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Nets fall apart in crunch time vs. Cavs, 5-game losing streak has team facing reality of play-in tournament

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:52:10 GMT

Dorian Finney-Smith said one word: “oof.”Joe Harris took a deep breath.Mikal Bridges said he didn’t have an answer for the question.By the 2:30 mark of the fourth quarter of Thursday’s matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Nets felt they had deserved to win.And by the time the clock struck 0.7 — after Donovan Mitchell rebounded his own missed free throw, and the ball miraculously found Cavs’ guard Isaac Okoro wide-open for the game-winning three — the Nets officially found themselves in play-in tournament territory.The Nets led by 10 with 6:19 to go in the fourth quarter and held an eight-point lead with just over two minutes left. They folded under a series of turnovers that gave the Cavs easy offense in transition, wiping away what the team felt was 45 minutes of good basketball.“I felt like we deserved to win that game because we did a lot of good things throughout the course of the night. Now we have to let that game go and ...

Bruins notebook: This weekend could be a tone-setter for B’s

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:52:10 GMT

The Bruins’ back-to-back games this weekend had appeared to be a pivotal two-game set for months. They will play the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday (1 p.m.) at the Garden and then travel to Carolina to play the Hurricanes on Sunday (5 p.m.).But the importance of these two games has changed. Standings-wise, Saturday’s game does not matter much at all. The B’s have all but sewn up the Atlantic Division (a win on Saturday or a regulation loss by Toronto will clinch the Atlantic). Meanwhile the Bolts won’t be caught from behind by Florida and their hopes of catching Toronto for second-place are dimming.Psychologically, however, a game against a potential second round opponent at this point in the season is not a throwaway.Neither team wants to lay an egg in this situation and, to be honest, both clubs could stand to manufacture a good performance. The B’s are riding a five-game win streak but have needed superb goaltending performances from Linus Ullmark a...

Magic sign Jay Scrubb to a two-way contract to fill out roster

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:52:10 GMT

The Orlando Magic have signed Jay Scrubb, who plays for the organization’s Lakeland G League affiliate, to a two-way contract, a league source confirmed to the Orlando Sentinel.The Magic confirmed the Sentinel’s reporting, announcing Friday morning they signed Scrubb to a two-way deal.They didn’t disclose the terms of the deal, citing team policy, but a source told the Sentinel that Scrubb’s deal is for two years — the remainder of this season and the 2023-24 season.Scrubb is Lakeland’s leading scorer, averaging 22.3 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 22 games in the G League this season.He was on the Magic’s preseason roster before joining Lakeland.The 55th pick in the 2020 draft, Scrubb has averaged 3.8 points and 1.4 rebounds (9.3 minutes) in 22 NBA games over the previous two seasons — all with the L.A. Clippers.Scrubb was named the 2019-20 National Junior College Athletic Association Player of the Year, becoming the first jun...

Dylan Cease named opening-day starter for Chicago White Sox: ‘Stress doesn’t bother him. That’s a weapon.’

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:52:10 GMT

Dylan Cease had a breakout 2022 season, finishing second in the American League Cy Young voting.He’ll begin 2023 as the opening-day starter for the Chicago White Sox, who will play the Houston Astros in a nationally televised game Thursday night at Minute Maid Park.“(Cease has an) unbelievable demeanor, great demeanor,” Sox manager Pedro Grifol said Thursday. “Stress doesn’t bother him. At least he doesn’t show it. That’s a weapon.“There’s a reason why he’s doing what he’s doing. Really, really locked into his work and committed to being really good.”It’s the first time Cease, 27, has received the first-game opportunity.Cease went 14-8 with a 2.20 ERA and 227 strikeouts in 32 starts last season. He was second in the AL in ERA, strikeouts and opponents average (.190) and third in strikeouts per nine innings (11.1).He had a stretch of 14 starts from May 29 to Aug. 11 in which he allowed one earned run or non...

Ex-Patriots WR Nelson Agholor signing 1-year deal with AFC rival

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:52:10 GMT

The Patriots are losing wide receiver Nelson Agholor to a 1-year, $3.25 million free-agent deal with the Ravens, according to reports.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Patriots sign ex-Broncos P Corliss Waitman New England Patriots | Source: Patriots determine Joe Judge’s new coaching role for 2023 season New England Patriots | Bill Belichick, Robert Kraft release statements on Dont’a Hightower’s retirement New England Patriots | Ex-Patriots P Jake Bailey blames 2022 struggles on one change New England Patriots | Source: Patriots, DB Jalen Mills reach revised 1-year deal after expected release Agholor was not expected to return to New England after a disappointing 2-year tenure that resulted in 68 catches for 835 yards and five touchdowns. The Patriots signed him as a free agent in 2021, when Agholor was coming off a career year as a deep threat with the Raiders. In 2020, he averag...

