CHARLOTTE, N. Wholesale NBA Jerseys .C. -- The Charlotte Bobcats are turning into a difficult team to beat down the stretch, particularly at home. The Bobcats extended their home winning streak to eight games Friday night with a 105-93 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves, continuing to inch closer to clinching their second playoff appearance in franchise history. "To me, to become a really good team, you have to win at home," Bobcats coach Steve Clifford. Theyre doing that. The Bobcats, currently the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference, came in averaging 103.9 points and shooting 47 per cent in their last seven homes games. They shot 48 per cent against the Timberwolves. Al Jefferson had 25 points and 16 rebounds to set a single-season franchise record with his 20th 20-point, 10-rebound game of the season and the Bobcats held Kevin Love scoreless in the second half. "They brought me here to be a double-double guy, a 20-10 guy, and Im just living up to my contract," said Jefferson, who inked a three-year, $40.5 million deal this past off-season. Gary Neal, benched Wednesday for an "internal team matter," returned and provided a huge lift off the bench with 19 points on 6-of-10 shooting. He said his comfort level is improving since being acquired from the Milwaukee Bucks just before the NBA trade deadline. "Ive never been traded in the middle of the season before, so that has been tough," Neal said. "That is what I can bring to the team is scoring, but you also want to fit in. You dont want to come in with the second team and think that you can shoot all of the shots. It was a feeling-out process and so far I have done a good job." Kevin Martin had 19 points to lead Minnesota. Love had 18 points in the first half, but was 0 for 7 from the floor in the second half against Josh McRoberts and improving rookie Cody Zeller. It didnt help that Timberwolves centre Nikola Pekovic left late in the third quarter with a sore right ankle. He missed most of February with an ankle issue. "I was particularly tired and it was just a tough game from the start," Love said. "They were hitting a lot shots. They kept making shots and we didnt get any stops. ... I dont think I scored in the second half. It was a tough night for everybody." Said McRoberts: "(Love) is going to hit all seven of those shots tomorrow even if he faces the same defence. When youre that good, as a defence you just try to make it tough for him to get to a spot he wants to get to." The Bobcats entered the night with the seventh-best record in the Eastern Conference and three games below .500. Charlotte led by as many as 18 in the second half and the Timberwolves were never able to get the lead under double-digits after the break. Jefferson, the only player in the Eastern Conference averaging more than 20 points and 10 rebounds per game this season, continued his torrid pace with his 25th 20-point game in the last 28 outings. The 6-foot-10 centre only had eight points in a 119-92 loss at Minnesota on Jan. 10. But he had 12 at the break and helped the Bobcats extend their lead to 18 in the third quarter with an old-fashioned three-point play on an up-and-under scoop shot that drew a foul. He was 12 of 26 from the field. The Timberwolves came in looking for their first four-game road win streak in five years, but instead fell back to .500 on the season and six games behind Dallas in the race for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. The Bobcats broke up a tie game by outscoring the Timberwolves 32-20 in the second quarter behind 16 first half points from Neal, who was 5 of 7 from the field with a pair of 3-pointers. Charlotte shot 54 per cent in the first half, including 5 of 8 from beyond the 3-point arc. "The start of the second quarter just killed us," Timberwolves coach Rick Adelman said. "They didnt miss many shots. I thought defence was our problem. Second half, it was an even game but we were too far down." The Bobcats (32-34) have won five of six and are trying to catch the Washington Wizards for sixth place in the East. The way things stand now, that would be the difference between playing the Miami Heat and Toronto Raptors in the first round of the playoffs. NOTES: Clifford said before the game he doesnt expect centre Brandon Haywood back this season. Haywood has been out all season with a stress fracture in his left foot that hasnt quite healed. He said the Bobcats will look to sign another centre soon. ... Michael Kidd-Gilchrist had 10 points and nine rebounds for the Bobcats. ... Zeller provided a boost off the bench for Charlotte with 10 points and eight rebounds. Charlottes bench outscored Minnesotas 47-32. Fake NBA Jerseys . The above paragraph could be rewritten, verbatim, with Marcus Stromans name in place of Romeros. After both men had disastrous outings in Tuesdays 18-4 mauling at the hands of the Tigers, its clear