On Tuesday night, the hornets will return to Charlotte for the first time since moving to New Orleans, as they will battle the expansion Bobcats.

"I don't think people are angry at the players, they are angry at the situation and how it all went down and how they lost their team," Wesley said Monday. "But I expect a warm reception, at least initially, and then they'll be rooting for the Bobcats."

After the Hornets left, the NBA quickly awarded Charlotte a new team, which has not been embraced the same way the Hornets were when they set an NBA record with 364 straight sellouts from 1989-97.

Hornets' owner George Shinn will not be in attendance.

The L.A. Clippers won their 4th overtime game in 4 attempts on Monday night, despite the ejection of Elton Brand, beating the Charlotte Bobcats by the score of 99-93 in double overtime.

Corey Maggette led the charge for the Clippers with 33 points.

Shooting guard Kareem Rush, acquired earlier in the day by the Bobcats from the Lakers for a pair of second-round draft picks, was in uniform but did not play.

The Bobcats reason for waiving Eddie House became clear on Monday when they traded for Kareem Rush and now the Denver Nuggets are keen on signing the former Arizona State star.

"Absolutely," said Vandeweghe of his interest in House, who has had conversations with House's agent, Mark Bartelstein. "He's very talented and fits in with the way we play."

Because they have an injured-player exception worth $1.6 million, the Nuggets could pick up House, whose $825,000 salary is slightly more than the minimum, off waivers. Vandeweghe, though, wanting to hold onto the exception, said they probably won't make a claim.

If House clears waivers, the Nuggets might look to sign him. They would be responsible for paying him the prorated minimum salary of $745,046 for a fifth-year man.

"Kiki has always liked Eddie, and (the Nuggets) have never been afraid to play small guards," said Bartelstein, who thanked the Bobcats for not stashing House on the injured list. He said it's too early to say whether Denver might be House's top choice if he clears waivers.

The Nuggets, in need of outside shooting, dangled a second-round pick for Rush. The Lakers, though, believe Charlotte can give them higher second-round picks, and they aren't keen on trading him to a team also in the West.

The Charlotte Bobcats today acquired guard Kareem Rush from the Los Angeles Lakers, it was announced by Bobcats General Manager and Head Coach Bernie Bickerstaff.  The Bobcats will send two second round draft picks to the Lakers ? the pick Charlotte received from Atlanta on August 16 and Charlotte?s own 2008 second round selection.  

?We are excited about Kareem joining our team and bringing his multiple talents to the Bobcats,? Bickerstaff said.  ?He has great size and athleticism, he can shoot the ball well with range and because of his length he can play more than one position.?

Rush, a 6-6, 215-pounder who is in his third NBA season, was the 20th overall pick in the 2002 NBA Draft by Toronto and traded that night to the Lakers.  In his first two seasons, he averaged 4.6 points, 1.3 rebounds and 0.9 assists in 148 games and in 14 games this season he averaged 0.9 points and 1.2 rebounds in 6.5 minutes.

During the 2003-04 season he recorded career highs in points (30), field goals made (13) and field goal attempts (22) at Sacramento on Jan. 16 and reached double-figure scoring 18 times.  

He appeared in 31 postseason games with the Lakers and averaged 3.6 points, 0.6 rebounds and 0.6 assists in 12.2 minutes.  Rush played in all 22 playoff contests in the team?s run to the NBA Finals last season and averaged 3.7 points in 14.3 minutes.  He registered a playoff career-high 18 points on 6-7 three-point shooting on May 31 against Minnesota.

The Charlotte Observer is reporting that the Charlotte Bobcats are in talks with the Los Angeles Lakers to acquire Kareem Rush.  Rush has averaged only 6 minutes of play per game, as his increased role in last season's playoffs with the Lakers appears to be history.

Rush makes about $1.17 million this season on a Lakers salary cap of $61 million. Trading Rush to Charlotte would lighten the Lakers payroll slightly, and team owner Jerry Buss has always shied away from the possibility of paying luxury tax. The Bobcats are about $6 million under the salary cap, so they have plenty of room to absorb Rush' money, in the last guaranteed season on his contract.

Jamal Crawford scored 41 points on Saturday night, hitting 17 of his first 20 shots, but the Knicks ended up losing to the expansion Charlotte Bobcats, 107-101.

"We pretty much milked him too much, and that wasn't fair to him," Marbury said of Crawford. "Instead of us milking him in spurts, we basically drained him."

Crawford missed his final five shots.

"The thing is, he had a hot hand going, and you've got to stay with that," Coach Lenny Wilkens said of Crawford. "But you have to incorporate other people with it and not forget about everybody else. And I don't think that hurt us as much as there were several times where we had the clock down and then we'd lose sight of somebody defensively, and all of a sudden, they'd make a big shot."

Crawford had 13 points in the first quarter and 25 points by the time he took his first break, with 5 minutes 35 seconds left in the first half.

His teammates simply stepped aside and let him fire.

"Honestly, it doesn't even matter," Crawford said of his scoring burst. "If we had won, we would have had something to talk about. But we didn't. So it's all for naught."

The Charlotte Bobcats today waived guard former Hayward High and Arizona State star Eddie House. It was announced by Bobcats General Manager and Head Coach Bernie Bickerstaff.

House was acquired by the Bobcats in a trade with the Los Angeles Clippers on July 14 and is in his fifth NBA season.  The 6-1, 175-pound guard averaged 11.1 points, 1.5 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.85 steals this season for the Bobcats and 7.1 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 242 career games.

?Eddie handled himself as a professional since he joined our organization and we know we will see him on an NBA roster very soon,? Bickerstaff said.  ?We had a situation here with a lot of players at one position and this was a difficult decision.?

The Bobcats are the NBA?s 30th franchise and will play the 2004-05 season at the Charlotte Coliseum before moving to the New Charlotte Arena beginning with the 2005-06 NBA season.

Charlotte's Emeka Okafor and Dallas' Devin Harris today were named Eastern and Western Conference Rookies of the Month for games played in November.

Okafor, the 2nd overall pick in the 2004 NBA Draft by the expansion Bobcats, is averaging a double-double for the season, with 13.5ppg and 10.1rpg. He also leads all rookies in double-doubles, and is second in scoring and rebounding.  

Harris, the 5th overall pick in the same draft, has so far started every game at point guard for the 10-6 Dallas Mavericks. He ranks second among all rookies is assists and steals, and leads the Mavericks in the latter category.