CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Wesley Matthews said he had a funny feeling on the way to the arena that his shooting slump might be coming to end.Call it a shooters instinct.Matthews scored a season-high 28 points, and the Portland Trail Blazers defeated the Charlotte Hornets 105-97 on Wednesday night for their ninth consecutive victory. The fifth-year NBA veteran was 10 of 15 from the field and 6 of 9 from 3-point range as Portland (12-3) improved to 7-0 against Eastern Conference teams.I knew it was just a matter of time before that drought ended and Im back to being myself, Matthews said. Hopefully tonight was a step in that direction.Over the previous five games, Matthews was 25 of 57 from the field and just 8 of 25 from 3-point range.Matthews said he never put pressure on himself during that stretch.It helps when youre winning games, he said.The Trail Blazers have been getting production from up and down the lineup and that continued against Charlotte.Even with LaMarcus Aldridge struggling through a 3-of-18 shooting night, the Trail Blazers prevailed, getting 22 points from Damian Lillard and 15 points and 10 rebounds from Robin Lopez.To be able to have a game like this with (Aldridge) struggling, Wes and Damian in particular really stepped up, coach Terry Stotts said.Brian Roberts had a career-high 24 points for the Hornets, who have lost seven straight and nine of 10. Al Jefferson had 21 points and 14 rebounds for his fifth double-double.Hornets coach Steve Clifford said hes not worried about his teams attitude amid the losing streak, but said we have to find a way to win.The Hornets led 56-45 at the break behind Roberts, who made his first six shots and had 15 points.Portland outscored Charlotte 34-20 in the third quarter and took the lead for good with 4:07 left in the period when Lopez scored on a layup.The Trail Blazers put the game away with 1:10 left when Lopez blocked Kemba Walkers driving layup and Matthews knocked down his sixth 3-pointer to push the lead back to a dozen. The Trail Blazers outscored the Hornets by 21 from beyond the arc.For the second straight game, Charlottes big free-agent acquisition Lance Stephenson sat out the entire fourth quarter.He had eight points.I didnt plan on not playing him but Brian Roberts was our best player tonight, Clifford said. To be fair, one of the things thats made it more difficult for him is that he came here and people proclaimed him as this next superstar. ... Hes not a star. Hes a guy that has talent to become a star. To be a star in this league you have to do it over years.___TIP-INSTrail Blazers: Lillard has converted 445 3-pointers in two-plus seasons, just 101 shy of surpassing Golden States Klay Thompson for the most 3s in the first three years of a career.Hornets: Forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (stress reaction) and guard Gary Neal (shoulder strain) did not play.MORE INJURIESInjuries continued to pile up for the Hornets, who had two starters go down during the game. Marvin Williams left in the second quarter with a sprained left shoulder and Walker took an elbow to the head in the third. Walker returned in the fourth quarter; Williams didnt.SITTING COURTSIDECarolina Panthers defensive end Greg Hardy sat courtside. Hardy is awaiting an appeal on domestic violence charges and remains on the exempt-commissioners permission list. He hasnt played since Week 1. He signed autographs and had his picture taken with fans during the game.UP NEXTTrail Blazers: Host Memphis on Friday night.Hornets: Play host to Golden State on Friday night. Dwight Clark Jersey . Sizemore, who turned 29 on Jan. 4, has been limited to six games over the past two seasons because of an injured left knee that twice required surgery. He originally got hurt on Feb. 25, 2012, during a fielding drill in Oaklands first full-squad spring training workout and had surgery that March 21 to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament. Frank Gore Jersey . Wheeler scored two goals, including the winner, as the Winnipeg Jets beat the Minnesota Wild 6-4 on Friday in a game that featured a seven-goal first period. http://www.authenticsf49erspro.com/Terre...s-49ers-jersey/. -- Kyrie Irvings last-minute 3-pointer helped seal another victory for Cleveland -- and the Cavaliers longest winning streak since LeBron James left. Colin Kaepernick Jersey . Betancourt was 2-5 with a 4.08 ERA and 16 saves for the Rockies last season before tearing a ligament in his pitching elbow. He considered undergoing platelet-rich plasma therapy to fix his arm, but announced in August his decision to have Tommy John surgery. San Francisco 49ers Jerseys . She was a pioneer. She did things on skis that made the birds take notice.UFC Fight Night 30 emanates from the Phones 4u Arena Saturday afternoon in Manchester, England and features a main event pitting together two former training partners . Once again Jordan Cieciwa (@FitCityJordan) and I (@LynchOnSports) go head to head in our picks for this weekends event. Last weekend at UFC 166 my #TeamLynch went a perfect 13-0 and while #TeamJC went a respectable 7-6 in his picks. Let us know which side youre on! Tweet either #TeamLynch or #TeamJC. Also feel free to leave your opinions in the comment section below. Lyoto Machida vs. Mark Munoz James Lynch