Tag Archives: win

Entertainment

Bryan doubts Roman’s heart, gets weird & perfectly sets up Rumble win

Leave a comment

Daniel Bryan and Talking Smack are perfect together. While it’ll never be the same as his epic, Tout-sponsored 2016 – 2017 run on the show with Renee Young, DB’s appearances on the rebooted show have been pretty great.

His latest visit to the SmackDown post-show had it all. Bryan continued the work he started when he was a Talking Smack guest in December, and has kept up on Friday nights and in interviews since, setting himself up for “one last run” from tomorrow’s Royal Rumble to the main event of WrestleMania 37. Here he did it by contrasting his love of pro wrestling in its purest form to Universal champion Roman Reigns more business-like, mercenary approach to the squared circle.

“There’s a couple things that you got wrong, and it has to do with motivation and what drives me. I’m not interested in glory. I’m not interested in the adulation of the fans, despite all the yes chants. Do you know what I loved? I loved when we were at the Performance Center, wrestling in front of zero people with zero noise, just wrestling. Do you know what made people love me? I don’t know if you remember the 2015 Royal Rumble? I don’t know if you remember that? I lost, very quickly. That’s the one that Roman Reigns won. It was in Philadelphia. I was in the ring for maybe 5 minutes. 5 minutes total in that Royal Rumble, but when Roman Reigns won, everybody booed. The Rock congratulated him. The Rock saying, ‘oh man, you’re the man,’ and The Rock putting Roman over, people booed.

“I have a theory as to why that is, and it’s this. I think you’re right, Roman Reigns might be the best right now. He’s performing at a whole different level than everybody else, but he doesn’t wrestle with his heart. It’s a facade, always has been. He came out there when he debuted in this company wearing a vest, a bulletproof vest so you couldn’t see his heart. I have a theory that why they connected with me, this happens every night, I put my heart out there. That happened on SmackDown, right. I’ve been wrestling for 21 years, Paul. You go out there and you’ve been out there for 30 minutes,45 minutes, a lot of guys that have been in this business as long as I have, they’d get on the apron. I get in there with a chance to fight The Miz, who I absolutely hate, and there’s no place in the world I’d rather be. So the big difference is not about who’s the best or who wants glory, it’s who’s willing to go out there and fight with heart.”

But that’s not all! We also got some of the weird Bryan – you know, the guy who wrestles bears and always had a sexual double entendre ready for Renee on the old Talking Smack. Here, my man reveals that his hip and glute-focused workouts with Chad Gable & Otis at Alpha Academy will allow him to “toss off so many men” in the Rumble, and… yeah.

Gable & Otis don’t just serve as comic foils do Daniel can serve us that Team Hell side of his personality. The also serve as back-up for the men who sit at Reigns’ table. You ready for Alpha Academy vs. The Usos on the Road to DB vs. Roman at WrestleMania 37?

Watch Bryan’s near-perfect appearance on the Jan. 30 Talking Smack and let us know what you think in the comments below

Read original article here

Sports

3 observations after Joel Embiid shakes off slow start, produces another huge game in Sixers’ win over Timberwolves

Leave a comment

As he so often has this season, Joel Embiid led the way for the Sixers on Friday night in Minnesota. By late in the third quarter, the team didn’t need him to do any more work.

Embiid was able to watch comfortably from the bench for the final 14:04 after recording 37 points, 11 rebounds and three assists in the Sixers’ 118-94 win over the Timberwolves at Target Center. 

The 14-6 Sixers will next play Sunday night against the Pacers.

Sixers head coach Doc Rivers began his pregame media availability by sharing his admiration for Hall of Fame coach and Philadelphia basketball icon John Chaney, who died Friday at 89 years old. 

“I just loved him as a man,” Rivers said. “I loved how he carried himself, I loved how he fought for his team, his players but also just the institution in a lot of ways. He was so much more than a basketball coach. He really was a teacher, and a teacher of life. We don’t have a lot like that anymore. He’ll be missed.”

Here are observations on the Sixers’ win Friday:

Weathering early shooting struggles  

Embiid’s status was in question throughout the day because of back tightness, but he was in the Sixers’ starting lineup. It was an appealing matchup for him on paper against veteran Ed Davis as Minnesota was without big men Karl-Anthony Towns (health and safety protocols) and Naz Reid (right wrist sprain).

However, Embiid misfired early on the mid-range jumpers he’s been sinking so frequently this season. He missed his first five shots and the Sixers were 2 for 14 as a team on mid-range attempts in the first period, according to Cleaning the Glass. Ben Simmons started 0 for 5, too. 

