Begrüßungen » and finished 4 of 18 overall. The Sixers had t

GOLD COAST, Australia -- Michael Phelps got a reminder of just how challenging his return to international competition may be when he was asked whether he was good enough to even reach a final at the Pan Pacific Championships this week. "Wow, youre really setting the bar high for me!" the most decorated swimmer of all time joked in reply. Sitting beside him at a news conference Wednesday, Phelps long-time coach Bob Bowman chipped in: "Reality check there." The Pan Pacs start Thursday and run through the weekend. Its stage two of Phelps comeback from retirement -- the first was qualifying for the U.S. team. Now Bowman is predicting Phelps will lower his best times in his butterfly, medley and freestyle, saying the challenge of going faster was the only reason the 18-time Olympic champion came back to the sport. Phelps qualified by finishing second in the 200-meter medley and the 100 butterfly at the U.S. nationals, and will be swimming in his first international meet since coming out of retirement four months ago with the aim of competing again at the world titles and Olympics. Only the top two swimmers from each country qualify for the finals, so Phelps is going to be under pressure from his American teammates in the morning preliminaries, and from the best swimmers from Australia, Japan, Canada, Brazil and other Pacific countries in the evening finals. Hell start with the 100 freestyle on Friday, which will feature seven Americans in the heats. Hell also contest the 100 butterfly, the 200 medley and potentially some relays. Phelps didnt win any of his four events at the U.S. nationals, although his times in the 200 IM and the butterfly were both among the fastest three in the world this year. He was unhappy with his freestyle, where his finish let him down. He said it was the kind of mistake an 11-year-old would make. Phelps, who won eight of his 18 Olympic gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Games, said he was "kind of rusty on judging the speed going into my walls," and described his turns as "awful." "Those were the big things that I guess I forgot how to do," he said. "Not winning, it is what it is -- I hate to lose -- but I always do understand its not going to come back instantly. "I would rather have those instances now than farther down the road. World championships is next year ... Olympics the year after that. Hopefully Ill be able to fix the things now." The U.S. team had a setback ahead of the competition, with Olympic and world champion Missy Franklin in doubt after hurting her back in training. Team USA spokesman Scott Leightman said Franklin had back spasms during practice Tuesday. The 19-year-old Franklin was resting at the team hotel after medical staff controlled the spasms and issued a statement later Wednesday saying she was feeling better with every hour and still hopeful of competing. Leightman said Franklin, who won both the 100- and 200-meter backstroke at the 2012 Olympics and claimed six golds at the world championships last year, would be re-evaluated before the preliminaries of the 100 backstroke and 200 freestyle on Thursday. The Australian team is primed for a big performance at home after a winning the swimming competition at the recent Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland. The competition will be held outdoors at the Gold Coast Aquatic Center, site of the 2018 Commonwealth Games swimming, and rain forecast for later in the week is giving swimmers something extra to think about. Phelps said it would be a novel experience for him. His friend and long-time rival, Ryan Lochte, said he grew up in Florida and was used to competing in rain. "You have to prepare yourself for the worst-case scenario. The coaches told us about the weather conditions -- were all prepared for it," he said. Lochte and Phelps have long dominated the 200 IM, but arent even seeded No. 1 at the Pan Pacs. Japans Kosuke Hagino has the fastest time of the year and his teammate Diaya Seto is also a contender. "Its no longer just me and Michael. Its definitely become a bigger event, and bigger race," Lochte said. If Franklin is ruled out, more attention on the U.S. womens team will centre on 17-year-old Katie Ledecky, who broke the 400 freestyle world record at the nationals and now holds world marks in the 400, 800 and 1,500. "I can improve. I got some good work in after nationals. Im really excited to see what I can do here," Ledecky said. Kurtis MacDermid Kings Jersey . Malone will become an unrestricted free-agent and as per the collective bargaining agreement, the Lightning will be responsible for two-thirds of the remainder of his contract over twice the length of the rest of the deal. Dave Taylor Jersey . 22. Wade averaged 26.