CHARLOTTE, N.
[b]NFL Jerseys[/b] .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.
[b]NBA Jerseys[/b] . -- With Tony Allen back, the Memphis Grizzlies were able to turn up their defence pressure and hold off the Los Angeles Clippers down the stretch.
[b]Wholesale Jerseys[/b] . Maria Silvia Bastos Marques, president of the EOM (Municipal Olympic Company), will be leaving her post but will remain as an advisor, a city hall statement said Tuesday.Jolyon Palmer says there is always pressure in Formula 1 but is confident he can improve after a mixed start to his debut campaign with Renault. After impressing at the season-opening Australian GP, finishing 11th, the Englishman has been out-qualified and out-performed by team-mate Kevin Magnussen in the next three grands prix and even propped up the field in China.Daniil Kvyats demotion back to Toro Rosso has once again proved how harsh the sport can be and with Esteban Ocon set to follow Sergey Sirotkins lead in running in practice for Renault, the pressure is on Palmer. But the 2014 GP2 champion claims that his misfortunes were down to a problem with the floor in his RS16 and after an improved showing in Russia, where Magnussen secured six points, he believes he is moving in the right direction. I had a very good race in Melbourne, I didnt race in Bahrain, and then I turned up to China and someone was already saying theres pressure on, the 25-year-old told Sky Sports News HQs Craig Slater at Renaults test day at Silverstone.The pressure is always on in Formula 1. Theres 22 drivers and everyones looking for performance, the team is pushing hard, were wanting to deliver for ourselves and theres a lot of young drivers that are like me last year, wanting to get in. I put myself under more pressure than anyone else can put me under. I want to do a good job for me. Kevin got points in Russia and I wasnt too far away from him. Im confident Ill be there in the coming races and moving forward with some points. Renault drivers Jolyon Palmer and Kevin Magnussen both think Red Bulls decision to swap Daniil Kvyat with Max Verstappen is unfair.
[b]Offcial Jerseys[/b]. Palmer has also given Kvyat his support after the Russian was unceremoniously dropped by Red Bull and replaced by Max Verstappen so early in the season.I think its unbelievably harsh on Kvyat, he added. He was on the podium in China, Vettel didnt like it but he did nothing wrong, go a podium for it which is Red Bulls only one of the year so far.In Russia he made two mistakes but didnt qualify far off his team-mate, then on the back of a bad race hes dropped. From my view its brutally harsh. Every race live in 2016 Sky Sports F1 brings you every race live in 2016. Fast and easy online upgrade Also See: The F1 Gossip Column Every race live ' ' '