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Biffle beat Leffler to the stripe by .338 seconds in a green-white-checkered-flag finish to win his second Nationwide race of the season and the 20th of his career. Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano and Kevin Harvick completed the top five.

Biffle and Leffler finished 1-2 on old tires after 14 of 17 lead-lap cars came to the pits for at least two tires under caution on Lap 181.

In a dramatic reversal, Kyle Busch, who finished 10th, wrested the series points lead from Carl Edwards, who came home 33rd. Busch leads Edwards by 47 points as the series heads for Talladega on April 25.

The late-race strategic calls made the difference for both Leffler and Biffle.

“The pit and [crew chief] Eddie [Pardue] really won this race,” Biffle said. “That call at the end, I was with Eddie on staying out. I thought everybody came, and I thought I’d have new tires right on my bumper. All I needed was a couple cars [behind me on old tires], because these tires — once they cool down — I think I’d have been OK, if we went green the whole way. Once I was out front, my car was really good.”

Leffler said he couldn’t catch Biffle once he pulled away on the late-race restarts. Leffler was more worried about Keselowski, who took on right-side tires on his final stop, restarted fourth on Lap 185 and passed Burney Lamar for the third position.

“We were running eighth there, and they all pitted,” Leffler said. “We didn’t even think about pitting — track position was so important. There was going to be about 20 laps left, and in these Nationwide races, it seems like when you have 20 laps left, you’re only going to run about five under green.”

The fortunes of Busch and Edwards turned radically near the midpoint of the race. Busch had lost two laps during a green-flag pit stop on Lap 50 because of a slow leak in the right-front tire of the No. 18 Toyota.

Busch regained one lap under green, passing Edwards on Lap 95. At that juncture, Edwards reported a skip in his engine, which his team was unable to repair under caution. Busch regained his lost lap with a free pass as the first car one lap down under the fourth caution of the race on Lap 109.

Moments after the restart on Lap 114, Edwards brought his car to the garage, where the crew diagnosed a problem with a valve spring on the No. 60 Ford. Edwards lost 25 laps while the team, led by Roush, rigged a makeshift repair for the broken part.

While Edwards languished in the garage, Busch took advantage of his free pass, working his way back to eighth before NASCAR called the fifth caution of the race for debris on Lap 149. He restarted eighth on Lap 154 after a pit stop and gained two more spots on that circuit, before John Wes Townley’s's crash caused the sixth caution.

In the closing laps of the race, Busch faded to his 10th-place finish.

Hookscenter.com wire report.

A 59-win regular season has ballooned expectations and put pressure on the Magic’s leading men to make a deep playoff push. That road begins Sunday against a Philadelphia 76ers team eager to break its own trend of early postseason exits.

“If we don’t get as far as we need to go, the two people standing on the firing line are he and I,” Van Gundy said.

The duo discussed the importance of staying focused, not worrying about the officials’ calls and keeping the team motivated, Howard said.

“It’s really on me and him,” Howard said. “We’re going to be the ones to really get our team over the hump or have to carry our team. As me and him go, the team will go.”

With the prospect that the Boston Celtics may be without Kevin Garnett for the playoffs, many in Orlando feel the path is paved for the Magic to make it to at least the Eastern Conference finals. The 23-year-old Howard is already in his fifth year, but like many young All-Stars he hasn’t made it past the second round.

Expectations for him have never been higher.

“This is what we’ve been waiting for. It’s playoff basketball,” Howard said. “It’s time for us to really step our games up and try to build a legacy.”

Philadelphia’s plans are much more modest.

The Sixers (41-41) enter the playoffs having just ended their six-game losing streak with a shaky overtime win against a Cleveland team that rested LeBron James and most of its starters. The skid has sapped Philadelphia’s confidence.

“I can’t pinpoint it, but we just lost it mentally,” Sixers guard Andre Miller said.

Getting back their groove against Howard and the Magic won’t be easy.

One of the league’s most dominant centers, Howard’s inside muscle is surrounded with free-shooting perimeter players. That formula presents a major matchup dilemma for any team, but has particularly given fits to the Sixers, who have lost all three games against the Magic this season.

Philadelphia has not won a playoff series since beating New Orleans in the first round in 2003 and is simply hoping to end that slide.

“We can go out and prove ourselves,” Sixers coach Tony DiLeo said. “Would we liked to have finished better? No question. We would have liked that momentum for the playoffs, but there’s nothing we can do about that now. I think the team is in a good state of mind.”

