BOSTON -- The Boston Celtics took their defense from solid in the first half to stifling in the second.Isaiah Thomas scored 16 of his 26 points after halftime and Al Horford had 18 points and five blocked shots as Boston beat the Charlotte Hornets 96-88 on Friday night to stop a three-game slide.Coach just told us we needed to step up our level of energy a little more on the defensive end, Horford said. We did that and that was the big difference.Getting Thomas back after he missed four straight games with a groin strain didnt hurt, either.Thomas scored nine in the third quarter as the Celtics fought back from a 12-point deficit. He added seven in the fourth to help Boston put away the Hornets.We got stops and got running, Thomas said. The one thing we did in the fourth quarter is we just spaced the floor and made plays for each other. Guys hit big shots.Avery Bradley and Jae Crowder added 12 points apiece for the Celtics, who held the Hornets to 13 field goals in the second half.Charlotte played without leading scorer Kemba Walker, who did not travel with the team due to personal reasons, and lost its fourth straight.Although the Hornets outrebounded Boston 54-46, the Celtics outscored them 38-30 in the paint as Charlotte had trouble converting inside.We have to finish some of these plays, coach Steve Clifford said. You get these point-blank ones and you dont have the floor balance in there back the other way. There were two or three of those that were huge plays.Nicolas Batum led the Hornets with 22 points and 10 rebounds.Ramon Sessions had 13 points and six assists, Marco Belinelli scored 11 and Jeremy Lamb added 10 points for the Hornets.Crowder hit a 3 with 6:11 left to put Boston up 80-79 after Charlotte scored seven straight points. Thomas drew a flagrant foul by Belinelli and hit both free throws. Boston retained possession because of the flagrant, and Crowder drew another foul and added two more free throws to put Boston ahead 84-79.Cody Zeller missed from inside for Charlotte, and Thomas came back with a 3-pointer to make it 87-79 with 4:52 left. Charlotte turned it over right away after the inbounds play and Bradley added another 3 that gave Boston a 90-79 cushion with 4:24 to go.After a basket by Belinelli with 6:32 left completed their 7-0 run, the Hornets went scoreless until his layup with 2:20 remaining cut it to 92-81.Boston held Charlotte to five field goals in the third quarter, when the Hornets were 5 of 23.Charlotte closed the second on a 14-4 run and took a 50-41 lead into halftime. The Hornets led 60-48 early in the third when the Celtics started their surge. Kelly Olynyk hit a 3-pointer to tie it at 62 with 3:57 left, and it was tied 69-all at the end of the third.MISSING KEMBASessions started for Walker and had six assists, but the Hornets offense appeared lost without Walker.Hes one of the best in the league, so we missed him a lot tonight, Batum said. We played better tonight overall. But we should have won that game, anyway. No excuses.COLD OUTSIDEAfter shooting 2 of 14 from beyond the arc in the first half, the Celtics started hitting from outside in the third period. They went 7 of 14 on 3-pointers in the second half and held Charlotte to 19 points in each of the final two quarters.WELCOME BACKThomas hadnt played since scoring 20 points against Houston on Dec. 5. The Celtics went 1/3 in the games he missed and were happy to have him leading the offense once again.It helps all of us just because it opens the floor even more. Teams have to play us a little more honest, said Horford, who also had eight rebounds, five assists and two steals. Its just good to have him back.TIP-INSHornets: Walker is averaging 22.6 points per game. He missed his first game this season, but was expected to return when the Hornets visit Atlanta on Saturday night. Walkers absence made Belinelli and Sessions the only Charlotte players to appear in all 27 games this season.Celtics: Jonas Jerebko scored nine points to lead Bostons reserves.UP NEXTHornets: At the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday night.Celtics: At the Miami Heat on Sunday night. Wholesale 49ers Jerseys . The Montreal Canadiens announced on Friday that the veteran forward will return to the teams line-up on Saturday night when the Habs visit the Nashville Predators. Jullian Taylor Jersey . Those lessons were more than enough to overwhelm the Utah Jazz. Lou Williams scored 25 points and the Hawks continued their offensive upswing as they rolled to an easy 118-85 victory over the Jazz on Friday night, winning their third straight and for the fourth time in five games. http://www.authentic49ersshopnfl.com/ . U.S. District Judge Lorna G. Schofield in Manhattan agreed that lawyers on both sides could make their formal requests by Nov. 8. A hearing is scheduled for a day earlier. Jordan Siev, a lawyer for Rodriguez, wrote in a joint letter to the judge from lawyers on both sides that MLB lawyers planned to ask that the lawsuit be dismissed. Mike McGlinchey Jersey . Ancelotti says Ronaldo has recovered from a hamstring injury but "but he doesnt feel comfortable yet so we wont risk him." Madrid is third in the Spanish league, six points behind leader Barcelona, going into Saturdays game against Valladolid. 