that neither is the best option to begin the season in Toronto. NBA Jerseys For Sale . The Mavericks were not going to let San Antonio beat them with 3-pointers, and they did not want Tony Parker using the lane as his personal playground. https://www.cheapnbajerseysjustwholesale.com/ .? It was his second straight start for the Jets; he suffered a 1-0 loss against Minnesota Monday. So this season Hutchinson has now won games in the ECHL, AHL and NHL. He was perfect three- for-three in the shootout to nail down the win. KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Kansas coach Bill Self was chatting this week with someone who brought up the possibility that some unfortunate team with a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament might have to play its second game against Oklahoma State, which was once considered a Final Four contender. "I said, Just think if that happens in your conference tournament," Self responded. After winning their 10th straight regular-season title, the Jayhawks earned the top seed when the Big 12 tournament begins Wednesday night at the Sprint Center. But the reward is a first-round bye and a potential matchup with the eighth-seeded Cowboys in Thursdays quarterfinals; the two teams split their two meetings this year. Oklahoma State plays No. 9 seed Texas Tech in the first game Wednesday night. Seventh-seeded Baylor takes on No. 10 seed TCU in the nightcap of a double-header. "I think weve always had very competitive Big 12 tournaments," Self said, "but I dont know if I can ever remember where if theres a final between whatever seeds there are, it would be absolutely not a major surprise to anybody. Its going to be a pretty special weekend." The Big 12 has been the runaway leader in conference RPI all season, and some believe that it could land seven or eight teams in the NCAA tournament on Selection Sunday. Just consider the games that will be played Thursday: Along with Kansas getting Oklahoma State or Texas Tech, second-seeded Oklahoma will play the Baylor-TCU winner, No. 3 seed Texas will play No. 6 seed West Virginia, and No. 4 seed Iowa State will play No. 5 seed Kansas State. "This league," Texas Tech coach Tubby Smith said, "is by far the toughest in the country." Thats why the Jayhawks still believe they can earn a No. 1 seed to the NCAA tournament, despite their 23-8 record. Meanwhile, Oklahoma State (20-11) is teetering around the bubble, and a win over Texas Tech might be enough to push the Cowboys firmly into the dance. Knocking off the Jayhawks would certainly do the trick. "Were just trying to worry about the next game," Oklahoma State coach Travis Ford said, "and worrying about all that other stuff doesnt really do you any good." In thaat case, here are five things that fans SHOULD worry about: BUBBLE WATCH: Oklahoma State isnt the only team on the NCAA tournament bubble. Authentic NBA Jerseys. Baylor (21-10) would feel much better with a win or two, while West Virginia (17-14) hopes the momentum it picked up by knocking off Kansas last weekend will propel it to enough wins in Kansas City to make a case on Selection Sunday. "I think if we won two wed be in great shape," said Mountaineers coach Bob Huggins, "but I think if we can win that first one that we would be pretty good." CHAMPIONSHIP CHALLENGE: Kansas is the only current member to have won the Big 12 tournament since 2005 -- twice since then, Missouri won the title. In fact, Oklahoma and Iowa Stare are the only current schools besides the Jayhawks and Cowboys to have won. "No matter what people say, no matter what other teams do," Oklahoma States Marcus Smart said, "it goes through Kansas." STAR WATCH: There will be stars-a-plenty at the Big 12 tournament. Andrew Wiggins of Kansas is a potential No. 1 draft pick, Iowa States Melvin Ejim is the Big 12 player of the year and Smart is also a potential lottery pick. But one player who wont be on the floor is Jayhawks centre Joel Embiid, whos been ruled out for the Big 12 tournament and unlikely for the first week of the NCAA tournament because of a stress fracture in his back. HOMECOURT ADVANTAGE: Local schools Kansas and Kansas State always pack the Sprint Center, but Iowa State also tends to draw well -- its campus is a reasonable drive from Kansas City. That means itll be tough to secure a ticket to Thursdays first session, when the Cyclones play the Wildcats and Kansas is also in action in a tantalizing double-header. LONGSHOTS: Even longshots have coaches concerned this year. Texas Tech is the No. 9 seed but has wins over Oklahoma State, Baylor and Texas on its resume. And nobody thought TCU would go winless in the league, so the No. 10 seed Horned Frogs could be primed for a first-round upset of the Bears. "Were going to do our best to keep within striking distance, like we have all year long, and give ourselves a chance down the stretch," TCU coach Trent Johnson said. ' ' '