CHARLOTTE, N. Angel Pagan Jersey .C. -- Al Jefferson had a pretty good inkling it was Charlottes night when he banked in a 31-footer from well beyond the top of the key to beat the shot clock midway through the fourth quarter. "I didnt call the bank, but I trusted my right hand," Jefferson said with a laugh. Jefferson scored 34 points and the Bobcats stunned NBA-leading Indiana 109-87 Wednesday night, handing the Pacers just their second two-game skid of the season. Jefferson was 16 of 25 from the field and had eight rebounds for the Bobcats (28-33), who won their fifth straight at home to equal their combined win total from the previous two seasons. "Im not accepting that were a team that guys look at on the schedule anymore and say, OK, we have the Bobcats 
we can take the night off." Jefferson said. Jefferson, whose 38-point, 19-rebound effort Monday night was overshadowed by LeBron James career-high 61-point outing, has scored at least 20 points in 21 of his last 24 games. "I think everybody needs to question the Eastern Conference voting on why Al Jefferson wasnt on the All-Star team because clearly he is one of the best in the game," Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. "He showed it tonight. Give him credit." Charlotte was finishing a brutal four-game stretch, becoming the first team since the 2009-10 Knicks to play the NBAs top four teams in consecutive games. They previously lost to San Antonio, Oklahoma City and Miami on the road, but left no doubt about this this one. Charlotte jumped out to a 28-8 lead after the first quarter and never trailed. Kemba Walker added 19 points and nine assists for the Bobcats, who have the seventh-best record in the Eastern Conference. Bobcats coach Steve Clifford said he thought his team played well in the road losses to the Spurs, Thunder and Heat and that it carried over some confidence to Wednesday night. "We played a lot of good basketball and you get nothing for it," Clifford said. "To be honest, we took a day off (on Tuesday) and you could tell from our shootaround, not that we were going to win, but that we were going to play well." Evan Turner had 22 points for the Pacers (46-15), who lost back-to-back games for only the second time this season. Charlottes Michael Kidd-Gilchrist said he was "extra fired up" to defend All-Star Paul George, two nights after James destroyed the Bobcats by knocking down 8 of 10 3-pointers. Kidd-Gilchrist did his job, holding George without a field goal. George was 0 for 9 and finished with just two points. Jefferson defended Kidd-Gilchrists effort against Miami, saying he did the job asked of him against James. "Against LeBron, the game plan was we didnt want him to get to the basket," Jefferson said. "We want LeBron to shoot jumpers. If he hits 8 of 10 3-pointers, we can live with that." George said he wasnt at the top of his game against Charlotte. "I was sore," George said. "I tried to play through it thinking it would loosen up. It was a tight night for me." The Pacers had won 14 of their last 15 against the Bobcats coming in, including five straight by an average of nearly 18 points. But Indiana was sluggish from the start, shooting 4 of 20 from the field in the opening quarter and turning the ball over six times, leading to 12 Charlotte points and a 20-point deficit. The Pacers, shooting at the home end of the floor where some of the lights were out, were held to eight points -- the fewest allowed in a quarter this season by the Bobcats. While the Pacers were struggling on offence, Jefferson was at it again on the offensive end. He hit his first six shots and had 20 points at the break. The Pacers would battle back to cut the lead to four in the second quarter, but the Bobcats never surrendered the lead and stretched the lead back to 18 again by the end of the third quarter. The Bobcats shot 51 per cent from the field against the NBAs top defensive team. The 22-point loss was the third-largest of the season for the Pacers. "Charlottes a good basketball team," Vogel said. "Theyre rested. We are coming in here in this situation in their house. We beat them pretty handily the first couple of times. So, we knew they were going to come out and we were going to have to play great and we didnt play great." NOTES: Chris Douglas-Roberts got the start in place of Gerald Henderson, who missed his second straight game with a strained calf. ... The only other time the Pacers lost back-to-back games this season came Dec. 16 and 18 against Detroit and Miami. ... The Bobcats are 14-3 at