The Bobcats enter tonight’s game against the Pacers coming off an overtime loss to the Atlanta Hawks. Despite the loss it was a nice effort from a team that’s effort has been questionable at times this season. We finally got to see D.J. Augustin and Kemba Walker play together for an extended period of time and it worked for the most part on the offensive end. Not so much on the defensive end, but that’s to be expected.

As for the Bobcats’ opponent, the Pacers have quietly assembled a pretty solid roster. Darren Collison heads the point for Indiana and Danny Granger, Paul George, Roy Hibbert and Tyler Hansbrough make out the rest of the starting five. It’s clear that Indiana’s a team on the rise but the Pacers are still a piece away from being a legitimate contender. Nevertheless, the Pacers are on a different level than the Bobcats right now.

After back-to-back embarrassing efforts against the Orlando Magic and Miami Heat, the Bobcats followed it up with their worst yet against the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cavs manhandled the Bobcats like they were a younger brother. Cleveland is an improved team this year but for Charlotte to get spanked like it did is beyond concerning. Due to a condensed schedule, teams won’t have the luxury of practicing nearly as much as they would have been during a normal season. The lack of practices will hurt this Bobcats team which will be forced to gel on the court in games as opposed to developing better chemistry in practice.

Tonight, Charlotte gets the task of playing a much better team than the Cavs in the New York Knicks. The Knicks have been shorthanded the past couple games with Amare Stoudemire out with an ankle injury, and it’s possible the All-Star power forward will be back in the lineup tonight along with Iman Shumpert who has been out since Christmas day. Getting the two back would be devastating for the Bobcats’ chances of winning tonight, especially if Amare plays.

So the Bobcats are currently on a three-game losing streak and it hasn’t been pretty the last two games. Both the Orlando Magic and Miami Heat had their way with Charlotte, abusing the Bobcats for four quarters. Now comes a much easier opponent in the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cavs (2-2) will not challenge the Bobcats like the Heat and Magic did, and this game will be a good indicator of how Charlotte will fare this season.

If the Bobcats are unable to beat the Cavs I think it is safe to say that the opening night win over Milwaukee was a bit of a fluke. As fun as that win was a loss to Cleveland would wipe away any optimism that was felt about this season. Nobody expected the Bobcats to compete with the likes of the Heat and Magic this year but teams like the Cavs Charlotte should be able to hang with.

Let’s take a look at tonight’s contest and some other thoughts that have been roaming around in my brain.

Before I begin my first post for Bobcats Planet I just wanted to say that I am thankful for this opportunity and am looking forward to posting on the ‘Cats throughout the season. I’ve followed the team since its initial season and feel that it is finally heading in the right direction after years of poor decisions. I’ll save that rant for another time. Let’s get to tonight’s game against the red hot Miami Heat.