Summer travel is likely to remain hot this year, so book early

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:52:10 GMT

Travel last summer was, in a word, wild.Pent-up “revenge” travel combined with relaxed restrictions caused a surge in demand. High fuel prices and limited airline capacity drove up costs, with overall travel prices increasing 17% over pre-pandemic levels by June 2022, according to NerdWallet’s Travel Price Index.What about this summer? Will weakening demand lead to lower prices and thinner crowds? It’s not looking likely, according to travel experts.“We aren’t seeing any dip in demand,” says Hayley Berg, lead economist at Hopper, a travel booking platform. “It seems incredible that the demand could be sustained, but we’re not seeing any weakness right now.”It seems that Americans’ appetite for revenge remains unsated. And that could lead to another wild ride this summer.No relief from high pricesPrices for flights, car rentals and hotels may have peaked last year, but they haven’t come down much.Overall trip prices remained 15% higher in January 2023 compared with January 2020...

Michigan 1st state in decades to repeal ‘right-to-work’ law

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:52:10 GMT

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan, long known as a mainstay of organized labor, on Friday became the first state in decades to repeal a union-restricting law known as “right-to-work” that was passed over a decade ago by a Republican-controlled Legislature.The state’s “right-to-work” law had allowed those in unionized workplaces to opt out of paying union dues and fees. Its repeal is seen as a major victory for organized labor with union membership reaching an all-time low last year. “Today, we are coming together to restore workers’ rights, protect Michiganders on the job, and grow Michigan’s middle class,” Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in a statement Friday after signing the legislation.The second-term governor also signed legislation restoring a prevailing wage law that had been repealed by Republicans in 2018. It requires contractors hired for state projects to pay union-level wages.Repealing the “right-to-work” law, enacted in 2012, had long been listed as a top...

Storms bring flash floods, tornado threats to parts of US

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:52:10 GMT

DECATUR, Texas (AP) — Authorities searched for a person missing after flash flooding swept away a vehicle in Missouri and a suspected tornado touched down early Friday in north Texas as a volatile storm system threatened to spawn tornadoes in several Southern states.The National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center forecast severe weather through Friday evening primarily from the lower Mississippi Valley to the lower Ohio Valley.Forecasters said the greatest threat of tornadoes would come Friday afternoon and evening in portions of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee. Storms with damaging winds and hail were forecast from eastern Texas and southeastern Oklahoma into parts of southeastern Missouri and southern Illinois. Heavy rain Thursday night and Friday morning caused flash flooding in parts of Missouri, where authorities said a vehicle became stranded near the town of Fordham. Rescue crews responded late Thursday near a low-water crossing at the Finley River...

Toronto asks to exempt all drugs, include youth, in updated decriminalization request

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:52:10 GMT

Toronto has updated its 14-month-old decriminalization request to the federal government, clarifying it wants a Health Canada exemption to cover young people as well as adults, and all drugs for personal use.The city’s updated submission to its initial January 2022 request asks the federal agency to go further than the exemption it recently granted to British Columbia under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.The letter released Friday and jointly signed by Toronto’s medical officer of health, police chief and city manager lays out what they call a “made-in-Toronto” model.“Fear of criminalization is one of the reasons people may hesitate to access the help they need,” Dr. Eileen de Villa, the city’s Medical Officer of Health, said in a statement while noting that almost 600 people died due to overdose in Toronto in 2021. “The goal of decriminalization is to reduce the mental, physical and social harms associated with criminalizing ...

Mexican president pushes back on US criticism on violence

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:52:10 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s president on Friday angrily rejected comments by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken that the Mexican government has lost control over parts of the country. However, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador acknowledged that Mexican cartels had placed people inside Mexico’s drug regulatory agency to approve imports of fentanyl precursor chemicals from China.Earlier this week, Blinken said “I think it’s fair to say yes” when asked at a Senate hearing whether drug cartels control parts of Mexico.The Mexican president responded to those comments at his morning press briefing Friday, saying, “That is false, it’s not true. … There is nowhere in the nation’s territory where authorities are not present.” But López Obrador acknowledged that cartels had stretched their tentacles into the Mexican government’s federal drug regulatory agency, known by its initials in Spanish as Cofepris.“They even had representatives in Cofep...