This was a game the Bobcats circled as a must-win. The Grizzlies should have been the perfect remedy for a three-game losing streak.
But with their playoff chances dwindling, the Bobcats were outscored by 23 in the second half, barely making it to 80 points.
And now, five games behind eighth-place Atlanta in the East, they look lottery-bound even by the most optimistic appraisal.
This month full of road games—they close March with 10 of 11 away from Charlotte because of college basketball at their arena—has left the Bobcats worn out.
"Out of gas," coach Sam Vincent said when asked why his team showed so little in a game it needed so badly