Bewerbungen » fourth-quarter rally to beat the Orlando Magic 91-

EDMONTON -- Now that the Edmonton Oilers have secured their offensive future, the defence is next on their to-do list. With Thursdays signing of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, the Oilers have their three key forwards -- Nugent-Hopkins, Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle -- locked up for the next six or seven years. The focus now shifts to Justin Schultz, the future of the teams blue-line who is in the final year of a two-year contract he signed as a free agent. "Long-term, Justin Schultz is definitely going to be a key ingredient for us," defensive coach Steve Smith said after Fridays skate. "Justin just has a natural gift to be an offensive player. He jumps into the play so well, hes so skilled, he shoots the puck hard, hes able to find open spots in the offensive zone and, quite frankly, hes strong defensively." The 23-year-old is still happy he chose the Oilers when several NHL teams were pursuing him and he sees himself being in Edmonton for a long time. "All of us want to be here for a long time," said the six-foot-two, 185-pound Schultz, adding hes not concerned about his contract. "Not worried about that at all. I have this year to play and well see what happens." What the Oilers see happening is Schultz leading the development of a number of key defensive players and becoming the face of that group, which is fine with him. "You want to be one of those key guys," he said. "Its nice to have the responsibility. Were all a pretty young core group of guys and some veterans who came in who can help us." But Smith noted its not just Schultz, who had eight goals and 27 points in last years 48-game shortened season. "Weve got a bunch of guys who compete real hard," he said. "Its a hard-working group and theres a lot of character in it so theres a lot of promise moving forward." He had particular praise for 25-year-old Jeff Petry, who Smith says carries the puck well and is "as pure a skater as there is the game as far as Im concerned." Smith, a former defenceman with the Oilers, was generally pleased with the way the defence played last year, although he concedes the team did struggle in its own end, partly because of the lack of commitment to defence by the young forwards. "We had some good results offensively," said Smith. "Justin coming in definitely helped us in the offensive zone. And Jeff Petry is another one. They just have abilities that just arent taught. So you look at it and say both of those guys are pretty well-rounded players and the future is very bright." Short-term, he said, the club bolstered its defence with the addition this summer of free agent Andrew Ference from Boston and Nick Schultz last year. Add a pretty consistent Vladislav Smid and the Oilers do have some steady veterans to help the youngsters. Plus, there is young Darnell Nurse, their first-round pick in last springs draft. "Hes raw and hes got some steps to take to get the NHL level, but I have to tell you were really happy with what weve seen of him so far," said Smith. The Oilers are home to the Vancouver Canucks in another pre-season meeting Saturday evening. Cameron Wake Youth Jersey . - Considering where Jeff Gordon was after Richmond, left out of the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship in part due to some late-race shenanigans, he couldnt have been happier on Sunday. Dan Marino Youth Jersey . The ninth-seeded Safarova doused Swede Johanna Larsson 6-2, 6-3 on the green clay at Family Circle Tennis Center. The Czech player was a finalist here two years ago and captured back-to-back doubles titles in 2012 and last year. http://www.dolphinsrookiestore.com/Dolph...on-Wake-Jersey/. - Vince Wilfork has played only two career games in Kansas City. Minkah Fitzpatrick Jersey . -- Quarterback Josh Johnson has returned to the San Francisco 49ers and his former college coach, Jim Harbaugh. Josh Rosen Womens Jersey . However, Jim Popp isnt sure how long hell be able to admire wide receiver Duron Carter.CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The Charlotte Bobcats finally have a happy locker room, the result of winning games and contending for a berth in the NBA playoffs. The Bobcats took a step closer to a post-season spot Friday, holding off a fourth-quarter rally to beat the Orlando Magic 91-80 for their third straight win. "It shows how hard theyve really worked, and how theyve fought to get back to this point," Charlotte coach Steve Clifford said. "Now wed like to get over .500, which would be a nice thing for our team." Al Jefferson had 29 points and 16 rebounds, and Kemba Walker added 13 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for the Bobcats, who at 38-38 are back at .500 for the first time since Nov. 23, when they were 7-7. Now Charlotte has a shot at its first winning record since Nov. 15, when the Bobcats were 5-4 despite not having Jefferson in the lineup because of an ankle injury. "Were heading in the right direction," Jefferson said. "Were a team thats playing well right now. Weve just got to continue to get better, and get ready for the playoffs. "Were right there, but weve got to take it one game at a time." Victor Oladipo scored 21 points and three others finished in double figures for the Magic, who despite having the leagues third-worst record (21-55) had beaten Charlotte twice in three previous meetings. But on Friday, Orlando faced the Bobcats without 7-foot centre Nikola Vucevic, who was a game-time scratch after he complained of soreness in his left Achilles tendon. "I went through my pregame routine, and it started to become more and more sore," Vucevic said. "I talked to the trainer, and we decided it was best for me not to go." Without Vucevic -- who had 24 points and 20 rebounds in the Magics 110-105 overtime victory over Charlotte on March 28 -- in the lineup, Jefferson broke loose for 21 points and 11 rebounds in the first half. Still, it took a big run in the second quarter for the Bobcats to take command, leading by as many as 19 points before taking a 53-36 halftime lead. Charlotte extended that lead to 21 points midway through the third quarter, going up 68-47 on Jeffersons jumper with 5:08 remaining, before Orlando began making a comeback. Despite shooting just 35.6 per cent from the field, the Magic cut the Bobcatts lead to 72-60 by the end of the third quarter, and pulled within 76-69 on Oladipos 3-pointer with 8:58 remaining in the fourth.dddddddddddd But Gary Neal (12 points) had a three-point play 26 seconds later to push Charlottes lead back into double figures. "It was really the effort up and down the floor," Magic coach Jacque Vaughn said. "Just being in the right place and being committed to it. Its just that simple. Overall, the energy in the second half was how we have to be." Orlando had that energy in the first half, twice taking brief leads in the opening minutes of the second quarter. The Magic went up 21-20 on ETwaun Moores jumper with 11:43 left, and were ahead 25-24 after Oladipos layup with 9:02 remaining. But Anthony Tolliver (13 points) hit his second 3-pointer of the quarter with 8:44 left to put the Bobcats ahead to stay and kick off a 27-6 run. Jeffersons dunk with 3:36 left gave Charlotte its first double-digit lead, at 41-30, and Walker hit a pair of free throws with 1:50 left to put the Bobcats ahead 51-30, their biggest lead of the half. The seventh-place Bobcats begin a three-game road trip Saturday at Cleveland, with stops in Washington on April 9 and Boston on April 11, as the near their first playoff appearance since 2010. "Its been a long time coming," Walker said. "Its very satisfying. Weve been through a lot of ups and downs this season, but weve stuck with things as a team. Its exciting, especially to get to this point." Notes: Bobcats F Josh McRoberts sat out his second straight game recuperating from a sprained left ankle. Clifford said that McRoberts would take the next two days off, and may resume practice Monday. ... Charlotte got a scare late in the first quarter when Michael Kidd-Gilchrist went down hard after having his layup blocked. Kidd-Gilchrist, who missed seven games with ankle problems earlier this season, was listed as "questionable" by team officials for the rest of the game with a bruised back, but he returned to play the second half. ... The Bobcats have created a website -- www.bigalspaint.com -- to promote Jefferson as an All-NBA candidate. The website went public Thursday, and features quotes from opposing players and coaches, stats and stories by local and national media. ' ' '