his primary backup. "It's not something we'll do a lot. It's something we're going to try and do a little more going forward."

The Nets are tied for the fourth seed with the Bulls and welcome the Washington Wizards to the Barclays Center on Wednesday. They play two on the road, but later in the month have a brutal eight-game road swing.

The Nets have won five straight over Charlotte, including a 97-81 victory on Dec. 28 in Brooklyn. The Nets have also won three in a row in Charlotte.