PHILADELPHIA -- Al Jefferson tried to explain how hitting his jumper forces defences to change their approach. Hyun-jin Ryu Dodgers Jersey . "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. Manny Mota Dodgers Jersey . Canadas 5-1 loss to Finland in the semifinal ranks as the tournaments most-watched game with a record 2.7 million viewers, the largest ever for a World Juniors game played outside of North America, and winning Saturday as the most-watched program on Canadian television. Keibert Ruiz Dodgers Jersey .m. ET, CBSOPENING LINE — Falcons by 3 1/2RECORD VS. https://www.cheapdodgersonline.com/105h-kyle-garlick-jersey-dodgers.html . -- Canadian mens rugby coach Kieran Crowley has made four changes to his starting roster for Saturdays Pacific Nations Cup clash against the United States. COLUMBUS, Ohio -- It wasnt like North Dakota State could sneak up on No. 3 Ohio State. After watching film of the Bison pull off a huge upset at Notre Dame on Wednesday night, there was no way the Buckeyes were going to be on anything but high alert. LaQuinton Ross and Lenzelle Smith Jr. each scored 18 points and the Buckeyes never trailed in rolling over NDSU 79-62 Saturday night. "I said it after the game on Wednesday, so much for tip-toeing into Ohio State," NDSU coach Saul Phillips said. "We kind of clomped in here with big old (size) 16s on and they clocked us pretty good." The Buckeyes (9-0) continued their hot shooting. They made 53 per cent from the field, pushing them over 50 per cent for the fifth game in a row. Freshman Mark Loving had a career-high 12 points, and Sam Thompson also had 12. Aaron Craft added six points and seven assists -- setting a school record for career assists with 581 for the Buckeyes. Asked if the Buckeyes got a good look at what the Bison had done to the Fighting Irish, Craft said theyd watched the video like they were film critics. "Absolutely," he said. "Probably the best thing for us was that they beat Notre Dame and that really got our attention. Not that we try to really overlook anyone, but we got to sit down and see them play at their best. And we wanted to come out and play our best." The game was part of the BlackRock Gotham Classic. Taylor Braun led the Bison (7-4) with 21 points, while Marshall Bjorklund had 12 and Lawrence Alexander 10. NDSU shot 42 per cent from the field and was outrebounded 36-26. The Bison were coming off a 73-69 victory at Notre Dame, the programs first win against an ACC team. That win came against a Fighting Irish squad that was 124-10 at home over the last six-plus seasons. "They had some really big guys that can get up and that altered some shots inside," Braun said. "I dont think we expected them to shoot as well as they did from the 3-point line. That was a real difference in the game." The Buckeyes were 6 for 11 behind the arc in the first half and finished 10 of 20. The threat of hitting outside shots opened up things underneath. Down by as many as 19 points against the Buckeyes, the Bison went on a 7-2 run to pull within 14 midway through the second half. Austin Barnes Dodgers Jersey. . But Craft, who also had four steals and four rebounds, came up with a loose ball and fed Thompson, who was thrown to the floor by Bjorklund. Thompson hit both free throws after the flagrant foul, and then on the resulting possession, Craft lobbed an alley-oop to Thompson for a dunk that brought the crowd to its feet. Loving then hit back-to-back 3s and the lead was back up to 65-43 with 8 1/2 minutes left. "I was up all night a couple of nights ago trying to find a weakness," Phillips said. "And then I realized they really dont have a lot (of them)." The Bison were playing a ranked Division I opponent for only the seventh time. Theyve lost the last five since beating No. 13 Wisconsin and No. 9 Marquette in 2006. Ohio State built a 41-28 lead at the break. Ross overcame a sluggish start with 13 points while Smith had 10. The Buckeyes closed the first half with a 7-0 burst. Ross got a pass from Craft and buried a 3. After a Bison miss, Thompson hit a foul shot. Off another miss, Craft drove the lane and then twisted to fire a pass from underneath the basket to Thompson in the left corner. He put up a 3 that caught only net with 1.7 seconds left. That final pass tied Craft with Jamar Butler for the career record at Ohio State with 579 assists. Then on the Buckeyes first possession of the second half, Craft found Ross all alone under the basket for the record-breaker and a 43-28 lead. "Ever since Ive been here Ive had the easy job," the senior point guard said. "Ive played with a lot of great players, a lot of great shooters, who have done the hard part. I just have to find those guys and put them in a great opportunity to score. Ill have a lot of time to think about (this) when I get older. By the time Im a grandfather, itll probably be about 800 assists in my career." Ohio State cant move up in the coaches poll on Phillips ballot. "You know, in the coaches poll they only had one first-place vote. Guess who that first-place vote was," he said. "And that didnt change my mind tonight." ' ' '