For the Charlotte Hornets, a 10-8 record is respectable but based on recent trends, it is not good enough.Coming off a 48-win season, Charlotte began this season by winning eight of its first 11 games and four of its first six home games. Starting with a five-point overtime loss in New Orleans, it has been difficult for the Hornets.The Hornets look to correct some of those negative trends Thursday night when they host the struggling Dallas Mavericks.On Nov. 19, the Hornets held a 14-point lead in the opening minute of the fourth quarter and wound up with a 121-116 loss to the Pelicans. The loss sparked a stretch of five losses in seven games, which continued during Tuesdays 112-89 home loss to the Detroit Pistons.Theres two ways you can look at this, Hornets coach Steve Clifford said. We can come in here and do the proverbial It was the schedule and its five in seven, and theyre fresh. If you do that, you have the wrong expectations of what I think our team should be. Weve done some good things to this point, but two things that are concerning are, one, were 5-5 at home, and two, were 1/3 on the second night of a back-to-back. If those things continue to happen, then were certainly not going to be in a position where we want to be.During Charlottes skid, the defense has allowed an average of 108.1 points per game and the latest loss occurred after Detroit center Andre Drummond was ejected before halftime. The Hornets trailed by three at intermission but were outscored by 20 in the second half.Kemba Walker scored 23 points but received little help. Frank Kaminsky shot 1 of 11 and Nicolas Batum was 3 of 11.Charlottes inability to get past Detroit resulted in its third home loss in four games.We could make a lot of excuses, but we have to start winning at home, Charlotte center Cody Zeller said. We have to start winning on the second night of back-to-backs. We just didnt do enough things to win tonight.The Mavericks have dropped 10 of their last 11 games and their 3-14 start is the third-worst 17-game start in team history. Dallas has been held under 100 points in 10 of those games and 14 times overall.The latest setback for Dallas was Wednesday against the San Antonio Spurs when the Mavericks held a 13-point deficit only to lose 94-87. It was the seventh single-digit loss this season for Mavericks.Im encouraged by the competitive part of this, Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. Our guys have been fighting hard.Wesley Matthews scored a season-high 26 points and Harrison Barnes added 17 but neither player could get rolling down the stretch. Matthews missed six of his last seven shots while Barnes missed four of his last six attempts.Were still fighting, said Dallas guard Devin Harris, who returned from a left foot injury and played 11 minutes in his season debut. We felt like we shouldve had this one tonight. Our fight is still there. Our guys are playing their butts off and one of these days our luck is going to change. If we continue to fight this way, well win some of these games.Dallas played its 12th game without Dirk Nowitzki (strained right Achilles). Nowitzki is expected to sit again Thursday.Nowitzki missed eight games from Nov. 6-21 before returning last week against the Los Angeles Clippers and Cleveland Cavaliers. He scored 25 points on 10-of-28 shooting in 47 minutes before sitting out again.We got to get him right, Carlisle said. And he is getting closer. But its not going to happen this week. Next week could be a possibility, but well see.Dorian-Finney Smith has started the last seven games Nowitzki has missed but has only scored 27 points. The undrafted rookie has been playing between 18 and 27 minutes in the starting frontcourt and is 10 of 30 from the floor.The Mavericks are 7-3 in the last 10 meetings. Cheap Panthers Jerseys China . Philadelphia is 2-0 against the Senators this season and scored five goals in each victory. The Flyers recorded a 5-0 win in Ottawa on Nov. 12 and then earned a 5-2 home decision on Nov. 19. The Flyers have claimed three straight and four of the last five encounters with the Sens overall and Philly has won two in a row and three of its past four tests in Canadas capital city. Cheap Adidas NHL Jerseys . Then the Pacers gave Oladipo and his Orlando teammates the cold shoulder. Paul Georges buzzer-beating 3-pointer at the end of the third quarter spurred a 21-4 run, finally sending Indiana past the Magic 97-87 in a tougher-than-expected opening night matchup. http://www.cheapfloridapanthersjerseys.com/ . Calgary scored on the first shift, and Michael Cammalleri scored twice as the Flames cruised to a 5-2 win over the Washington Capitals on Saturday. Wholesale Panthers Jerseys . The Hall of Fame defenceman told Landsberg that he believes fighting still has a place in todays game, but