The Magic also begin the playoffs in somewhat of a funk.

They ended a season-high, three-game losing streak with a win over Charlotte on Wednesday. Injuries to starters Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu have thrown off Orlando’s rhythm. The forwards will be in the lineup Sunday for the first time in more than a week.

Rusty or not, the Magic believe it’s time they take the next step in the postseason. Veterans like Lewis and Turkoglu are especially mindful of not taking playoff appearances for granted.

“We have to take advantage of the window of opportunity,” Lewis said.

Until last year, the Magic hadn’t been past the first round of the playoffs since 1996. The franchise still hasn’t made it beyond the second round since that year, when they were swept in four games by Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls in the conference finals.

Finishing a win shy of tying the best record in franchise history this year, the pressure to show postseason progress is greater than ever, particularly on Howard.

The Magic’s superstar is still the youngest player on the team and likely has years of title runs ahead of him. But he said he doesn’t want to let any opportunity slip.

Part of his discussions with Van Gundy, Howard said, focused on starting to build a strong legacy. Howard said it wouldn’t be a hole in his resume if never gets a championship, but quickly added, “It would be a hole in my heart.”

Hookscenter.com wire report.

Jeff Carter and Mike Richards scored their first goals of the series early for a sorely needed fast start. Claude Giroux and Simon Gagne put the Flyers ahead for good in a 6-3 victory over the Penguins on Sunday.

Pittsburgh leads the opening-round series 2-1 and Game 4 is Tuesday night in Philadelphia.

Unlike last season’s Eastern Conference finals when the Flyers flopped at home against the Penguins in Game 3, this year’s team came out charged from the opening faceoff.

Carter, the NHL’s scored-leading goal scorer, scored his first of the postseason three minutes into the game, and Richards made it two goals on two shots for the Flyers 2:15 later.

The Flyers put the pressure on early for the first time and were determined not to get outmuscled against the Penguins. The Flyers, the most penalized team in the NHL, and the Penguins never stopped scrapping and put on quite a show for the energized crowd.

While the shoving and punching invigorated the atmosphere, it was the rapid goal scoring after a punchless first two games that really made the difference for the Flyers.

The two goals in the first period were only one more than the Flyers scored in the first two losses. After the Penguins tied the game with goals 25 seconds apart over two periods, the Flyers came right back at them.

Giroux, the 21-year-old rookie, made a big difference in the second period. Danny Briere swiped a rebound off Fleury’s pad and fed it across the ice to a streaking Giroux, who punched in the puck for a 3-2 lead.

Playing short-handed midway though the second, Giroux controlled the puck behind the net. The Penguins defense swarmed him, but the former first-round pick was able to fend off Kris Letang and slip the puck to Gagne. Gagne scored the short-handed goal to make it 4-2 and their first of the series after they scored 16 that way during the regular season.

Martin Biron stopped 26 shots and played like the goalie who led the Flyers to the conference finals last year. Keeping up that kind of play in net along with the steady scoring and the series could come back to Philly for Game 6.

Jared Ross scored his first NHL goal in the third to make it 5-2 and Gagne added his second on an empty-netter with 1:36 left to secure the win.

Each team spent so much time fighting in the first half, the penalty box could have used a corner man. Philadelphia’s Scott Hartnell tangled with Chris Kunitz in front of the Pittsburgh bench, then Flyers defenseman Andrew Alberts scuffled with Evegni Malkin on the other side.

The bell sounded much to the delight of the sold-out crowd and the Flyers showed they still had plenty of fight left in this series.

By the midway point of the first half, the officials had their hands full. Giroux and Tyler Kennedy mixed it up at center ice, and the refs couldn’t stop Flyers center Darroll Powe and Letang throwing punches along the boards.

The “Rocky” soundtrack blared in the area was timely for once. The Flyers had 30 penalty minutes and the Penguins recorded 28.

The Penguins surprised Biron when Malkin took Ruslan Fedontenko’s feed from the corner and used a slapper on one knee for a goal with 12 seconds left in the first.

Rob Scuderi needed 13 seconds into the second to tie the game at 2 on shot into traffic from the high slot.

Malkin scored his fourth goal of the series to make it 5-3, but the Penguins have yet to really get Sidney Crosby going. Crosby has one goal in three games, though he did have two assists in Game 3.

