CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Al Jefferson said he feels like hes playing the best basketball of his 10-year NBA career. Its tough to argue that point. The 29-year-old Jefferson had a great run five years ago with Minnesota, but that came when the Timberwolves were irrelevant. This year Jefferson is spearheading the Bobcats charge to the playoffs and seemingly getting stronger and more confident with each passing game. "My confidence is up, especially on the defensive end, and Im just playing well," Jefferson said. "In Minnesota we were 20 games under .500 and we were getting ready for the draft. Right now were in a dogfight. I mean its a dogfight man, and it just means a lot more to me." Jefferson had 33 points and 10 rebounds on Friday night, helping the Bobcats beat the New Orleans Pelicans 90-87 for their third straight victory since the All-Star break. Jefferson has scored 29 points or more in eight of his last 11 games and at least 20 points in 17 of the last 19. Bobcats coach Steve Clifford said hes never coached a player who has been on a roll quite like the one Jefferson is on now. "Its unbelievable," Clifford said. "I cant imagine many guys in the league are playing better than him right now." And Jeffersons production might only increase in the coming months. The Bobcats traded for Gary Neal and Luke Ridnour on Thursday, looking to bolster their 3-point shooting. Jefferson said hes excited about the trade. He believes Neal will bring the Bobcats an outside presence, one that may force teams to think twice about how often they double team him in the low post. "Playing against (Neal) in Utah the last few years, I didnt like him -- I didnt like him at all," Jefferson said. "He didnt miss a lot of shots." The Bobcats, currently the seventh seed in the East after Atlanta lost to Detroit, overcame some shoddy free throw shooting Friday night in the final minute to win for the seventh time in the last 10 games. Charlotte had missed four of six free throws in the final minute before Kemba Walker knocked down four foul shots in the final 9 seconds to put the Bobcats up by three. The Pelicans had a chance to send the game to overtime, but Josh McRoberts stripped Brian Roberts of the ball at midcourt and time expired. Rookie Cody Zeller continues to steadily improve, chipping in with a career-high 13 points for the Bobcats. "Defensively Im starting to see plays before they happen and on offence Im playing with more confidence," said Zeller, the fourth overall pick in the 2013 draft. Roberts had 20 points and Anthony Davis added 18 points and 13 rebounds for the Pelicans (23-31), who have lost four of their last five games. The Bobcats wasted no time exploiting the matchup of Jefferson on Alexis Ajinca, repeatedly dumping the ball in the low post. Jefferson had 14 points in the first quarter. The Pelicans also tried Greg Stiemsma and later Anthony Davis on Jefferson, but nobody had much success stopping him. The trio combined for 13 fouls. Charlotte was 25 of 36 from the foul line; the Pelicans attempted just 11 free throws. "I dont like wearing him down," Pelicans coach Monty Williams said of the decision not to put Davis on Jefferson to start the game. "So, to put him on Al from the jump, I think it wears him out. We did that with Carmelo (Anthony) the last game and he did a good job and he did a good job on Al tonight. "And Al missed some shots. They got 36 free throws and we got 11. So you figure that out." The Bobcats defence, which came in ranked fifth in the league in points allowed, limited the Pelicans to a season-low 32 points in the first half to take an 11-point lead at the break. "We couldnt put the ball in the bucket in the first half," Davis said. "We played great defensively, but its tough to get out of that hole." There was a comical moment in the fourth quarter after an errant pass. A fan retrieved the ball and fired it back to the official on the court just as Michael Kidd-Gilchrist was getting up from his seat on the bench. The ball hit Kidd-Gilchrist in the back of the head, causing him to flinch. NOTES: Clifford said newly acquired Neal and Ridnour will not play until next week as the NBA has yet to approve the deal. Both arrived in Charlotte on Friday and watched the game from behind the team bench. ... Gerald Henderson is one of only eight guards in the NBA that has started every game this season for his team. J. J. Stokes Jersey .The third-seeded Murray, who won here in 2009, will face seventh-seeded Kevin Anderson of South Africa next on the indoor hard court. Sam Cunningham Jersey . Torres tells Spanish daily AS "in football you never know where you will be inside one month. Im going to work hard, thats all you can do with this last part of the season so important. http://www.custompatriotsjersey.com/cust...arge-1501f.html. He just didnt expect them to be this good. Darrun Hilliard scored 19 points to lead No. 6 Villanova to a dominating 77-59 victory over Georgetown on Saturday, preserving the Wildcats hopes of a No. Tai Streets Jersey . Meeks has agreed to a $19.5 