PHILADELPHIA -- Al Jefferson tried to explain how hitting his jumper forces defences to change their approach. "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. Nik Stauskas Jersey . Grimes signed a $32 million, four-year contract to remain with Miami. The deal, which includes $16 million guaranteed, rewards Grimes for his recovery from an Achilles tendon injury that forced him to miss almost all of the 2012 season. Shaquille ONeal Cavaliers Jersey . Long snapper Patrick Mannelly announced Friday that he is retiring after a 16-year-career with the Bears, a span in which he played in a team record 245 games and snapped the ball 2,282 times. https://www.thecavalierslockerroom.com/Collin-Sexton-City-Edition-Jersey/ . In the opening game of his fourth-round match at the U.S. Open, the owner of 17 major titles got passed at the net twice, sailed a backhand long, then missed two forehands to get broken. Cedi Osman Cavaliers Jersey . His Brazilian opponents said he produced miracles. There is no doubt that Mexico goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa was the one responsible for spoiling Brazils hopes of another World Cup victory at its home tournament. Kyle Korver Jersey . Samir Nasris 88th-minute equalizer at Etihad Stadium will be of little consolation to City, which is now six points behind league leader Liverpool and four points behind second-place Chelsea. Third-place City has a game in hand but the surprise result against Sunderland, coupled with Sundays 3-2 loss at Liverpool, may be a setback too far in its bid for a second championship in three seasons.Given the depth of the Toronto Maple Leafs struggles, its somewhat surprising they still have an outside shot at a wild-card spot. The New Jersey Devils are five points behind the Leafs, but they look like the team thats more eager to make a playoff push. The Leafs return from the All-Star break looking to snap a six-game losing streak when they visit a Devils club thats earned points in five of seven Wednesday night. Toronto (22-23-3) scored more than one goal for the first time in six games last Wednesday but lost 4-3 at Ottawa. The Leafs trailed 3-0 after the first period in suffering their 14th defeat in 17 contests - all the losses coming in regulation. Thats left them 10 points out of the second wild-card spot with three teams to pass. We just have to keep trying to move forward, said center Nazem Kadri, who scored for the second straight game. Thats really all we can do is try and stay positive. We just have to play with that desperation through 60 minutes instead of 40 or 45. Toronto held a 40-26 shot advantage over the Senators - 17-6 in the third period - but exceeded the two-goal mark for just the second time in 10 contests. The Leafs havent been much better defensively, allowing 3.10 goals per game to rank near the bottom of the league, and theyll be without defenseman Dion Phaneuf on a week-to-week basis due to injury. Well definitely miss our captain, Kadri told the teams official website. He also logs a lot of minutes against (opponents) top guys so thats definitely a big hole to fill. Toronto has gone 5-10-3 without Phaneuf since he joined the Leafs in January 2010. They have a .517 winning percentage in the 359 games hes played. Toronto will get forwards Leo Komarov and Peter Holland back in the lineup for tonights contest. Joffrey Lupul (lower body), Stephane Robidas (upper body) and Dion Phaneuf (hand) will all sit out. The Leafs will start with Korbinian Holzer in Phaneufs place on the top pairing with Cody Franson, but head coach Peter Horachek said he may try others in that spot as well. Jonathan Bernier gets the startt between the pipes for tonights contest.dddddddddddd New Jersey (17-22-8) would need to pass six teams to capture the final wild-card berth, but the Devils have certainly appeared more motivated than the Leafs of late. New Jersey defeated San Jose 5-2 on Jan. 19 to complete a 2-1-0 California road trip, giving it a 4-2-1 mark in the past seven. Cory Schneider made 34 saves and five players scored for the Devils, who went 4 for 9 on the power play during the three-game swing. We can feel good about ourselves, Schneider said. We just have to capture this and realize this is what we have to do night in and night out. New Jersey, near the bottom of the NHL with 2.23 goals per game, has scored four or more three times in the past seven contests. Its likely to get more help offensively Wednesday from second-leading scorer Jaromir Jagr and Tuomo Ruutu, who both missed the last three games before the break due to the flu. You go in feeling good but you cant feel too good, general manager and interim co-coach Lou Lamoriello said. You just have to realize what you did to have success and take that from the game and just pick it up when you get back. New Jersey has won the last two meetings with Toronto and is 2-0-2 in the past four. The Devils took the first matchup of the season 5-3 on the road Dec. 4, getting goals from five players and 29 saves from Schneider. Those last four meetings represent all of Schneiders career starts against the Leafs, and hes posted a 1.93 goals-against average. Wednesdays Projected Lines vs. Devils: Forward Komarov - Kadri - Kessel van Riemsdyk - Bozak - Clarkson Winnik - Holland - Santorelli Booth - Smith - Panik Defence Holzer - Franson Rielly - Polak Gardiner - Granberg Game Notes: NJ is 1-0-0 vs TOR this season, winning in TOR TOR has gone 3-1-0 past 4 games in NJ (lost last) Devils: 4-2-1 past 7 games, 4GF or more in 4 of the games, 5/16 on PP Havlat (2G, 1A) 3 game PT streak Maple Leafs: lost 6 straight, outscored 20-5, 2/18 on PP Kadri (2G) has scored in back to back games ' ' 'h the Habs. ' ' '