The 19,975 orange T-shirt-wearing fans erupted when Lauren Hart, the daughter of longtime former Flyers broadcaster Gene Hart, sang God Bless America, alternating lyrics with Kate Smith, who was on a video image. Smith’s rendition of the song has been a rallying anthem for the Flyers since the mid-1970s and team uses the song sparingly.

Hookscenter.com wire report.

He lives his life like a man half of his age.

And drives like it, too.

The 50-year-old Martin became the third-oldest winner in NASCAR history Saturday night, snapping a 97-race winless streak with a dominating run at Phoenix International Raceway.

“I told the guys I don’t have any problem keeping up with a 25-year-old — at least not for the next 15 minutes,” Martin said. “I feel really good.”

Martin, who has waffled on retirement several times in the last four years, started from the pole and led 157 of 312 laps. But a late caution erased his 4-second lead over Tony Stewart with 11 laps to go, sending the leaders into the pits and putting his victory on the line.

Ryan Newman stayed on track to assume the lead, and Martin won a frantic race off pit road to emerge in second. But he had Stewart — Newman’s car owner and teammate — right behind him, and only six laps to race to the front.

Martin only needed about 6 seconds.

Martin shot past Newman on the restart, then drove away to his first win since Kansas in 2005.

The last 50-year-old to win a Cup race was Morgan Shepherd in 1993 at Atlanta. Harry Gant holds the record as the oldest driver to win a Cup race. He was 52 when he won at Michigan in 1992.

Before Martin, only three drivers 50 or older won Cup races: Gant, Shepherd and Bobby Allison.

“Age is irrelevant with Mark,” crew chief Alan Gustafson said. “I don’t even think about it. It doesn’t even come into the equation. Mark’s enthusiasm, his energy, his drive … he’s incredible. He’s as good as any of them.”

Martin was visited by NASCAR president Mike Helton and several competitors in Victory Lane, including former boss Jack Roush and former teammates Kurt Busch, Jeff Burton, Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth.

It was Martin’s 36th career victory, but first without Roush. He spent 18 years driving for Roush, but left after the 2006 season because he had planned to retire at the end of that season, but Roush had filled his seat before he changed his mind.

“He seemed genuinely happy,” Martin said of Roush’s Victory Lane visit.

So did everyone else.

“There’s no shame in losing to a guy like Mark Martin,” said Stewart, who finished second. “I am really happy for Mark. Nobody works harder than Mark to be fit, to stay in shape and be ready to go.”

Busch was third, followed by Jimmie Johnson and Biffle.

The praise poured in from every corner of the garage for Martin, who is widely considered to be the greatest NASCAR driver to never win a championship.

“The guy has been at the top of his game in the sport for 30 years,” said Busch, who raced with Martin at Roush. “He’s a tremendous athlete, a tremendous individual and he’s definitely going to put together.”

That elusive Cup title is what lured him to drive for Rick Hendrick this year for his first full season in three years. He spent the last two years in a part-time ride for Dale Earnhardt Inc., which re-energized him for another grueling 10-month season. After finishing second in the championship race a maddening four times, Hendrick offered him the No. 5 Chevrolet and likely his best — and final — shot at a title.

But his optimism was dashed after horrendous early season luck sabotaged strong cars and dropped Martin to 34th in the standings. His victory pushed five spots from 18th to 13th, and he’s now just nine points out of the final qualifying spot for the Chase for the championship.

He didn’t want to discuss his championship hopes afterward.

“I am not going to ruin a good time by worrying about,” he said. “Let me enjoy this.”

Martin received a congratulatory phone call in Victory Lane from Hendrick, who wasn’t on hand to see an HMS driver win for the third straight race. Johnson won at Martinsville and Jeff Gordon won at Texas.

“He just congratulated me, man,” Martin said of the phone call. “He makes dreams come true.”

Martin celebrated his win with a backward victory lap as a tribute to his late friend Alan Kulwicki.

“You guys knew I wasn’t going to do a burnout,” he joked.

Hookscenter.com wire report.

For just about the first time since the NL Cy Young Award winner became a full-time major leaguer, he didn’t have to be outstanding for the San Francisco Giants to win.

Travis Ishikawa hit a three-run triple, Aaron Rowand had three RBI and the Giants overcame Lincecum’s struggles for a 10-6 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday in the majors’ final opener.

