Bobcats' Wallace succeeds with hard work



• ENERGIZER BOBCAT: Charlotte's Gerald Wallace has made his career on one intangible: effort.

The forward who won Eastern Conference player of the week honors simply does not stop working. And his perpetual effort helped produce another solid effort in the Bobcats' win over the Hawks Wednesday.

Wallace had 31 points on 12-for-16 shooting to go with 9 rebounds, three assists, four steals and four blocked shots.

"Gerald plays extremely hard," Hawks forward Marvin Williams said. "By me watching Raymond (Felton) and Sean (May) play, I've been able to really see how hard (Wallace) plays every night. He's athletic, plus he's scoring the ball a lot more this year."

• HOMECOMING, SORT OF: Little-known fact: Zaza Pachulia was playing against his former team Wednesday. Yes, Pachulia was a Bobcats player for a day. He was picked in the 2004 expansion draft but traded by Charlotte to Milwaukee the next day.

• STATS AND STUFF: Salim Stoudamire had 12 points off the bench for the Hawks on 5-for-11 shooting. ... The Hawks outrebounded Charlotte 49-38 with Marvin Williams getting 10 and Josh Smith 15. ... Shelden Williams did not play in the first half and did not distinguish himself in nine second-half minutes (two points, three rebounds). ... At halftime, the Bobcats honored Charlotte native Chris Leak, Florida quarterback. Chris Leak led Independence High to a 108-game winning streak. ... Soon-to-be ousted Bobcats coach Bernie Bickerstaff is No. 10 on the active coaches win list with 409 career victories

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