(SportsNetwork.com) - The Charlotte Bobcats will try to halt a two-game slide Friday night when they welcome the Philadelphia 76ers to The Time Warner Cable Arena.
The Bobcats dropped two in a row on a quick road trip, falling in a heartbreaker in Miami on Sunday, then losing at Dallas, 89-82 on Tuesday night.
Charlotte took a seven-point lead into the final quarter Tuesday, but had no answers for Dirk Nowitzki and Monta Ellis, who combined to score the final 19 points of the game.
"Nowitzki and Ellis took over the game," Charlotte coach Steve Clifford said. "And if we would run around a double team, they've got 3-point shooters all over."
Al Jefferson led the Bobcats with 19 points and 12 rebounds. Kemba Walker and Gerald Henderson both had 16 and Josh McRoberts added 10 points.
The loss was a costly one as Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2012 draft, sustained a non-displaced fracture in his left hand. He left the Dallas game in the third quarter and he is expected to miss 4-to-6 weeks.
The Bobcats have allowed opponents to score 100 points only three times this season and the last time was a Nov. 11 loss in Atlanta. That is a run of 12 straight without surrendering 100, which is why Charlotte is second in the NBA in opponents' scoring.
The Sixers will also be without a key young piece with a first name of Michael and a hyphenated last name.
Michael Carter-Williams, the Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month, did not make the trip for Philly due to right knee soreness. He will get further treatment back at home.
In his last outing, Carter-Williams led the Sixers to a 126-125 double- overtime victory over the Orlando Magic. He totaled 27 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists for the Sixers, who had lost four in a row and eight of their previous nine.
Magic rookie Victor Oladipo also had a triple-double, making it the first time in league history two rookies had triple-doubles in the same game.
"Clearly there's a competitive side to it, but this is a team game. It's not me versus Oladipo," said Carter-Williams. "I just wanted to get the win and at the end of the day, that's all that matters, regardless of what the stats say."
Thaddeus Young scored 25 points and grabbed 12 rebounds and Evan Turner chipped in 24 before he fouled out. James Anderson netted 19 off the bench, followed by 17 from Spencer Hawes and 10 from Hollis Thompson.
The Sixers have won eight of the last 10 meetings with the Bobcats. Charlotte snapped a three-game home losing streak in this series in April, but had won seven of eight prior to the slide.
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