thinks staged fighting needs be outlawed. Cheap Panthers Jerseys Authentic . They were putting most of their energy into a record-setting offensive display. RIO DE JANEIRO --?Gone was the all-offense, all-action play that turned the last two gold-medal games into classics.To get by Spain again, the U.S. Olympic mens basketball team would have to win ugly, so unusual its practically un-American.It was just a real different game today, coach Mike Krzyzewski said.Same result, though.The U.S. advanced to its third straight gold-medal game win an 82-76 victory Friday, another tight matchup between the teams that met in the last two championship games.Klay Thompson scored 22 points for the Americans, who will play Serbia on Sunday for their third consecutive Olympic title. Serbia routed Australia 87-61 in the second semifinal. Australia and Spain will vie for the bronze medal prior to the gold-medal game.This is where we wanted to be, Kevin Durant said. We talked about it all summer and to be here for the final game, to win the gold, for all the marbles, we like our chances.The Americans pulled away to win 118-107 in 2008 and held on for a 107-100 victory in London, but the defenses made their mark in this one. The U.S. was just good enough again against Spain, with bodies falling more than shots and several technical fouls keeping the teams from finding an offensive flow.It certainly wasnt pretty, but Olympic gold never loses its luster.Its an amazing feeling now, center DeAndre Jordan said.?We really want to accomplish this.It was the lowest-scoring game for the Americans in the Olympics since the 2004 semifinals, when they managed 81 in a loss to Argentina.But Jordan made his presence felt in the middle with 16 rebounds and four blocked shots to go with his nine points.Durant added 14 points on the day he moved past LeBron James into second place on the U.S. Olympic career scoring list.Kyrie Irving had 13 for the U.S.Pau Gasol scored 23 points for Spain, which made it tough on the Americans for the third straight Olympics, but again had to settle for coming close against the worlds No. 1 team.I think the key of the game was their defense, Spain coach Sergio Scariolo said. Their athleticism, their size, they made our offense get difficult during most of the possessions.Gasol said after he believed Spain missed its best chance to beat the U.S.They are not playing as well as other times theyve played, but they are still a very talented team individually, Gasol said. ``I just (feel) like if we had been a little sharperr with our shots, if we would have moved the ball a little better, if we would have boxed out more, and make it a two- or three-possession game, then youre talking about a whole different story.ddddddddddddSpain shot just 39 percent and couldnt get any consistent option other than Gasol, who played with a wrap covering his sore right calf. It was the kind of defense the Americans thought they could play but hadnt much in the tournament.Serbia and France both surpassed 90 points against them and Australia scored 88, as the team with 10 Olympic newcomers took longer than hoped in grasping international offenses.This time they contained a team that was as explosive as themselves over the last four games, as Spain had averaged 97.3 points and won by more than 25 per game after dropping its first two in Brazil.The Americans finally built a comfortable lead when they opened the fourth quarter with six straight points to go ahead 72-57. But Spain was able to keep the gap from getting any bigger and chipped away at it in the final minutes, the margin ending up smaller than in the previous matchups.Spain came to the Olympics an aging team without one of its top players, Memphis Grizzlies center Marc Gasol, who couldnt make it back from a broken right foot sustained during the season.But the Spanish, as they had in the previous two Olympics, found their stride just in time to run into the Americans. Thompson scored 17 in the first half, including a 3-pointer with 26 seconds left that made it 45-39 at the break.Both teams were called for multiple technical fouls in the tense first half. One of them, on Durant, gave him a third foul, as technicals also count as personal fouls in international play.Nikola Mirotic then picked up a personal and technical on the same play later in the period, sending him to the bench with four after he led Spain with 23 points in its quarterfinal rout of France.The Americans were far off their usual offensive play, shooting only 42 percent for the game and complaining about a wet ball in the first half. But they grabbed 21 offensive rebounds in their 24 straight Olympic victory. Now they need one more to stay on top.You want to get there, two-time gold medalist Carmelo Anthony said. You want to have that feeling. ' ' '