Lincecum walked leadoff hitter Rickie Weeks on five pitches right after heroic pilot Chesley Sullenberger threw out the first pitch, and the 24-year-old right-hander’s day got no better. He made it through just three innings, yielding three runs, four hits and three walks in a scattered performance that included five strikeouts, but not much more to embrace.

“When you’re a Cy Young winner, there’s going to be a target on your back,” said Lincecum, who will formally receive his award in front of the home crowd Wednesday night. “Milwaukee was trying to get aggressive, and they’ve got a good power team. They probably wanted to do as many things as they could to me.”

Last season, Lincecum would have expected such a sorry performance to result in certain defeat for the Giants, who finished 29th among the majors’ 30 teams with 637 runs last season, their first following Barry Bonds’ departure.

At least for openers, the Giants’ new-look lineup had enough pop to cover for their young ace’s struggles. Rowand hit a two-run homer and an RBI double. Bengie Molina and Randy Winn also homered for the Giants, who had six extra-base hits.

“Those guys played really good baseball offensively,” Lincecum said. “They were putting a lot of good swings on good pitches. It’s going to be great to see them develop and score runs this year.”

Joe Martinez (1-0) gave up two runs during two rocky innings in his major league debut, but still got the win when Rowand put the Giants ahead 6-5 with his two-run shot in the fourth. Molina added a solo shot in the seventh, and Winn led off the eighth with another homer.

With an all-new infield featuring three young prospects and veteran shortstop Edgar Renteria, Molina thinks the sport’s perception of the Giants’ lineup is about to change.

“This is a great example of what we can do,” Molina said. “When whoever goes out there and gives up a hit or some runs, it feels good to pick them up.”

Milwaukee also didn’t get much from Jeff Suppan (0-1), who hit an RBI double but gave up six runs in four innings as the unlikely opening-day starter for a club that lost its top two pitchers from last season’s run to the NL wild card. Weeks and Bill Hall hit run-scoring doubles in manager Ken Macha’s debut with the Brewers, who left 11 men on base.

“That wasn’t very pretty,” Macha said. “By my count, there were 13 walks and four hit batters. We had 20 baserunners and only got five runs. If you told me we’d get Lincecum out of the game in the third, I’d be feeling pretty good. We just didn’t pitch very well.”

Rain pelted the Giants’ waterfront ballpark for most of the morning, but it abated before game time and eventually gave way to warm sunshine, despite bleak weather forecasts. Both managers had made contingency plans for a doubleheader Wednesday, when Randy Johnson will make his Giants debut against burgeoning Brewers ace Yovani Gallardo.

After walking Weeks to start the Giants’ 10th opening day at their park, Lincecum also drilled Ryan Braun in the back and threw a wild pitch in the first inning alone, but struck out Prince Fielder and J.J. Hardy to avoid giving up any runs.

Ishikawa, who won the starting job at first base in spring training despite just 45 games of major league experience, lined a shot into the deepest corner of the Giants’ outfield in the bottom half, easily reaching third base while Renteria, Fred Lewis and Pablo Sandoval scored.

“They were really swinging the bats today,” said Brewers outfielder Mike Cameron, who drew four walks and stole two bases. “We were swinging pretty good, too, but we lost a couple of opportunities to keep it close. We knocked [Lincecum] out of the game, but we couldn’t push any runs across against anybody else. When we threatened to score, they turned a couple of double plays.”

After Martinez relieved Lincecum, Weeks tied it when he scored on Lewis’ overthrow from left field after Corey Hart’s single. Fielder then put the Brewers up 5-4 with an RBI single.

Rowand gave the Giants the lead again with his homer to left, scoring Ishikawa. Rowand hit just 13 homers in 152 games with San Francisco last season, slumping after the break.

Hookscenter.com wire report.

Although Gallardo has been alive only slightly longer than Randy Johnson has been a major league pitcher, the Milwaukee Brewers’ promising right-hander started off his season with an achievement even more remarkable than his solid effort on the mound.

He’s the first pitcher to hit a home run off the Big Unit in his long career.

Gallardo pitched neatly into the seventh inning while spoiling Johnson’s debut with the San Francisco Giants, leading the Brewers to a 4-2 victory Wednesday night.

Gallardo (1-0) insists he’ll remember his first victory in nearly 19 months much longer than the historic hit that made it possible. The 23-year-old gave up six hits and struck out six while muzzling a Giants team that scored 10 runs on opening day.

