The Charlotte Bobcats beat the Indiana Pacers 90-89 in a very close game to end their miserable 23-game losing streak.
Kemba Walker was the star, scoring a career-high 30 points for the Bobcats.
The Bobcatslost their final 23 games in the previous season finishing 7-59, easily the worst winning percentage in the history of the NBA.
After a forgettable last year, the Bobcats hope they start a winning streak from now on.
"It was something that was in the back of all of our heads," Walker said. "We didn't want that streak to keep on with us, so to get it over with now was extremely important. But now that it's over we don't ever want to get to that point again."
The Bobcats looked more organized and aggressive under Mike Dunlap's coaching debut with the team. Their defense looked quite sharp in Friday's game.
The Associated Press quoted D.J. Augustin, the Pacers guard as saying: "They look like a different team out there. They came at us with a full court trap and it kind of threw us off our game. They were very intense."
The team has been undergoing intense training sessions conducted by Dunlap for at least 3 to 4 hours. It seems to be paying off as it has really helped the team build up their defense and confidence.
"Guys are really, really buying in and that's all it takes," Walker added. "It's about sacrifice. It's about buying into what your leader is preaching. It showed tonight. We made some huge stops at the end."
It was a close match that could have swung either way. The Paces had several chances to win but missed shots resulted in their defeat.
Augustin made a last-minute attempt with an 18-foot jumper as time expired but was unable to make it. "I had a good look at it, but it just didn't go down."
Coach Dunlap, meanwhile, said that it was important for the team to reorganize themselves after a 23-losing streak. "The most important thing was to kill the elephant and that elephant was that losing streak," he said. "We had to get that off of everybody's back. It's just one of those marks you want to clean off the board."
Walker was particularly impressive on drives as he managed to get them above the much taller Pacers defenders.Walker attributed his success to intense training and also gave credit to the new coach.
"I think I was having a really good night," he said. "Coach Dunlap was helping with those kinds of crazy shots all offseason. It's just all of the hard work that has been paying off."
Charlotte was the worst shooting team in the previous season. In Friday's game they built a solid 12-3 lead before again slumping giving the Pacers an opportunity to come back in the game with a 43-39 halftime lead.
But thanks to Walker's efforts again in the second half, scoringa quickfire eight points and giving his team a significant lead.
Pacers coach Frank Vogel, seemingly impressed with the Bobcats said: "It was a tough shooting night but you have to give the Bobcats credit. Kemba Walker was sensational. We turned the ball over too much and we couldn't knock down our free throws."
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