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Heat-Knicks: A playoff rivalry that’s about to get rekindled

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:45:47 GMT

MIAMI (AP) — They brawled in 1997. Jeff Van Gundy clung to Alonzo Mourning’s leg in 1998. Allan Houston got a friendly bounce in 1999. Clarence Weatherspoon didn’t get one in 2000. Amare Stoudemire lost a fight with a glass-enclosed fire extinguisher in 2012.Ah, Knicks-Heat.Something always happens. And here we go again.There are more storied rivalries in the NBA — Lakers-Celtics and 76ers-Celtics among them — but there is just something about a Heat vs. Knicks matchup that brings out something extra in Miami and New York. They’re about to meet in the NBA playoffs for the sixth time; Game 1 of an Eastern Conference semifinal series is Sunday at Madison Square Garden.“It’s always good for the league,” Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said, “when there’s a Heat-Knicks playoff series.”This will be the first time that New York has home-court advantage in a playoff matchup against Miami. There are tons of reasons why the rivalry is the rivalry, but the biggest reason is Pat Riley.He quit coach...

Celtics pull away, beat Hawks 128-120 for 4-2 series win

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:45:47 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — Al Horford hit a huge 3-pointer against his former team and the Boston Celtics broke open a tight game in the closing minutes to finish off the Atlanta Hawks 128-120 on Thursday night for a 4-2 victory in the opening-round playoff series.The second-seeded Celtics advance to face the third-seeded Philadelphia 76ers, who’ve been resting since completing their four-game sweep of Brooklyn last Saturday.Game 1 is Monday night in Boston.Boston ripped off an 11-0 run that included three straight 3-pointers, with Horford’s big shot sandwiched around 3s from Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.Tatum capped the spurt with a dunk, which gave the Celtics a 121-113 lead with 2:07 remaining.Brown led the Celtics with 32 points, while Tatum had 30. Horford, who played in Atlanta from 2007-16, chipped in with 10 points and 12 rebounds.After carrying the Hawks to an improbable victory in Game 5 at Boston, Atlanta’s Trae Young ran out of steam in the second half. He missed 12 of ...

Column: Drafting Darnell Wright the latest item on the checklist so the Chicago Bears can better evaluate Justin Fields

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:45:47 GMT

Ryan Poles used the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft to add future assets and get a bona fide wide receiver for Justin Fields in DJ Moore.When the Chicago Bears general manager got around to using his first-round pick Thursday night, he added more protection for Fields by choosing Tennessee offensive tackle Darnell Wright with the No. 10 pick.Much of the rest of the draft figures to be about finding defensive linemen and pass rushers for an undermanned unit, but the Bears won’t go into next season with folks saying they lack adequate protection or targets for Fields.If 2022 was about tearing down the roster and resetting the salary cap, 2023 is about making a complete assessment of Fields. To do that, the Bears needed to start building the offense. After coming up short in a bid to sign offensive tackle Mike McGlinchey in free agency — I was told the Bears offer was close to $17 million per year — they drafted a player who can step in as a Day 1 starter.It might not be ...

Giants select Maryland CB Deonte Banks at No. 24 in first round of NFL draft after trading up a spot

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:45:47 GMT

Joe Schoen got a corner for Wink Martindale.The Giants GM traded up one spot to No. 24 overall on Thursday night and took Maryland corner Deonte Banks on the heels of a wide receiver run from picks 20 through 23.Schoen gave the Jacksonville Jaguars picks No. 25, 160 (fifth round) and 240 (seventh round) to move up one spot to help his secondary.Banks, 22, is a physical 6-foot, 197-pounder who has the size and athleticism to play press man coverage on the outside in Martindale’s defensive scheme.His selection addresses a major need on Brian Daboll’s roster, where the Giants were lacking anyone reliable behind veteran Adoree Jackson.The board broke pretty well for the Giants.The first receiver didn’t come off the board until No. 20 overall, when the Seattle Seahawks picked Ohio State’s Jaxon Smith-Njigba. A lot of the top corners and receivers got pushed down the board by several developments:Three quarterbacks went in the top four. Six defensive players came o...

NFL Draft 2023 Live | First tight end finally gets selected

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:45:47 GMT

By The Associated PressKANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The NFL draft has begun! The Carolina Panthers kicked off Thursday night’s proceedings by taking quarterback Bryce Young with the No. 1 pick. The draft can be viewed on NFL Network, ABC, ESPN and ESPN Deportes. Follow for live updates from Associated Press reporters across the country (all times EST).What to know:— Panthers make Bryce Young top pick in the NFL draft— Eagles select Georgia’s Jalen Carter, who had role in fatal crashFIRST TIGHT END, WIDE RECEIVER FINALLY SELECTEDBuffalo’s Josh Allen has a red-zone option now in Utah’s Dalton Kincaid, the first tight end off the board in the NFL draft.Five picks before Kincaid heard his name called as the 25th selection, the Seattle Seahawks made Ohio State’s Jaxon Smith-Njigba the first wide receiver taken on Thursday night.The Bills jumped ahead of the Dallas Cowboys to get Kincaid, who along with Notre Dame’s Michael Mayer are consid...