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.0 steals while leading the Heat to a 3-0 record. The 31-year-old shot 60 percent from the field and 50 percent from 3-point range en route to his 17th weekly honor. http://www.kingsauthentic.com/authentic-marty-mcsorley-kings-jersey/ . "It was awesome," he said. Coming off an ugly three-game sweep at the hands of the Yankees, Toronto found itself in a deep hole early after the Reds put an eight spot up on starter Liam Hendriks (six runs in 1 2/3 innings pitched) and Todd Redmond in the second. Alex Iafallo Kings Jersey . -- The Los Angeles Angels have agreed to a minor league contract with reliever Brandon Lyon that includes an invitation to their big league camp for spring training. Jonathan Quick Kings Jersey . After a 10-game skid, winning sure feels good. Atlantas third error in the last two innings allowed Jackie Bradley Jr. PHILADELPHIA -- Al Jefferson tried to explain how hitting his jumper forces defences to change their approach. "It keeps them on their toes, in my opinion," Jefferson said before being cut off. "It dont change nothing," reserve Jannero Pargo chimed in from two lockers down, "he aint going to pass the ball." Much like his first-half shooting, Jeffersons retort was nearly flawless. "Well if I pass it to you, Ill get a turnover, because youll be on the bench," he said. With a one-liner about as sharp as his stat line, Jefferson had his Bobcats teammates howling. Jefferson had every reason to feel loose, with 25 points and 10 rebounds in Charlottes 123-93 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night. "This is all the time," a smiling Jefferson said of the locker room banter. So are the big wins lately for Charlotte. Perhaps Charlotte is getting hot at the right time, winning by 30-plus points for the second time in six games. "Lets hope theres a couple more," coach Steve Clifford said. Gary Neal scored 15 points to help the Bobcats inch closer to a playoff berth. The Bobcats (37-38) have the seventh-best record in the Eastern Conference. They are 4 1/2 games ahead of the eighth-place New York Knicks and need three wins in the final seven games to clinch their first playoff berth since 2010. The Bobcats are counting on Jefferson to carry them deep into April -- and possibly beyond. "It falls a lot on me," Jefferson said. "Ive only been twice (to the playoffs), but twice is more than a lot of the other guys have been." The Bobcats raced to a 13-point lead in the first quarter, stretched it to 35 and never once let the Sixers threaten. Michael Carter-Williams scored 22 points on 10-of-18 shooting for the Sixers, who have lost two straight since snapping an NBA-record tying 26-game losing streak on Saturday. The Bobcats set the tone in the first quarter en route to putting away the lowly Sixers. Led by Jefferson, the Bobcats made 11 of their first 15 shots and ffinished with nine assists on 12 baskets.dddddddddddd Jefferson picked up where he left off in March, when he was named Eastern Conference player of the month. He averaged 24.7 points on 56 per cent shooting (178-321), 10.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists. He was the first Bobcat to ever win the award. He kept his sharp shooting rolling in the first game of April with a 13-point first quarter. "Its important to set a tone that youre going to play through him early in the game," Clifford said. Jefferson finished 9 of 17 from the floor and made 7 of 10 free throws. He has 20-plus points and 10-plus boards in the same game 23 times this season. Even in a season that has them with the second-worst record in the NBA, this was as bad as the Sixers have played in weeks. Trailing by 13, the Sixers had five turnovers and only four baskets. They missed all seven 3-point attempts in the first half and finished 4 of 18 overall. The Sixers had two starters go scoreless in the half. "They beat us up pretty bad," Carter-Williams said. Charlotte, one of the few teams to lose to the Sixers this season, broke the game open with a 22-8 run in the second. Anthony Tolliver, who scored 16 points, hit a pair of 3s during the spurt and the Bobcats cruised from there. "Thats a team getting ready for the playoffs," Sixers guard Tony Wroten said. "You can tell a big difference." The Bobcats continued doing the big things that have them within striking distance of Washington for sixth place. They had only nine turnovers (average a league-low 12.3), outrebounded the Sixers 47-32 and had three bench players score double digits. NOTES: Charlotte F Josh McRoberts (left ankle) sat out. Cody Zeller scored nine points in his first career start. ... 76ers coach Brett Brown again said that injured rookie F Nerlens Noel likely will not play at all this season. "Theres so much to weigh out if were smart with this, and we will be," he said. ... The Bobcats finished one-point shy of matching their season-high point total. ' ' '