TSN.ca (@LynchOnSports) Its a rarity in MMA when a replacement fighter in the main event presents a more intriguing matchup than the initial opponent. This is the case with Saturday as "The Dragon" drops to middleweight for the first time in his career, replacing the injured Michael Bisping. The Japanese-Brazilian is coming off a very controversial loss to Phil Davis at UFC 163 and despite landing more strikes during the fight, it was Davis ability to get the takedowns throughout the contest which evidently earned him the judges decision. Facing a former NCAA Division I wrestler in Munoz, the 35-year old could face the same problems. The "Filipino Wrecking Machine" meanwhile, is coming off a dominant performance over Tim Boetsch at UFC 162, which saw a much improved clinch and wrestling game. The question for Machida is will his speed and power still resonate at his new home of 185lbs? I think it will. What we do know is the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt has found ways to defeat dominant wrestlers in the past, as displayed in his victories over Dan Henderson, Rashad Evans and Ryan Bader. Expect Machida to shine in his middleweight debut, as hell outpoint Munoz over the five-round affair on route to the unanimous decision victory. Machida via unanimous decision Jordan Cieciwa TSN Radio 1290 (@FitCityJordan) Well this one has me stumped. There is a lot of pressure on Machida as he makes a new home at 185lbs. Never mind the fact that these two have done half of their camp leading up to this one together. This is going to be a very strange night for sure. Mark Munoz has a lot to prove. He is now over a year past his elbow injury and bout with depression. Hes been putting in work at his camp, and by the accounts of his friends and teammates looks great. The question is, does he have enough of a rounded game to catch Machida. I think he does. Ever since the most elusive fighter started getting tagged, he has looked more and more human. 185lbs is Munozs home, the weight cut for this will make it tough for Machida to maintain that speed he needs to get his angles and be effective in his counter striking game. Machida no doubt has the ability to defend the take down. My concern is the championship rounds, and the grinding. Will he be able to take those rounds from Munoz. I expect Munoz to be in control of rounds 4 and 5, meaning he just needs to win one more. Munoz via split decision Melvin Guillard vs. Ross Pearson Lynch A pair of scrappy Ultimate Fighter alumni go to war in the lightweight division as 46-fight veteran Guillard battles English fan favorite Pearson. Heading into his last fight with Mac Danzig, "The Young Assassin" was facing potential unemployment in the UFC with a string of losses and responded with a "Knockout of the Night" performance instead. The 30-year old credited the win to his new home at Grudge Training Center in Colorado, under the tutelage of striking guru Trevor Whittman. For this camp, Guillard opted to move back to his home in Florida and train at American Top Team, a stable that includes fellow UFC lightweights Gleison Tibau and Jorge Masvidal. Pearson meanwhile moved back up to lightweight at the end of 2012 and boasts a two-fight win streak that saw him dispatch George Sotiropoulos and Ryan Couture. Fans can expect fireworks as both fighters arent afraid to stand and bang. Guillard has the edge in power and wrestling, while the TUF Smashes coach has the edge in submissions and technical striking. With that said, Pearson hasnt won a fight by submission since defeating Ian Jones in 2008. If Guillard can keep this fight on the feet and avoid becoming over confident, he should win this fight. Expect the TUF 2 competitor to land more power shots during the three-round affair and earn the unanimous decision victory. Guillard via unanimous decision JC Trevor Whittman can be credited with this fight being booked. Its his work with Melvin Guillard that landed him a big KO victory and saved his job. The question now becomes, how good did Guillard get and can he strike with the ever improving boxing of Ross Pearson. I dont think Guillard has mastered the striking enough yet to win this fight standing up. Pearson looked fantastic against George Sotiropoulos and Ryan Couture. I see this fight ending early, two fighters with something to prove, and the love of an aggressive striking match. Guillards speed will take some getting used to, but once Pearson times him, look out, KOTN. Pearson via 2nd round TKO Ryan Jimmo vs. Jimi Manuwa Lynch Londons Manuwa looks to keep his perfect record intact when he squares off with former MFC champion Jimmo. Since his UFC debut in 2012, the BAMMA veteran has finished both Kyle Kingsbury and Cyrille Diabate to improve to a perfect 2-0 inside the octagon. Jimmo is 2-1 in the UFC, and most recently won a lackluster three round decision Igor Pokrajac at UFC 161, which didnt impress fans nor UFC president Dana White. The Canadians resume stands at 18-2 and hasnt been knocked out since his MMA started in 20007.ddddddddddddManuwa hasnt had a fight go past the second round in his 13-fight career, but as previous opponents have learned, Jimmo has a tendency to turn a fight into a three-round stalemate. We should see that change in this matchup as Manuwa is more dynamic and should outpoint