Ravens dip into South Florida well again, picking U-School grad and fleet WR Zay Flowers 22nd to join Lamar Jackson

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:45:47 GMT

Lightning-quick wide receiver Zay Flowers, a graduate of Davie’s University School, was selected with the 22nd pick in the first round of the 2023 NFL draft on Thursday night.Flowers, who played college ball at Boston College, becomes the second undersized-but-bullet-fast receiver from Broward County picked by the Ravens in the first round in the past five drafts, joining Chaminade-Madonna’s Marquise, ‘Hollywood’ Brown picked 25th in 2019.Flowers joins the Ravens, who earlier in the day signed star quarterback Lamar Jackson to a long-term extension. Jackson, who went to Boynton Beach High School, played youth football in Broward.At 5 feet 9, Flowers tacked on the muscle in workouts leading up to the combine to complement his 4.42 speed.As a three-star recruit out of U-School, Flowers stood out in four years in the northeast.He set career marks with 78 receptions, 1,077 receiving yards last season and had 12 receiving touchdowns in 12 starts. He was also first...

Guregian: Patriots move down, and still land home run pick

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:45:47 GMT

Patriots owner Robert Kraft didn’t sugarcoat his thoughts with respect to the draft a month ago. He was counting on the addition of youth to help get his team over the hump.“I look to the addition of draft choices to make a difference,” Kraft said at the owner’s meetings.That meant it was Bill Belichick’s job to make it happen.The Patriots needed to add some A-list, blue chip talent to their roster. They needed to add dynamic playmakers on both offense and defense.So what did Belichick do in the first round?Well, he didn’t draft a quarterback, and he didn’t trade Mac Jones, both of which were hot items on the rumor mill in recent days.Instead, to no surprise, he traded down the board, handing No. 14 over to the Steelers, and moving down four spots to No. 17.The good news?Belichick still landed a stud in a position of need, reeling in Oregon’s Christian Gonzalez three spots after his initial spot. In a draft that wasn’t flush with blue-chip players, cornerback...

Celtics survive Hawks, advance to second round with Game 6 victory

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:45:47 GMT

ATLANTA — Hours before Game 6, sitting courtside Thursday morning at State Farm Arena, Marcus Smart quickly processed the Celtics’ Game 5 debacle. The point guard said the Celtics played not to lose. It forced them to take an extra flight to Atlanta. But the C’s had another chance.This time, they didn’t let it slip.Two nights after they suffered a catastrophic meltdown, the Celtics didn’t make the same mistakes. For a fourth consecutive game, the Hawks gave them all they could handle. Trae Young started hot, but he and the Hawks faded late. The Celtics, finally, put their foot on the gas and went for the kill. They emerged with a 128-120 victory in Game 6.It took a few more nights than it should have, but the Celtics survived and advanced into the second round, where they’ll face the rival 76ers. Game 1 is set for Monday night at TD Garden.Jaylen Brown scored 32 points, Jayson Tatum had 30 and Marcus Smart added 22 – and all of them came up big down the stretch. After a back-and-for...

More loud booms may be heard across San Diego

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:45:47 GMT

SAN DIEGO — Another series of loud booms may be heard across San Diego next week, according to officials from Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton.In a noise advisory issued Thursday, Camp Pendleton says there will be live-fire training with Mine Clearing Line Charge (MICLIC) starting Saturday, April 29 until Sunday, May 7.Military officials say MICLIC may produce sounds "louder than usual." San Diego-area spots nominated for ‘Best Beaches on the West Coast’ County areas that are more likely to hear or even feel these loud booms include Oceanside and Fallbrook as they are neighbors to Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton.San Clemente, which is located slightly north in Orange County, is also considered to be an area that may feel the affects of the military's MICLIC, according to an impact map onthe base's webpage. Depending on atmospheric conditions, however, the sound of the explosions may be amplified and heard up to 50-miles away, according to Camp Pendleton.This shortly follows ...

Corden addresses divisive America in final ‘Late Late Show’

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:45:47 GMT

James Corden used part of his farewell speech on Thursday’s final episode of CBS’ “ The Late Late Show” to address the deep rift in America over hot button issues including politics and ideology.“We started this show with Obama, then Trump and a global pandemic. I’ve watched American change a lot. I’ve watched divisions grow and I’ve felt a sense of negativity boil over,” said the host. He asked his audience to “remember what America signifies to the rest of the world. My entire life it has always been a place of optimism. … Yes, it has flaws but show me a place that doesn’t. Show me a person that doesn’t.“Just because somebody disagrees with you it doesn’t make them bad or evil. We are all more the same than we are different. There are so many people who are trying to stoke those differences and we have to try as best we can to look for the light, look for the joy. If you do, it’s out there. That’s all this show has ever been about,” he said.Corden announced...