He was thrilled to see his impressive spring reflected in his first real game since early last season, when the second of two serious knee injuries in 2008 sidelined him for the rest of Milwaukee’s playoff-bound campaign.

“There were a lot of things going into it, with my first start of the year after I wasn’t able to start off with the team last year,” Gallardo said. “There was a little bit of anxiousness there. The win, that’s obviously the most important for me.”

Everybody else will remember the home run. He smacked a two-out, two-strike pitch over the fence in the fifth, providing himself with all the run support he needed.

“Growing up and watching him pitch, he’s a great pitcher,” Gallardo said of Johnson, the 45-year-old right-hander. “Not very many people get the opportunity to do that. Rounding the bases, I was pretty excited.”

After Bill Hall doubled with two outs in the fifth, Johnson walked Jason Kendall to face Gallardo. Although the Brewers understood the move, the dugout pulsed with excitement about Gallardo, known around the spring training cages as an above-average hitter.

“Nobody said anything, but we all kind of knew,” said Milwaukee reliever Carlos Villanueva, Gallardo’s close friend. “It’s not as easy to get him out as you might think. … That was a bomb. It’s not surprising from him. You expect him to hit, but not an absolute bomb.”

Although the Brewers lost top starters CC Sabathia and Ben Sheets following their run last fall to their first playoff berth in a quarter-century, Milwaukee might not miss them as much as many expect if Gallardo keeps living up to the considerable promise he showed in 2007 and again this spring.

Gallardo overshadowed the formal Bay Area homecoming for Johnson (0-1), who opened his 22nd major league season with seven strikeouts — giving him 4,796 in his career — in five often-dominant innings. Johnson allowed only four hits, but two were home runs by Mike Cameron and Gallardo.

“I felt bad, because that took the sail out of the fans, I think,” said Johnson, who got raucous ovations before the game and after most of his innings. “[Gallardo] pitched a good ballgame and got the big hit, too. That one at-bat, it gets lost how good I felt. But it’s all a wash. I can’t go out and pitch any better.”

Randy Winn stole two bases for San Francisco and hit an RBI single in the seventh when Gallardo tired with two outs, leaving with two runners on base. Reliever Todd Coffey got Bengie Molina to dribble a harmless grounder with the bases loaded.

Villanueva pitched the ninth for his first save, filling in while presumptive closer Trevor Hoffman starts the season on the disabled list.

Johnson, who grew up in the East Bay suburb of Livermore, Calif., admittedly signed with the Giants to chase the final five wins necessary to join the 300-victory club, but also to provide veteran leadership to San Francisco’s staff.

In his first inning with San Francisco, Johnson came within one pitch of striking out the side. He fanned Ricky Weeks and Corey Hart — with a changeup — and had two strikes on Ryan Braun before a harmless fly to center.

He retired Milwaukee’s first five hitters, also striking out Prince Fielder, but Cameron then homered to left. Cameron entered the game 2-for-29 with 18 strikeouts in his career against Johnson.

“He threw great, [but] one pitch was the difference in the game,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “He had good stuff. It was just one pitch that he didn’t get away with. That kid can swing a bat. We know it.”

Before the game, the Giants formally presented the 2008 NL Cy Young Award to Tim Lincecum. Mike McCormick, the only other Giants pitcher to win the award, spoke to the crowd before Lincecum made a brief speech.

“Lastly and always, I just want to thank my dad,” said Lincecum, who lasted only a career-low three innings while getting no decision in the opener Tuesday.

Hookscenter.com wire report.

After the Giants struggled at the plate in their last game, the 24-year-old right-hander hopes to avoid more misfortune Thursday night when San Francisco hosts the Milwaukee Brewers in the decisive contest of their three-game set.

Cain went 8-14 with a 3.76 ERA in 34 starts last season, and has started at least 32 games in each of his last three years. For the second straight year, however, Cain received the second-lowest run support in the majors.

Since the start of the 2007 season, the Giants scored one or no runs in 29 of Cain’s 66 starts. He’s 15-30 with a 3.71 ERA during that span after winning 13 games in 2006.

“You’d love to get five or six runs every game, but … that’s not the way the game is. It just doesn’t work that way,” Cain told the Giants’ official Web site. “When you lose a game, you think about what you could have done better – instead of pointing the finger at someone else.”

