PHILADELPHIA -- Al Jefferson tried to explain how hitting his jumper forces defences to change their approach. Bill Barber Jersey . "It keeps them on their toes, in my opinion," Jefferson said before being cut off. "It dont change nothing," reserve Jannero Pargo chimed in from two lockers down, "he aint going to pass the ball." Much like his first-half shooting, Jeffersons retort was nearly flawless. "Well if I pass it to you, Ill get a turnover, because youll be on the bench," he said. With a one-liner about as sharp as his stat line, Jefferson had his Bobcats teammates howling. Jefferson had every reason to feel loose, with 25 points and 10 rebounds in Charlottes 123-93 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night. "This is all the time," a smiling Jefferson said of the locker room banter. So are the big wins lately for Charlotte. Perhaps Charlotte is getting hot at the right time, winning by 30-plus points for the second time in six games. "Lets hope theres a couple more," coach Steve Clifford said. Gary Neal scored 15 points to help the Bobcats inch closer to a playoff berth. The Bobcats (37-38) have the seventh-best record in the Eastern Conference. They are 4 1/2 games ahead of the eighth-place New York Knicks and need three wins in the final seven games to clinch their first playoff berth since 2010. The Bobcats are counting on Jefferson to carry them deep into April -- and possibly beyond. "It falls a lot on me," Jefferson said. "Ive only been twice (to the playoffs), but twice is more than a lot of the other guys have been." The Bobcats raced to a 13-point lead in the first quarter, stretched it to 35 and never once let the Sixers threaten. Michael Carter-Williams scored 22 points on 10-of-18 shooting for the Sixers, who have lost two straight since snapping an NBA-record tying 26-game losing streak on Saturday. The Bobcats set the tone in the first quarter en route to putting away the lowly Sixers. Led by Jefferson, the Bobcats made 11 of their first 15 shots and finished with nine assists on 12 baskets. Jefferson picked up where he left off in March, when he was named Eastern Conference player of the month. He averaged 24.7 points on 56 per cent shooting (178-321), 10.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists. He was the first Bobcat to ever win the award. He kept his sharp shooting rolling in the first game of April with a 13-point first quarter. "Its important to set a tone that youre going to play through him early in the game," Clifford said. Jefferson finished 9 of 17 from the floor and made 7 of 10 free throws. He has 20-plus points and 10-plus boards in the same game 23 times this season. Even in a season that has them with the second-worst record in the NBA, this was as bad as the Sixers have played in weeks. Trailing by 13, the Sixers had five turnovers and only four baskets. They missed all seven 3-point attempts in the first half and finished 4 of 18 overall. The Sixers had two starters go scoreless in the half. "They beat us up pretty bad," Carter-Williams said. Charlotte, one of the few teams to lose to the Sixers this season, broke the game open with a 22-8 run in the second. Anthony Tolliver, who scored 16 points, hit a pair of 3s during the spurt and the Bobcats cruised from there. "Thats a team getting ready for the playoffs," Sixers guard Tony Wroten said. "You can tell a big difference." The Bobcats continued doing the big things that have them within striking distance of Washington for sixth place. They had only nine turnovers (average a league-low 12.3), outrebounded the Sixers 47-32 and had three bench players score double digits. NOTES: Charlotte F Josh McRoberts (left ankle) sat out. Cody Zeller scored nine points in his first career start. ... 76ers coach Brett Brown again said that injured rookie F Nerlens Noel likely will not play at all this season. "Theres so much to weigh out if were smart with this, and we will be," he said. ... The Bobcats finished one-point shy of matching their season-high point total. Jakub Voracek Flyers Jersey . Booth, 28, has missed the last four games with a lower body injury and has appeared in 11 of 16 games for the Canucks this season, recording one goal and two assists. Bobby Clarke Flyers Jersey . -- Brian Dawkins biggest contribution Sunday in the AFC wild card playoffs will be with his talking and not his tackling.INDIANAPOLIS -- Nobody will accuse these Kentucky kids of being the fastest learners. Not this season. And certainly