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Portland shot 59 per cent in the first quarter

Charlotte, NC (SportsNetwork. Cheap NFL Jerseys Free Shipping .com) - The Carolina Panthers won for the first time in seven games last week, were without Cam Newton due to a car accident this week, but somehow sit atop the much-maligned NFC South. Derek Anderson filled in for Newton and threw for 277 yards and a touchdown as the Panthers defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 19-17 on Sunday. Newton suffered two transverse process fractures in his lower back in a two- car accident Tuesday afternoon near the teams stadium. He was released from the hospital on Wednesday morning and will be re-evaluated next week. Anderson, who also started for Newton in the Panthers Week 1 win at Tampa Bay, completed 25-of-40 passes. Everything was not as clean as we wouldve liked it. Anderson said. It wasnt perfect by any means ... overall Im very happy with the win. Greg Olsen caught 10 balls for 110 yards and Kelvin Benjamin added 104 yards on eight receptions for Carolina (5-8-1), which is percentage points ahead of the New Orleans Saints (5-8) for first place in the division. The Saints visit the Chicago Bears on Monday night. The Atlanta Falcons came into Sunday tied with the Saints for first place, but they lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers 27-20. Josh McCowns 16-yard touchdown scramble on a 3rd-and-11 clawed the Bucs within 19-17 with 3:11 left, but the Panthers picked up a pair of first downs and took the next 2:48 off the clock. Tampa Bay regained possession with 23 seconds remaining, but Luke Kuechlys interception on second down sealed the outcome. McCown completed 13-of-28 passes for 154 yards with a touchdown and an interception for the Buccaneers (2-12), who have dropped four straight games. Doug Martin carried the ball 14 times for 96 yards and Vincent Jackson hauled in six passes for 70 yards in defeat. Hung in there throughout, guys fought hard, Bucs coach Lovie Smith said. Carolina outgained Tampa Bay 249-156 and held the ball for 21:04 in the first half, but trailed 10-9 at the break. The Panthers drove into the Tampa Bay 40 on each of their four first-half possessions, but settled for a trio of Graham Gano field goals. The Panthers turned to their defense to finally gain the upper hand in the third, getting a turnover on Tampa Bays first possession and forcing a trio of three-and-outs on its next three drives before getting another takeaway. Tampa Bay was faced with a 3rd-and-15 on its initial possession of the third. A backpedaling McCown was attempting to set up a screen, but Charles Johnson strip-sacked him from behind and Kawann Short made the recovery at the Bucs 5-yard line. Carolina quickly took advantage of the miscue when Anderson flipped a 2-yard TD pass to Jerricho Cotchery in the back of the end zone on a play-action seam pattern two plays later, staking the Panthers to a 16-10 lead. Carolina moved the ball deep into Tampa Bay territory on its next drive, but Stewart fumbled inside the 10. Alterraun Verner stripped the ball away from Stewart, while was fighting for extra yardage, and Akeem Spence pounced on the ball at the 8-yard line. The Bucs offense finally gained some traction late in the third. An 18-yard Charles Sims run off left tackle and a 16-yard Jackson reception helped them move the ball into Carolina territory. But Roman Harper stripped McCown from behind and Bene Benwikere recovered the downfield fumble at the 27. Gano split the uprights from 45 yards out on the Panthers next drive to put them up by two scores, 19-10, midway through the fourth. Earlier, Gano connected on a 29-yard field goal, capping Carolinas opening 13-play, 73-yard possession. The Bucs responded on their first touch. Martin broke off a 63-yard run up the middle and McCown flipped an 8-yard TD pass to Mike Evans three plays later to give Tampa Bay a 7-3 advantage. Gano hit from 49 yards out on Carolinas ensuing touch late in the first quarter, but missed wide left from 50 yards out on its next drive. He nailed a 38-yard field goal on the Panthers final sequence of the half, giving them a 9-7 edge with 1:10 to go. Tampa Bay, though, gained 19 yards on a 3rd-and-10 via a McCown screen pass to Sims, which set up a Patrick Murray 48-yard field goal in the waning seconds of the half. Game Notes Newton was dealing with a rib injury in Week 1 and Anderson went 24-of-34 passing for 230 yards with two touchdowns in the 20-14 victory over the Bucs ... Tampa Bay has turned the ball over in 19 straight games, the second longest streak in the NFL ... Evans 11th touchdown reception of the season tied Mike Williams 2010 franchise rookie record. Cheap NFL Jerseys Throwback . LOUIS -- The St. Cheap NFL Jerseys . Bayern led second-place Leverkusen by 10 points with a game in hand, while Dortmund was another four points off the pace. Freiburg midfielder Felix Klaus scored in the last minute as his side twice came from behind to climb provisionally out of the relegation zone. OKLAHOMA CITY -- The Portland Trail Blazers braced themselves for a late