--Portland must go 4-4 over its final eight games to post a winning record. With a difficult April schedule, a win over Charlotte would have made the goal much more attainable.
After Saturday's defeat, coach Nate McMillan wondered aloud if his players had begun to look forward to the end of the season. "(The season is) not over," the third-year Blazers coach said. "It would be a waste of a year if they approach it that way, because (the Blazers have) had a pretty good year. It would be a waste to finish the last couple of weeks with that type of attitude. You have to show that you want to win and you're not just going through the motions."
--Travis Outlaw, who was 1 for 2 from 3-point range in the previous 13 games, sank his first four 3-point attempts Saturday, finishing 4 for 6.
The Bobcats "just let me shoot it," said Outlaw, who led Portland with 26 points. "I ain't going to lie -- (the 3-pointer) is not my favorite shot. I'm not running out there and looking for it, but it was never there before. I ain't going to force it. Tonight, it was just wide open."
QUOTE TO NOTE: "That's a game we should have had. It sucks." -- Portland's Joel Przybilla, after the Blazers lost to Charlotte.