49ers Stitched Jerseys . 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This was the sporting equivalent of going to Las Vegas, staying in some high-priced hotels, enjoying everything that Sin City has to offer and still coming back with lots of cash in your pockets because you had a couple of winning nights at the blackjack tables.In other words, this was quite a road trip for the Florida Panthers.Indeed, Florida (10-8-1) just won three out of four games away from home, beating the top team in the Eastern Conference (the Montreal Canadiens), the top club in the Metropolitan Division (the New York Rangers) and a third playoff contender (the Ottawa Senators).Now the Panthers return home to face the Philadelphia Flyers (8-8-3) at the BB&T Center on Tuesday night. The Panthers are a virtual lock to start top goalie Roberto Luongo after backup James Reimer beat the Rangers 3-2 on Sunday night.This was a big boost to our team, Panthers coach Gerard Gallant told reporters after his franchises first win at New Yorks Madison Square Garden in three years. The Rangers are a great team. I thought we held the fort in the first period (trailing 1-0) and played a real good game from there.The Panthers had left home before this trip with just one road win on the season. But then they did what they did -- which included knocking off two of the elite goalies in the league in Montreals Carey Price and New Yorks Henrik Lundqvist.Florida now has 21 points after 19 games. At this point last season, the Panthers had just 19 points, and they went on to win the Atlantic Division.Meanwhile, the Flyers are just 3-4-1 on the road this season and are coming off a 3-0 home loss against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday.Philadelphia has had trouble in on the Panthers home ice, losing its past three BB&T Center matchups.The good news for the Flyers is that they have been able to incorporate youth into their lineup, most notably a pair of 19-year-old rookies: defenseman Ivan Provorov and center Travis Konecny.Both have played well. Provorov is a two-way player, and the speedy Konecny is confident, fearless and quite possibly the most exxciting Flyer, with four goals and seven assists in 19 games.ddddddddddddespite being small of stature, the 5-foot-10, 185-pound Konecny digs pucks out of corners and seemingly creates several chances per game with his playmaking.The veterans have made it easy on me, said Konecny, wisely deferring to the Flyers older stars such as center Claude Giroux, left winger Brayden Schenn and right winger Wayne Simmonds. The coaches have allowed me to be confident and just play hockey.Konecny said he tries to play the hard game, getting under his opponents skin.Hes been a high-energy guy all season, Flyers right winger Jake Voracek said. Hes been amazing.Another rookie who could make an impact on Tuesdays game is Anthony Stolarz, a 6-6, 220-pound goalie.The Flyers have co-starters at goalie with veterans Michal Neuvirth and Steve Mason. But with Neuvirth out with an injury to his left knee, the 22-year-old Stolarz could make his NHL debut.If or when he gets in, he would become the first goalie from New Jersey to play in the NHL.Goalie, though, has been a weak position this season for the Flyers, who are last in the NHL with a 3.42 goals-against average. Mason is 4-6-3 with a 3.12 GAA. Neuvirth is 4-2-0 with a 3.54 GAA.The strength of the Flyers is their power play, which ranks second in the NHL. But that unit has gone cold of late, going 0-for-10 with the man advantage in the past three games.And without their power play clicking, the Flyers have not shown enough ability to win games consistently while skating 5-on-5.The Flyers are also dealing with some injuries. Left winger Chris Vandevelde suffered an apparent concussion against Tampa Bay; and center Boyd Gordon was held out due to back spasms.In an effort to shake things up in practice on Monday, the Flyers dropped Simmonds from the first line to the second, where he will play with Konecny and Sean Couturier. Voracek was moved to the top unit with Schenn and Giroux. Wholesale Jerseys 2020 Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Wholesale NFL Camo Jerseys Wholesale NFL T-shirts Cheap NFL Jerseys Throwback Youth NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys From China ' ' '