home when scoring at least 91 points. Aaron Hill Jersey . Lawries batting helmet hit an umpire during his ninth-inning outburst in the Jays 4-3 loss to Tampa Bay on Tuesday. The 22-year-old threw his helmet to the ground and it bounced up and hit home plate umpire Bill Miller on the right hip after Lawrie was called out on strikes for the second out. Mel Ott Jersey . Louis Cardinals won the World Series last season, but after losing first baseman Albert Pujols to free agency and manager Tony LaRussa to retirement, they opened the 2012 season in 12th spot in the TSN.PHILADELPHIA -- Kyle Lowry slept in his own bed, left about 50 tickets for family and friends, then gave his hometown crowd a reason to cheer. Lowry had 18 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds for his fourth career triple-double, and DeMar DeRozan scored 34 points to help the Toronto Raptors beat the Philadelphia 76ers 104-95 on Friday night. "As long as its with a win, Im happy to have it," Lowry said. "Ill take the thanks from the team and congratulations from all my teammates. But as long as it came with a win, thats all that really matters." Lowry grabbed his 10th rebound late in the fourth quarter, continuing a string of strong games hes had for the Atlantic Division leaders. Hes a Philadelphia native and played two seasons at Villanova. He didnt get a chance to stop by his old school -- though current and former Wildcats had to be watching. Lowry was nearly flawless in his latest homecoming, and didnt commit his first turnover until there were about 2 minutes left in the game. He shot 7 of 11 and hit a trio of 3-pointers in 35 minutes to help keep the Raptors in control of the worst division in the NBA. "Its always special to play here," Lowry said. He had help putting the game away. DeRozan scored 16 points in the fourth, including seven straight early in the period as the Raptors opened a double-digit lead. In a game in which neither team could build much of a lead, DeRozan finally helped the Raptors take control in the final quarter. He had a dunk, hit a 3-pointer and nailed a mid-range jumper to give Toronto some breathing room. Patrick Pattersons jumper made it 96-83. The Sixers made a short run to close to 98-91 but didnt have enough left for one more rally. "When we got a chance to put a stronghold on it, we closed it out," Lowry said. The Raptors snapped a four-game losing streak on the road. DeRozan scored a career-high 40 points in Torontos 93-85 win over Dallas on Wednesday night. He connected on 15 of 22 field goal attempts and went 9 for 14 at the free throw line, becoming the seventh player in Raptors history to score 40 points or more. Willie McCovey Jersey. Against the Sixers, DeRozan made 10 of 22 shots and 13 of 16 free throws. The Raptors moved to .500 on the road (11-11) and are 22-20 overall. But the other four teams in the division all have losing records, including Philadelphia, so theyve been good enough to sit atop the standings. The Raptors are 16-8 since they traded Rudy Gay. "They make the trade, and it ends up a little bit addition by subtraction in many ways," Sixers coach Brett Brown said. "They get a little bit more of an identity and a defensive purpose. And I thought they were really good. I always felt like they were a pretty good defensive team." Spencer Hawes had 14 points and 12 rebounds for the 76ers. Michael Carter-Williams scored 20. The Raptors opened the game on a 15-2 run, the Sixers countered with a 20-5 spurt, and from there it was pretty much even. "I liked the start. We had an excellent focus and sustained it as long as we could," Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. The Sixers could never get their perimeter game going, scoring 50 of their 78 points through three quarters in the paint. Philadelphia missed 14 of 20 3s overall. Thaddeus Young scored 16 points. "We got good shots, but just went cold," Young said. "Theyre just a good team. In the past, it was a point where, the Toronto Raptors walk in and its going to be an easy win. But they have a lot of key guys on that team that can do a lot of different things." NOTES: Sixers G Tony Wroten (right ankle) sat out. ... The Sixers signed C Dewayne Dedmon to a second 10-day contract. ... There were 12 lead changes and 15 ties. ... The Sixers have scored fewer than 100 points in eight of the last 10 games after scoring 100-plus in seven straight. ... The Sixers committed a season-low 10 turnovers. Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys China NFL Cheap Jerseys ' ' '
