Charlotte, NC (SportsNetwork. Connor Hellebuyck Jets Jersey .com) - Kemba Walker 15 points, Al Jefferson and Bismack Biyombo both had 12 and the Charlotte Hornets held off the Miami Heat, 78-76, for their eighth win in nine games. Walker returned from a two-game absence and overcame a 4-for-17 shooting night, hitting 5-of-6 free throws in the final 1:14 of the game to help Charlotte hold its lead, which it owned most of the game. The Hornets led 65-55 through three quarters when Miami made things interesting. Dwyane Wade scored four points to open the fourth and Shawne Williams followed a Jefferson jumper with the next five. Jefferson was the only Hornet to score over the first 7:17 of the period. Consecutive 3s by Chris Bosh and Mario Chalmers near the 4:00 mark gave Miami its first lead since midway through the first quarter. The Heat then went three-plus minutes without scoring, missing five straight shots after the Chalmers trey. A pair of Walker free throws tied the game, and Marvin Williams split a pair at the stripe to make it 75-74 with 56 seconds to play. After Shawne Williams missed a quick 3, Walker sank two more from the line. Trailing by two in the closing seconds, Bosh missed everything with a 3- pointer from the top of the key. Chalmers tracked down the rebound, and his final shot from the corner missed short. Wade and Bosh both scored 17 points for the Heat, losers in three of four. Game Notes Walker missed the previous two games because of a knee injury ... Heat center Hassan Whiteside did not make the trip to Charlotte after injuring his ankle on Tuesday, and forward Luol Deng missed the game with an illness ... Miami has lost five of its last six games on the second night of a back-to-back ... Michael Kidd-Gilchrist had 14 rebounds for Charlotte, which enjoyed a 56-41 advantage on the glass. Biyombo and Cody Zeller had 12 boards apiece. Custom Winnipeg Jets Jerseys . Off-Season Game Plan examines a team facing some challenging times as GM Bryan Murray tries to put together a roster for next season. Perhaps the first challenge facing Murray is that its expected he will be moving out Jason Spezza, a premier point producer who is about to enter the final year of his contract. Laurie Boschman Jersey . Portuguese sides Benfica and Porto also advanced to the last eight while Basel overcame an early red card to win 2-1 at Salzburg and progress from a last-16 second leg that was briefly suspended because of crowd trouble. Lyon, Valencia and AZ Alkmaar will also be in Fridays draw in Nyon, Switzerland, where the team to avoid will be Juventus -- even though the Italian champions made heavy work of their all-Italian last-16 match against Fiorentina. http://www.jetsauthentic.com/authentic-josh-morrissey-jets-jersey/ .Y. - The New York Rangers have reached a one-year contract extension with goalie Cam Talbot, keeping Henrik Lundqvists backup away from unrestricted free agency.TORONTO – The debate over chemistry, whether it exists in baseball and, if so, to what degree it matters, will likely never be completely settled. The question gets asked often these days, whether these Blue Jays get along better this year than they did in 2013. The assumption seems to be that they do because theyre winning more than theyre losing. J.A. Happ, who along with Mark Buehrle are the only two current Jays to take part in an on-field world championship celebration, summed it up. “You just feed off each other,” he said. “The musics better. The jokes are better. Everythings better when youre winning. Thats kind of the way it goes. People start getting louder. You feed off that. You feed off peoples personalities.” Its a chicken and egg deal. Winning is the egg, which begets the chicken that is chemistry. More to the point, manager John Gibbons has settled into a number of roster combinations that are producing results. Helping him in this endeavour is a cadre of players who began the season at Triple-A Buffalo. “Weve got a handful of them,” said manager John Gibbons. “We brought [Steve] Tolleson up to be the second baseman against left-handers. Hes doing a great job with that. Of course Gose and Pillar, filling in for Colby, have been a pretty good combo there. Kratzys been up and down a couple of times, but hes fit in. Theyre all contributing.” Juan Francisco, signed off the scrap heap when the Milwaukee Brewers decided late in spring they didnt want to pay him despite an 18-home run season last year, is hitting .280/.370/.602 (.973 OPS) with eight home runs. Anthony Gose entered Mondays action with a slash line of .296/.457/.407. Three of his eight hits are doubles. Hes walked seven times against eight strikeouts, a small sample size, but a great ratio nonetheless. Gose has two stolen bases, but anyone whos watched him play knows hes created runs with his speed and prevented runs with his defence. After a slow start, Kevin Pillar looks up and sees a .304 batting average. Erik Kratz has three home runs in just 45 at-bats. Tolleson, in a small sample size, is hitting better than .300 and has posted a .946 OPS. Gibbons has also established batteries for all three of his catchers. Kratz has become J.A. Happs personal catcher. Josh Thole serves the same role for R.A. Dickey. Dioner Navarro is behind the plate for every Mark Buehrle start. “Hes able to give Navarro a little bit of a breather,” said Gibbons of Kratz. “Against left-handed pitchinng you can DH (Navarro). Teemu Selanne Jets Jersey. Thats where we feel were strongest.” Against right-handed starting pitching, Francisco plays third base and Lawrie second base. Lawrie heads over to third base, where hes most comfortable, when the opposition starts a left-hander. Tolleson plays second. The Jays have a fearsome late-game bench when the opponent starts a lefty. Adam Lind and Francisco are lingering, waiting for their names to be called. “As the game goes on, the only place youre vulnerable, you get to a certain point of the game theyre always going to have that lefty ready,” said Gibbons. “Teams that have enough lefties (in the bullpen), youre waiting on Lind or Francisco. But I think it makes us stronger.” The bullpen has settled down since the return of Casey Janssen, whos converted all seven save opportunities since his return from a strained oblique muscle. Gibbons is most pleased with the progress hes seeing from the rotation. “It all revolves around starting pitching, you know,” said Gibbons. “If starting pitchings good, youve got a chance. If its not, its tough. I dont care what kind of offence youve got, what kind of defence youve got - thats the key to any team in baseball. Check the May ERA of the four rotation mainstays to see the improvement. Drew Hutchison (including Monday night): 5 starts, 3.94Mark Buehrle: 2.16R.A. Dickey: 2.73J.A. Happ: 3.20 RASMUS PROGRESSING On the disabled list since May 13 with tightness in his right hamstring, Colby Rasmus is sprinting his way toward a rehab assignment. “He was out there running and shagging during early BP,” said Gibbons. “Well see in the next few days what happens.” Rasmus sprinted the infield cutout on Saturday and the warning track on Sunday. While hes eligible to return from the disabled list on Wednesday, Rasmus will be sent out on a minor-league rehabilitation assignment before rejoining the Blue Jays. SANTOS PLAYING CATCH Sergio Santos played catch for the third-straight day on Monday afternoon. Hes recovering from a strained right forearm. “He feels pretty good,” said Gibbons. “No soreness at all. So like Colby, we dont know how long its going to be for him. Hes got to build up a little bit, of course.” Santos can be activated off the disabled list at any time - hes been out since May 10 - but hell throw at least two bullpen sessions before heading out on a minor-league rehabilitation assignment. Theres no timetable for Santoss return to the Blue Jays. ' ' '