the New Brunswick born fighter over the three-round contest. Manuwa via unanimous decision JC If Ryan Jimmo treats this fight the way he did his last go with Igor Pokrajac its going to be a short night and Jimi Manuwa is taking home a win to move to 3-0 with the UFC. Dana White was pretty outspoken at UFC 161 about the disappointment in the Pokrajac vs Jimmo fight. That may prove fatal for Jimmo. Manuwa has a habit of sending people to the canvas quickly. If Jimmo tries to push the pace to please the boss, its going to go bad, and go bad quickly. Jimmos been knocked out before, and Manuwa is the guy to do it again. Manuwa via first round knockout. Norman Parke vs. Jon Tuck Lynch Two high-level grapplers go to war in the lightweight division as Robert Drysdale trained Parke battles 29-year old Tuck. Much like the welterweight tilt a few weeks ago between Damian Maia and Jake Shields, when two ground specialists like this clash, it has the potential to either be an entertaining tactical ground matchup or a complete snooze fest. Because both fighters are looking to make a name for themselves in a wide open lightweight division, hopefully fans will enjoy a potential "Fight Of The Night" encounter. While the "Super Saiyan" is undefeated boasting a perfect 7-0 record, he hasnt faced the level of competition his 20-fight foe has encountered. Interestingly enough, Parkes two losses have come by way of submission. So who wins? Despite Tuck being better on the feet, Parkes experience should aid in him landing a submission victory sometime in the third round. Parke via third round submission JC I think this is one of those fights where the matchup is a little off, and its going to favor Norman Parke. Jon Tuck has an impressive record at 7-0, but hes matched up with Norman Parke at 18-2. Thats a huge experience gap that cant be over looked. Both guys have submissions at their disposal, and I think this fight was set up to display some grappling talent and make the card a little more exciting with the experience gap. For this to go any other way than a Parke submission would be an upset. Im going to go with the upset. Tuck has the ability to win this with a knock out. I think the fighter out of Guam will do just that. Score some solid strikes and win this in electric fashion. Tuck via second round TKO Nicholas Musoke vs. Alessio Sakara Lynch Italian fighter Sakara returns to the octagon after his controversial DQ loss to Patrick Cote back in November, to face promotional newcomer Musoke. A loser of four-straight fights, its no secret the 32-year old needs to win this fight and convincingly if he wants to move back up the middleweight ladder. His opponent, the 10-2 Musoke is mainly a wrestler, but does have a decent ground game with four submission victories on his resume. This bout should come down to experience and not only does Sarkara have 30 bouts under his belt compared to 12 for the Swede, hes also fought tougher competition. Add in the octagon jitters for "Nico" and this should be Sakaras fight to lose. While Musoke doesnt have a knockout loss on his resume, expect Sakara to find his range in the second round and finish the UFC newbie. Sakara via second round knockout. JC This fight is a bit of a head scratcher. Its a large experience gap, and feels like the UFC may be feeding a win to the struggling Alessio Sakara. Nicholas Musoke comes into this fight with just 13 fights to his credit that is half the total of Alessio at 25 fights. To make matters worse, this is his debut in the UFC octagon. I imagine this will be Sakaras chance to make a statement in the UFC again. Look for him to end this quick and with something spectacular. He has a head kick win or two under his belt. Look for one of those here. Sakara via 3rd round knockout Phil Harris vs. John Lineker Lynch Similar to last week at UFC 166, the flyweights once again take center stage as the opening bout on the main card, as Englands Harris takes on 23-year old Brazilian Lineker. This is a classic striker versus grappler match with Lineker having ten knockouts on his 28-fight resume, compared to Harris who has 13 submission victories over his 33-fight career. While the 30-year old Harris has the experience and hometown advantage, Linekers striking is far too superior for his foe and expect a spectacular finish in the first round. Lineker via first round knockout JC The main event is getting kicked off with a little speed and a lot of skill in the flyweight division. This fight puts John Lineker up against Phil Harris. Both are accomplished grappling specialists. The edge in this goes to Harris for wins in that department. Lineker has been known to knock out opponents with some fairly heavy hands. If Harris doesnt respect Linekers power, this will end quick. If he does the smart thing and uses his height advantage to stay away from the power, this may get to decision. Im hoping Harris is smart, and fights the grappling fight. Harris via unanimous decision Undercard Picks: Lynch: Iaquinta, Craig, Sexton, Miller, Hettes, Kuiper JC: Hallman, Craig, Andrade, Miller, Hettes, Kuiper Also be sure to tune into the "Weigh-In" on TSN Radio 1290 Winnipeg every Saturday as myself, Jordan and "Big Marv" Timog go toe to toe discussing the hottest topics in MMA. 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