million, three-year deal with Detroit, a person familiar with the situation said Tuesday night. The person, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because free agents cant sign contracts until the leagues moratorium ends July 10, also said Cartier Martin had agreed to a one-year contract with the rebuilding franchise. Kevan Barlow Jersey . -- The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have released veteran guard Davin Joseph, a mainstay on their offensive line over the past eight seasons.England head coach Eddie Jones says next weeks training camp in Brighton represents a great opportunity for players like Danny Cipriani to earn a place on the upcoming tour of Australia. The Grand Slam winners take on the Wallabies in a three-Test series in June, live on Sky Sports, which will provide a chance to gauge just how far they have come under Jones guidance.Preparations for the tour are set to be stepped up between 17-19 May, when a 26-man squad, which includes eight uncapped players, will descend on Brighton for a series of training sessions. Eddie Jones thinks hell have failed if he doesnt get England to the top of rugbys world rankings Players from Premiership semi-finalists Saracens, Exeter, Wasps and Leicester will not be at the camp and Jones is eager to see how some of his new call-ups fare.It is a really important camp for us, he told Sky Sports News HQ. They have all got a great opportunity. Competition for places is intense and we have probably got 40 players competing for 30 spots.Regarding some of the promising forwards he was looking forward to working with, he added: (Charlie) Ewels is a good young lock who has been doing well for Bath.(Teimana) Harrison has come out of the woodwork for Northampton. Pre-Christmas he was not that outstanding but he must have eaten something at Christmas, because his play since has been pretty good!Kyle Sinckler is a young Harllequins prop with great athletic ability and he is going to be competing hard.dddddddddddd Kyle Sinckler of Harlequins will be among the youngsters looking to impress Jones An interesting name among the backs is fly-half Danny Cipriani, who, despite missing out on the World Cup squad, is firmly back in England contention after a lengthy spell in the wilderness.Danny has got (rival fly-halves) Owen (Farrell) and George (Ford) in front of him but he has a great opportunity, Jones added.He has great talent and is one of the key reasons Sale have finished so high in the table. I am excited to see what he can do.Two players who will not be at the camp are back rowers Sam Underhill and Steffon Armitage, but Jones says they could well be members of the squad in the future. Steffon Armitage has been linked with a move to Wasps England cannot pick players who are not based in the country unless there are exceptional circumstances and the 19-year-old Underhill is playing for Ospreys in Wales, while he studies in Cardiff.But Jones said: He has been playing pretty well for Ospreys. We have got the situation that he plays outside of England and we have got to sort that situation out.I think we are close to a resolution and there is no doubt he will be selected in an England squad in the next six months.The highly-rated Armitage has been playing in France but has been reportedly linked with a move to Wasps, which could see him back in international contention.Asked if a returning Armitage might be in his thoughts, Jones said: If he comes back and manages to get in the Wasps side, which will be difficult to do.If he gets fit and he wants to play for England, then we will consider him. He is certainly a talented player. Also See: England demands No 1 status Wales unveil squad Cipriani earns England recall Scotland opt for experience ' ' 'eam played very well," Capitals coach Adam Oates said. "Hard fought game; great pace to it. Obviously, didnt come through in the shootout, but it was a good hockey game." It was the Capitals second straight 2-1 shootout loss and they have lost six of their last eight. "It was a good test for us," Ovechkin said of the Sharks. "A good team. Theyve been together for a long time. I think we had good chances to win the game in regular time, in the third period, but we got the point." The Capitals got their only power play with 1:15 left in regulation when Marleau was called for hooking, but Niemi made a pair of saves on Ovechkin in the final minute and San Jose killed off the remainder of the penalty in overtime. "Nemo was real good," McLellan said. "The power play at the end, he had to make some big saves to give us a chance to get into overtime. He did that." San Jose led 1-0 after a first period in which Washington went over 10 minutes without a shot on goal during one stretch. The Capitals actually had an early 7-1 advantage in shot, but Niemi made several good stops, including a glove save on wrister by Backstrom in the slot during a 3-on-2. "We know we arent going to score on every shift out there, but we are doing the right thing and hopefully it will bounce with us next game," Backstrom said. "It will come if