not during most of Friday nights game against Louisville. But once again, late in the game with everything on the line, they figured things out just in time. Aaron Harrison hit a 3-pointer for the go-ahead score with 39 seconds left and Julius Randle made a pair of clutch free throws to lift the fantastic freshmen of Kentucky to a 74-69 victory over their in-state rivals. The eighth-seeded Wildcats (27-10) led for a grand total of 65 seconds in this Midwest Regional semifinal. Theyll play Michigan on Sunday for a trip to the Final Four. "I told them before the game, youll get punched in the mouth and youre going to taste blood," coach John Calipari said. "You can fight or you can brace yourself for the next shot. They fought." Fourth-seeded and defending champion Louisville ends its season at 31-7. Few expected a run this deep for the Wildcats as this season played out and their five freshmen starters struggled to play a team game. But theyve been learning slowly. They trailed by 13 midway through the first half, then by seven with 4 1/2 minutes left. Suddenly, things kicked in. Actually, it was a sophomore, Alex Poythress, who scored five points and blocked a Russ Smith layup attempt during a 7-0 run that tied the game at 66 with 2:11 left. "Alex Poythress won the game for us," Calipari said. "We were begging him the whole game to start playing, and he played at the right time." From there, it was the Kentucky freshmen -- the Kiddie Cats -- who showed all the poise against the defending national champs, who were led by seniors Smith (23 points) and Luke Han**** (19). Harrison took a pass from Julius Randle and spotted up in the corner for the go-ahead shot. Both finished with 15 points, as did yet another freshman starter, Dakari Johnson. On the next possession, Louisvilles Wayne Blackshear got fouled. The 71 per cent career free throw shooter missed the first. Randle came down and made two free throws to put Kentucky ahead by three. Harrison guarded Smith and forced him to miss a tough 3-pointer on the next possession -- "His first stop of the game," Calipari quipped. A few seconds later, the Wildcats were chest bumping and Calipari wass pumping his fists to a loud stadium that was about two-thirds Kentucky blue, one-third Cardinals red. Sean Couturier Flyers Jersey. Kentucky has now knocked off previously undefeated Wichita State, defending national champion Louisville and has a meeting with last years runner-up, Michigan, coming next. Earlier, the Wolverines beat Tennessee 73-71. The latest win for Kentucky was the ultimate lesson in patience for a team that, for so long, had trouble showing any. They were touted on T-shirts as the team that would go 40-0 and win the national title, then all head off to the NBA. Two out of three is still possible. "They finally have surrendered and lost themselves in the team," Calipari said. "Its just taken a long time." Louisville coach Rick Pitino, who fell to 11-1 in Sweet 16 games, produced a matchup zone that the Wildcats had trouble working through. The Cards took the double-digit lead early, yet went to halftime only up three despite holding Kentucky to 33 per cent from the floor. The difference in Pitinos mind: Louisville went 13 for 23 from the free throw line while Kentucky went 22 for 27. And the Wildcats had a 37-29 rebounding edge, which also led to eight more second-chance points. "I told them we probably beat ourselves a little bit down the stretch," Pitino said. "But how can any of us complain with the run weve been on?" Louisvilles string of Final Fours will end at two and there will be a new national champion. Making this win even more impressive for the Wildcats: They played almost the entire game without Willie Cauley-Stein, an NBA-caliber forward who sprained his left ankle early. "Its not a good ankle injury, let me just put it that way," Calipari said. Another NBA prospect, James Young, fouled out with 5:32 left. That left it to Harrison, his twin brother, Andrew (14 points) and Randle, a lottery pick in waiting who was a monster inside. He had 12 rebounds to go with the 15 points. Hes had a double-double in all three tournament games. Calipari makes no apologies for recruiting the best talent and taking his chances theyll leave before they really set up shop at Kentucky. That strategy helped him bring the eighth national title back home two years ago. Now, Kentucky is a win away from the programs 16th trip to the Final Four. cheap jerseys from chinacheap jerseys ' ' '
