CHARLOTTE, N. Dwayne Harris Raiders Jersey .C. - The Carolina Panthers have used another strong December push under fourth-year coach Ron Rivera to reclaim the NFC South division lead.Yes, the 6-8-1 Panthers.Despite going more than two months without a victory this season, Carolina enters Week 17 in first place and needing a win or tie Sunday at Atlanta to repeat as division champions after climbing back into the playoff hunt with a 3-0 December.Believe me, I always said it — were in it, Rivera said. Again, Im making no apologies for being in it.Strong finishes have become commonplace since Riveras arrival.The Panthers are 14-3 in December games since Rivera took over as coach in 2011. Only Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots have a better record (15-2), according to STATS.Rivera attributes Carolinas strong finish to incorporating younger players into the lineup late in the season, and his players putting in extra work on the field after practice.A lot of our guys stay after to do the extra things, the little things, Rivera said. A lot of our young players do the little things. Probably the one thing I wish is we could be better in the month of October or late September, thats for sure.In the midst of a seven-game winless streak, the Panthers decided to begin playing younger — and in many cases, faster — players. They got rid of veteran wide receiver Jason Avant and cornerback Antoine Cason and benched safety Thomas DeCoud.The result is a team that looks different than the one that lined up opening day.The Panthers started a franchise-record seven rookies on Sunday against Cleveland.Philly Brown started alongside Kelvin Benjamin, giving the Panthers more speed at wide receiver. Guards Andrew Norwell and Trai Turner have helped shore up the offensive line.Defensively, the Panthers start two rookies in the secondary in cornerback Bene Benwikere and Tre Boston. Rookie outside linebacker Adarius Glanton got his first start Sunday in place of the injured A.J. Klein.You get seven rookies on the field playing meaningful minutes at meaningful times in the game, thats a big number, Rivera said. I thought theyve all handled it well.Offensive co-ordinator Mike Shula said Rivera placed an emphasis on winning in his first season in 2011.Rivera inherited a team that went 2-14 in the year before and the Panthers got off to a rocky 3-8 start.Instead of writing off the season, Rivera talked about building a foundation for the future.The Panthers, with nothing to play for, went 3-2 in December that season.That momentum seems to have carried over.The Panthers have won 10 of their past 11 December games, including a 17-13 victory at home against Cleveland on Sunday.We talked about getting used to winning in December, Shula said. Because that is what you are going to have to do to get in the post-season.Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly said the players never stopped believing they could win the division.We just had to tweak a couple things and by the time December rolled around, we were a team that was ready to roll, Kuechly said. We got hot at the right time. Weve just got to keep rolling now.NOTES: The Panthers have activated defensive end Frank Alexander from the reserve/exempt list and placed wide receiver DeAndre Presley on injured reserve with a concussion. Anderson missed 14 games while serving consecutive suspensions for violating the leagues substance-abuse policy.___AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL Nick Nelson Raiders Jersey . Catch the game on TSN starting at 7pm et/4pm pt. You can also listen to all the action live on TSN 1050 at 7pm et. The Knicks are two games behind the Atlanta Hawks for the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference race. Kolton Miller Jersey . Howard had 17 points and a career-high-tying 26 rebounds in his Houston debut, James Harden added 21 points and the Rockets cruised to a 96-83 win over the Charlotte Bobcats on Wednesday night. http://www.authenticraidersfansclub.com/Black-Friday-Gareon-Conley-Jersey/ . CHAUNCEY BILLUPS (Pistons): Yes they got Josh Smith and Brandon Jennings in the off-season and Andre Drummond is a beast (teams are kicking themselves for passing on him - he rebounds and block shots every game - thats two more discernable and significant skills than most guys in his draft class), but dont for a second discount the impact of having a savvy veteran like Billups on your team.MONTREAL - If the Montreal Alouettes really are better than their 8-10 regular season record, now is the time to show it. The team that finished third in the CFL East Division will get that chance Sunday when they face the second-place Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the East semifinal in Guelph, Ont. "Youre only as good as your record shows, but in our locker-room, we feel we are better than our record," linebacker Chip Cox said Thursday. "We know we still have to get better at some things and that we have to work to win games. "Theyre not going to just happen for us. But we feel were just as good as anybody." Voters for the CFL awards seem to agree. They elected nine Alouettes, more than any team in the division, to the East all-star squad. Coach and general manager Jim Popp has said repeatedly his team had talent that could easily have finished 12-6 if not for some discipline problems early in the season and lots of turnovers and mistakes. There was also the carousel at quarterback after Anthony Calvillo was injured in August that saw Josh Neiswander, Tanner Marsh and, finally, Troy Smith take turns as the starting pivot. Between the four of them, they threw a league-high 28 interceptions. And there was the upheaval of starting the season with coach Dan Hawkins, only to see him fired after five games while Popp took over at the bench. The Alouettes hope the final third of the season, in which they went 4-2, gives them momentum going into the playoffs. Winning in the post-season would erase a load of bad memories from the regular season. "You go 3-0 in the playoffs and no one remembers how we started, right?" said Cox. "Thats the goal now. "We go 3-0 and everybody forgets about this, that and the other thing. Theyll say the Alouettes are the best team in the CFL. Again." It will be the third time in the last four games that Montreal and Hamilton have met. The Alouettes dominated 36-5 at home on Oct. 20 and were up 16-0 six days later in Guelph when turnovers and a spirited Hamilton comeback gave the Ticats a 27-24 win. Montreal ended the season with a 23-20 win in Toronto last Friday, but the Argonauts had benched many of their key players. The first-place Argos havve a bye to the East final. Emmanuel Lamur Jersey. . Since winning consecutive Grey Cups in 2009 and 2010, Montreal has not won a playoff game. They lost an East semifinal to Hamilton at home in 2011 and lost the division final at home to Toronto last year. Their last East semifinal away from home was a 24-22 loss in Winnipeg in 2007 during Popps last stint as coach. "Nine all-stars is great but weve got to win," said defensive back Jerald Brown. "Were focused on winning. "The only way we can prove people right is by winning. No matter what people say, if were better than what our record is, then we should show that this week. Thats what will settle that score." Its not even a real home game for Hamilton, who are playing in Guelph this season while work is done on their home ground. "I dont care where we play," added Brown. "Were going to have to play in Saskatchewan (in the Grey Cup game) and thats going to be tough. "There are no excuses. We were at home the last two years and lost." The Alouettes defence led the CFL in several statistical categories, including fewest yards per game, fewest rushing yards and fewest first downs allowed. So its no surprise that six of their nine all-stars are on defence. They include Cox, Brown, defensive back Billy Parker, cornerback Geoff Tisdale, safety Mike Edem and defensive end John Bowman, to go with guard Josh Bourke, receiver S.J. Green and kicker Sean Whyte. Cox is also the East nominee for outstanding defensive player after setting a team record of 115 tackles and leading the squad in sacks with 12. "He deserves it and I hope he wins it," said Brown. "He was supposed to get it in 2010, but hes valuable for our defence. "If you look at his stats — tackles, interceptions, sacks — he makes a lot of plays." The defence could be missing a key linebacker as Kyries Hebert missed practice for a second day with a suspected knee injury. Popp is hoping he will be able to practise on Friday to see if he is fit to play. Hebert had 68 tackles and nine sacks. Cornerback Byron Parker is highly doubtful to play with a groin injury, while receiver Eric Deslauriers is out with a cracked rib. 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