we just keep working. I think it will come." San Jose broke on top at 13:30. Following a Washington turnover, Kennedy deflected a Jason Demers pass by Grubauer from high in the slot for his fourth goal of the season. The Sharks came in having scored an NHL-best 51 first-period goals while allowing the fewest (22). The Capitals controlled play for much of the second period and made it 1-1 at the 12:44 mark. Ovechkin, the NHL goals leader, was held without a shot for the first 32 minutes but his first one found the net. He took a pass from Karl Alzer in the left circle and fired over Niemis shoulder. "We tried to.we were aware of him, but theyve got so many offensive weapons that if you overplay a certain individual somebody else will hurt you," McLellan said. "He still got one. It goes to show what a great release he has, (he) scored from a pretty bad angle, but it was a helluva shot." Ovechkin has six points in his last six games. With San Jose in the Washington zone late in the period, Brad Stuart poked the puck past Grubauer, but the replay showed time had expired. NOTES: San Jose D Matt Irwin returned after missing two games with an upper-body injury. . Washingtons Aaron Volpatti and Mike Brown of the Sharks bloodied each other and the ice during a short, fierce fight midway through the first period. . Washingtons last nine home games have been decided by one goal, with six going to overtime. Brett Favre Super Bowl Jersey . Liriano pitched in and out of trouble in his duel with Josh Beckett, and Ike Davis homered to help the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 2-1 Friday night. Tramon Williams Super Bowl Jersey .Brothers B.J. and Justin Upton each homered and had an outfield assist, and the Braves held on for a 4-2 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday night. http://www.officialgreenbaypackerspro.co...packers-jersey/. In the Brewers six games this season, no starter has allowed more than three runs. "We see the guy in front of us do a great job and we want to do even better," Gallardo said after the Brewers beat the Red Sox 4-0 on Sunday, his second straight scoreless start. ZaDarius Smith Super Bowl Jersey . A quick first step to get to the hoop for a layup. A rousing dunk on the break off a high outlet pass saved by teammate Ramon Sessions. Geronimo Allison Super Bowl Jersey . Detroits powerful offence made that unnecessary. Scherzer allowed two hits and struck out seven, and the Tigers backed their star right-hander with three early homers in an 8-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday night.NEWARK, N.J. -- The NHL reduced its penalty against the New Jersey Devils on Thursday for signing Ilya Kovalchuk in 2010. The Devils will keep the first-round draft pick they were scheduled to forfeit this year, and the league will reduce the $3 million fine assessed against the team for circumventing the NHL-NHLPA collective bargaining agreement The Devils recently applied to the league for reconsideration and relief from a portion of the original penalty, citing primarily changes in circumstances which, in the clubs view, changed the appropriateness of the sanctions. The NHL did not spell out what changed, but Kovalchuk retired after last season and returned to Russia to play there. Devils president and general manager Lou Lamoriello said the franchises new ownership asked the league to reconsider the penalty, and a hearing was held this year. "Were pleased," said Lamoriello, who said several factors other than Kovalchuks retirement went into the leagues decision, without elaborating. Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur felt the original NHL penalty was harsh. "I thought it was a bad judgment by them when they penalized with a first-round pick and all the money," Brodeur said. "I thought they hit our organization preetty hard at the time.dddddddddddd It will be nice for the future to count on an extra No. 1 pick." The league said the Devils will be entitled to the 30th selection overall -- the last pick in the first round -- in the 2014 draft. They will not be permitted to trade or transfer its right to that pick. Kovalchuk, who had been acquired by the Devils in February 2010, became a free agent at the end of that season. New Jersey signed him to a 17-year, $102 million deal but the league ruled what would have been the longest contract in NHL circumvented the salary cap and rejected it. Arbitrator Richard Bloch heard the unions appeal and nullified the deal. The Devils eventually signed the Russian to a 15-year, $100 million contract deal. However, the NHL ruled the original contact tried to get around the salary cap and penalized the three-time Stanley Cup champions. The Devils had already forfeited a third-round draft pick in 2011. The team also had a first-round draft pick taken from them in the ruling handed down by an independent arbiter, but they had the right to defer until 2014. The Devils kept deferring the loss of the first-round pick, which they were due to lose in June. The NHL said it would not comment further on the decision. ' ' '
