after Rodriguezs late penalty

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(SportsNetwork.com) - The red-hot Detroit Pistons will try to keep their momentum going Saturday night when they welcome the Philadelphia 76ers to The Palace of Auburn Hills. Detroit has won three of its last four, but the bigger picture paints a story of broader success. Since releasing Josh Smith on Dec. 22, the Pistons are 10-2 and have won seven in a row on the road. At home has been a different story as the Pistons have dropped two of their last three. Detroit earned a gritty, 98-96 road victory over their Central Division rivals, the Indiana Pacers on Friday night. Andre Drummond turned defense into offense for the Pistons. Drummond took a charge from Roy Hibbert with 23.9 seconds left and then tipped in the winning shot with 0.3 seconds remaining. Brandon Jennings led the way with a season-high 37 points for Detroit. He went 8-of-13 from 3-point range and made all nine of his foul shots. Drummond had 16 points and 16 rebounds, while Greg Monroe scored 11 and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 10. Hibbert lowered his shoulder into Drummond, who drew the charge. Then, Jennings drove to the left of the lane and missed as his shot was altered by a leaping Hibbert. Drummond, though, converted the tip-in. My main thing was to take it to the rim, 23 seconds left, definitely get the last shot, Jennings said. If anything, get a high floater and if I missed it I know Dre or somebody could be there to tip it in. Thats just a play that me and Dre have in our heads. The seven-game road win streak equals the mark set Jan. 18 - Feb. 22, 2002. The Sixers are somewhat .... themselves, although not quite at the level of the Pistons. Philly has won three of its last five, including a 96-81 home victory over the short-handed New Orleans Pelicans on Friday night. The win was the Sixers first double-digit triumph of the season. Nerlens Noel and Michael Carter-Williams filled the stat sheet against the short-handed Pelicans, who were without both Anthony Davis and Jrue Holiday on Friday. Davis sat with a sprained left toe he suffered in Wednesdays win over Detroit and Holiday, the former Sixer, missed a second game with right ankle inflammation. Noel had 17 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks and Carter-Williams scored 22 with seven assists and six rebounds, but neither had to contend with two of the Pelicans best players. We feel good, said Noel. Coaches have been doing a great job making sure we have our legs under us. Robert Covington scored 18 points and Luc Mbah a Moute had 13 for the Sixers, who entered the game on a two-game skid after falling to Eastern Conference division leaders Atlanta and Toronto. The Sixers took care of the ball, going nearly two quarters without turning it over during one stretch. Their 19-point lead in the fourth quarter was a season-best and they went wire-to-wire for the win. The Sixers beat the Pistons in The Palace on Dec. 6 and have taken two straight in this series. Detroit had won the previous four before the two-game slide. FORTALEZA, Brazil -- Not long after celebrating another all-important win at the World Cup, Brazil was jolted by the loss of Neymar. The tournaments poster boy with the dyed-blonde fauxhawk fractured a vertebra in his back during Brazils 2-1 quarterfinal victory over Colombia on Friday. The injury has ruled the striker out of the rest of the competition, dealing a massive blow to the teams chances of finally winning a World Cup at home. Brazil advanced to the semifinals for the first time in 12 years, with the goals coming from defenders Thiago Silva and David Luiz. But the jubilation was quickly tempered when Brazil team doctor Rodrigo Lasmar said Neymar broke his third vertebrae and is expected to be out for several weeks, ruling him out of Tuesdays semifinal match against Germany in Belo Horizonte. "Its a situation that leaves us in a difficult position for the match against Germany," Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari said. "But we have great players and if I have to change something I will do it and we will be OK." The 22-year-old Neymar has been the focal point of both the Brazilian team and the entire World Cup, and he lived up to expectations with four goals in the first three matches. But he took a knee to the back late in the match against Colombia at the Arena Castelao in a collision with Juan Camilo Zuniga. The Brazilian star was crying in pain as he was carried off the field, and was taken to a private clinic. He has since been released. "He will not be in condition to play, he will need a few weeks to be fit again," said Lasmar, the team doctor. "He is very, very sad." The foul on Neymar came toward the end of one of the dirtiest games of the tournament as Brazil committed 31 fouls and Colombia had 23. Brazil will also be without Silva for Tuesdays match against Germany. The captain must sit out after getting his second yellow card of the tournament after impeding Colombia goalkeeper David Ospina. Brazil, which is trying to become the first host to win the World Cup since France in 1998, had been eliminated in the quartterfinals at the last two tournaments.dddddddddddd The "Selecao" lost to the Netherlands in the quarterfinals in 2010 and to France in 2006 after winning its fifth title in 2002. Back in 1950, Brazil needed only a draw in the final match to win the World Cup, but the team lost to Uruguay in a match known as the "Maracanazo." This time around, Brazil won its group and then beat Chile on penalties in the second round. On Friday against Colombia, Silva gave Brazil the lead in the seventh minute, scoring with his left knee after a corner from Neymar passed through the Colombian defence. He celebrated the goal by pointing to the emblem on his jersey and shouting, "This is Brazil, this is Brazil." Luiz added the second from a free kick in the 69th, side-footing a long-range shot into the top of the net. Colombia got one back in the 80th. James Rodriguez scored his tournament-leading sixth goal from the penalty spot after Brazil goalkeeper Julio Cesar brought down substitute Carlos Bacca inside the area. Rodriguez tried to control the pace of the match, but it was Brazil that created most of the scoring chances as Ospina had to make a series of saves in the first half alone. The Colombians tried to pressure after Rodriguezs late penalty, but Brazil held on with solid defending. Colombia, playing at the World Cup for the first time since 1998 and in the quarterfinals for the first time ever, had entered the match after scoring 11 goals, second only to the Netherlands. "After not playing in the World Cup for so long, we were able to show the value of the Colombian football and the talent of some of our players," said Colombia coach Jose Pekerman, an Argentine. "They showed great spirit and presence of mind. They came to play a great World Cup, not just to participate." There was a lot of talk about Rodriguez and Neymar before the match, but the 22-year-old forwards didnt really deliver in Fortaleza. Rodriguez scored the late penalty but was otherwise mostly ineffective, as was Neymar before he left on a stretcher. China Jerseys wholesale jerseys ' ' '