onslaught from Kevin Durant. They still failed to stop him. The 6-foot-9 forward scored 11 of his 46 points in the final 3:23 to help the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Trail Blazers 105-97 on Tuesday night. "When the basket is an ocean, you cant really do much about it," Portland guard Wesley Matthews said. "Hes been on a roll." Durant has scored at least 30 points for eight consecutive games, the longest such streak of his career. He made 17 of 25 field goals, including 6 of 7 3-pointers. "He did what hes been doing the last two weeks," Portland guard Damian Lillard said. "You look up, hes hitting 50 and 45 and 50 again and 40 and up. We knew coming in that hes been shooting the ball well." Reggie Jackson added 15 points for Oklahoma City (32-10), which took a one-game lead over Portland in the Northwest Division. Oklahoma City improved to 9-5 since point guard Russell Westbrook was taken out of the lineup after having surgery on his right knee. LaMarcus Aldridge had 29 points and 16 rebounds, but he went 1-for-8 from the field in the fourth quarter. Durant said Aldridges late struggles might have been a combination good defence by Kendrick Perkins and Serge Ibaka and the Trail Blazers being worn out from their loss to Houston the night before. "Perk and Serge did a great job early on contesting LaMarcus jump shot, but hes a great player and he was knocking them down," Durant said. "In the fourth quarter, of course, after playing last night, hes a little tired. We forced him all the way out close to the 3-point line and made him shoot some tough ones and we were able to rebound and hit shots on the other end." Matthews added 21 points for Portland (31-11), which lost its last two games of a four-game road trip. "Pissed," Matthews said. "Were not happy. Last year we were happy coming off a road trip at .500. Were not that team any more. We didnt come out with the right energy and the right mentality against Houston and they were ready for us. We came out with the right mentality early in this game and KD had a hell of a fourth quarter, so its bitter." Oklahoma City held Lillard to 14 points, well below his average of 21.4 points per game. Portland led 93-90 when Durant was called for an offensive foul. Durant was unhappy after the call, and after Perkins was called for a foul, Durant, still frustrated, hit the scorers table and was issued a technical foul. Portland made two of the three free throws to go up by five. A fired-up Durant respondded with a layup, then a 3-pointer to tie the score with 2:52 remaining. Cheap NFL Jerseys 2020. "It was really a stupid, stupid reaction by me," Durant said. "I could have hurt my team really badly. I was just more frustrated with myself, turning the ball over. I cant hurt my team like that. This time, it went in our direction. Next time, Ive got to be smarter." Durant seemed to reach another gear after the technical, though. He hit a 3 with 48 seconds left to give the Thunder a 102-95 lead, then another with 26.8 seconds remaining to ice the game. Portland led 48-40 late in the second quarter before Durant sparked a rally with a 3-pointer. The Thunder took the lead with 8.3 seconds left in the first half on a jumper by Thabo Sefolosha, but Lillard responded with a layup with 0.2 seconds left to give the Trail Blazers a 52-51 lead at the break. Portland shot 57 per cent in the first half. Durant scored 20 points on 8-for-11 shooting in the first half, but his teammates shot 13 for 38. Durants jumper early in the second half finally gave the Thunder the lead, but the Trail Blazers handled the surge. A 3-pointer by Nicolas Batum and a bucket from Aldridge gave Portland a 67-62 lead and caused Oklahoma City to call a timeout. The Trail Blazers extended their lead to 75-66, but again, the Thunder closed out a quarter strong. Oklahoma City held Portland scoreless for the last 2:35 of the period. Durant hit a 3-pointer to close the quarter and give the Thunder a 77-75 lead. Portland made just one field goal in the final 3:45. "Total team effort," Durant said. "We didnt get discouraged after they hit tough shots and we missed shots, and we got a good win." The Thunder play at San Antonio on Wednesday night with the top record in the Western Conference on the line. "We know how tough it is to win there," Durant said. "We know how tough that team is. Youve just got to come prepared and with a lot of energy. I think our group is ready to come out there and play our game, and well see what happens." NOTES: Thunder coach Scott Brooks said he plans to vote for Lillard as an All-Star. ... Batum had been playing with a broken left middle finger. He aggravated the injury to his non-shooting hand on Monday night against Houston, but played through it. ... Portland scored the first seven points of the game. ... Durant scored 15 in the first quarter. ... Portland shot 59 per cent in the first quarter to take a 27-21 lead. ... Aldridge became the first NBA player with at least 11 field goals and 12 rebounds in five straight games Antonio McDyess did it from Jan. 3-10, 2001. ' ' '
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