Facing Milwaukee (1-1) could add to the challenge for Cain, who is 0-2 with a 5.54 ERA against the Brewers.

Starter Yovani Gallardo and three relievers stymied San Francisco in the Brewers’ 4-2 victory on Wednesday, two days after the Giants’ 10-6 season-opening win.

Gallardo hit a three-run homer off Randy Johnson on Wednesday to spoil the Big Unit’s San Francisco debut. Mike Cameron also homered and Ryan Braun added two hits for the Brewers, who totaled just five.

Braun is 4-for-8 with two doubles in the series, and 1-for-2 with a triple against Cain. Cameron, though, is 2-for-23 with nine strikeouts against him.

Randy Winn stole two bases and had an RBI single, and Aaron Rowand went 2-for-4 on Wednesday for the Giants (1-1), whose 640 runs in 2008 were the second-lowest in the majors behind San Diego (637).

Rowand is 4-for-7 with three doubles in the series, and 2-for-5 with a double and two RBIs against Milwaukee’s scheduled starter Manny Parra.

A Sacramento, Calif., native, Parra is 2-0 with a 2.77 ERA against San Francisco as a starter.

The left-hander bounced between the rotation and bullpen last season, going 10-8 with a 4.30 ERA in 32 games with 29 starts for Milwaukee.

Despite the winning record, Parra struggled in the second half of 2008. He was 8-2 with a 3.82 ERA in 18 starts prior to the All-Star break and 2-6 with a 5.10 ERA in 11 starts the rest of the way.

Parra spent much of the spring trying to fine tune his changeup to go along with an already solid fastball.

“Obviously my fastball is my primary pitch, but the changeup is right there and I want to feel as comfortable throwing that as my fastball,” he told the Brewers’ official Web site.

Hookscenter.com wire report.

The 76ers look to bounce back from a dismal offensive performance on Tuesday when they visit the slumping Bobcats, whose latest loss has pushed them closer to elimination from postseason contention.

Philadelphia (40-36) clinched its second straight playoff berth following a 95-90 win over Detroit on Saturday, but still has plenty to play for.

The 76ers are in sixth place in the Eastern Conference – a half-game behind fifth-place Miami and 2 1/2 back of fourth-place Atlanta with six games remaining. If they can catch the Hawks, the Sixers would get home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs because they won the season series.

They didn’t look like a team still fighting to improve their postseason seed on Sunday in a 96-67 loss to New Jersey. Philadelphia shot 35.1 percent while scoring its fewest points and suffering its largest margin of defeat of the season.

Louis Williams was the only Philadelphia player to score in double figures with 14.

It was a particularly frustrating game for Andre Iguodala and Andre Miller, who have combined this season to average 34.6 points. After playing the entire second half Saturday, they were held to 12 points on 4-of-17 shooting Sunday.

Despite the awful performance, coach Tony DiLeo didn’t believe it was a case of players letting up once they were guaranteed a spot in the postseason.

“I don’t think it had anything to do with clinching the playoff berth,” DiLeo said. “Yesterday was an important game. We played both Andres more minutes than they usually play, the whole second half. Maybe that caught up to them a little bit. I don’t think just because we clinched we let down. We just had nothing going tonight.”

The 76ers were averaging 98.0 points in the previous five games.

While Philadelphia’s loss somewhat dampened the excitement of the team’s playoff berth, the Bobcats’ latest defeat severely hurt their chances of reaching the postseason for the first time in franchise history.

Charlotte (34-43) had a chance to move within one game of the eighth and final playoff spot in the East on Sunday but lost 104-97 to Detroit. The Bobcats are in ninth place in the East and have five games left but are three behind the Pistons and Chicago, which are tied for the conference’s final two postseason berths.

D.J. Augustin scored 22 points while Emeka Okafor added 14 and grabbed 16 rebounds, but the Bobcats lost their third straight. Charlotte scored only 17 points in the first quarter but still led early in the fourth before Detroit pulled away.

“We just have to execute better,” Charlotte coach Larry Brown said. “We had some really bad turnovers late, and when you have some empty possessions late in the game, you don’t have time to overcome that.

“We just need to keep getting better.”

Charlotte is giving up an average of 104.0 points in its last three games after allowing 91.3 in the previous eight games, going 6-2.

The Bobcats have won two of three against Philadelphia this season and six of the last seven meetings in Charlotte.

Hookscenter.com wire report.