Then there was no Raja Bell to guard Brandon Roy, or Boris Diaw to hit a huge 3-pointer after shooting 1-of-8 or Juwan Howard to serve as sort of a one-man bench.

Those veterans made a huge difference, not that the holdovers were inconsequential. Bobcats center Emeka Okafor iced it with two seconds left, hitting two free throws, and Gerald Wallace made the spectacular play of the season -- an alley-oop dunk over Portland center Greg Oden.

The Bobcats (16-24) won three in a row for the first time this season and suddenly look relevant.

They're 9-8 in their past 17 games, a span that roughly coincides with the trade for Bell and Diaw and the signing of free agent Howard.

So, coach: Do you win this game a month ago?

"No...no! It's just fun looking down that bench now," coach Larry Brown replied. "If the (power forward) gets in foul trouble, you don't have some guy who's just begging to be in the league. You've got Juwan."

Howard hit four of five shots for eight points, but that was modest compared to Wallace, who finished with 31 points, 16 rebounds, three assists and two blocks.

He made back-to-back 3-point plays in the fourth quarter (off the alley-oop and a spinning drive) to foul out Oden, the No. 1 overall pick two years ago.

The dunk might have counted for two on the scoreboard, but it was worth far more emotionally.

"That was a play that got the fans, the bench and the coaches into the game," Wallace said. "We all did a good job of attacking the basket, getting them in foul trouble."

At the other end, Bell did his typically efficient job of containing Portland All-Star Roy. When Bell played for the Phoenix Suns, he'd put Roy through some miserable days. Saturday, Roy scored just two points at halftime and finished with 17 -- five short of his average -- on 7-of-18 shooting.

That's about Bell's savvy defending the screen-and-roll. Bell talked Okafor through the subtleties of guarding Roy in that situation, and it all worked out.

"(Defending) the screen-and-roll is all about trusting each other," Bell said.

"He has to trust (by cutting off Roy's path, rather than retreating to the basket). Once we cleaned that up, cleared the air, it worked pretty well."

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