 

The Sixers managed to score at something resembling a normal rate by drawing plenty of free throws, though, and Embiid was the standout as usual in that category. With his 16-for-18 night at the foul line, Embiid has now made 152 free throws. 

That’s second in the league behind Trae Young despite Embiid having sat out four games, and one factor that bolsters the notion of the Sixers being capable of beating the Eastern Conference’s elite in the postseason. He’s seemingly a lock for double-digit free throw attempts every game at this point.

While it’s likely necessary for players like Seth Curry, Danny Green and Shake Milton to make open jumpers for the Sixers to excel in the postseason, Embiid’s foul drawing and general 1-on-1 brilliance mitigates the harm of any shooting problems, as we saw Friday. His sharp early-season work against double teams is also a positive sign when considering the big picture for the Sixers. 

“It’s just dominance on his part,” Tobias Harris said. “I think he’s figured it out, and he’s done such a great job of creating plays for other guys out of the post. Tonight they had to guard him straight up. He’s continuing to figure that out, continuing to be dominant out there and it’s a pleasure to be able to be on the floor with him when he has that demeanor and he’s going like that. It makes us a really great team.”

Tyrese Maxey chipped in six key second-quarter points at a stage when the team’s second unit also wasn’t experiencing much offensive success or rhythm. 

Avoiding a bad pattern from last season 

A troubling trend for the 2019-20 Sixers on the road was the team’s frustration with its offensive woes leaking into shoddy defense.

“You just can’t live on your offense,” Rivers said during training camp. “And that’s not just our team, but teams that don’t do well. Your offense will let you down. … That’s being human; that happens. But you can still win the game. If we can get that type of confidence that we’re going to win whether we make shots or not, it would make us a heck of a force.” 

Friday night’s game was an excellent example of Rivers’ point. It would’ve been easy (and understandable) for the Sixers to lose focus and intensity defensively. Logic suggested their superior talent would win out at some point, but no team is good enough to survive a ghastly shooting stretch simply by hoping it’ll start hitting jumpers eventually. The Sixers needed to compete on defense, and they deserve credit for doing so. 

 

Matisse Thybulle had an especially strong defensive evening, picking up three of the Sixers’ 11 steals. Rivers said the Sixers have been asking Thybulle to focus on being “solid” defensively, since he doesn’t need to gamble much in order to get deflections and steals. 

“He had 12 deflections by himself in the one quarter,” Rivers said. “And Joel was amazing, but if I was giving a game ball out it would probably be Matisse, or we would split it with those two, because I thought he was a difference-maker.

“I thought he frustrated (Ricky) Rubio, and then I thought he was phenomenal on (D’Angelo) Russell. He’s just a hell of a defender. He’s got his legs under him now, he knows what we expect of him and he’s been terrific.”

With this win, the Sixers are 4-5 on the road, meaning they need eight more victories to match last season’s total. 

Waiting on Scott’s return 

Mike Scott missed his seventh consecutive game with right knee swelling. Though that might not appear very significant in isolation, Rivers has mentioned several times that Scott’s absence narrows the Sixers’ options and increases the importance of Simmons and Harris staying out of foul trouble. 

When Scott is available, how might Rivers’ rotation change? Perhaps Furkan Korkmaz’s minutes will be trimmed, although the Sixers seem determined to help him find a rhythm. 

There should be a little less of a burden on players like Harris, who played a team-high 34 minutes Friday.

“I like one of the three — Joel, Tobias or Ben — on the floor at all times,” Rivers said. “I don’t like how we’re doing it right now, because we’re extending one of their minutes every night. I don’t like that. Without a four, we literally don’t have a choice in doing it.

“We played Furk — or whoever wants to claim the four … I think Matisse called himself the four tonight at one stretch. You play the right team, a bigger team, that’s really difficult. So I do like one of those three on the floor at all times. I think it’s good for us. We’re deep enough not to, but most games I’ll have one on the floor.” 

One also wonders how Dwight Howard will be impacted. Rivers used Simmons as a small-ball center in the first half of Wednesday’s win over the Lakers and acknowledged before Friday’s game that Howard has had a subpar run recently. The veteran had three points, 10 rebounds and four fouls in 17 minutes against Minnesota. 

“I’m not that concerned by it,” Rivers said. “He hasn’t played great. That happens in life, it just does, and he’ll get through it. He’s been around long enough. I thought the Lakers adjusted and went small for a second on him, which affects him. Detroit did the same thing. You can either stay big, which I do often, or sometimes you can have an adjustment. Our problem, obviously, is with Mike Scott out, we don’t have a lot of adjustments we can go to right now and that has absolutely limited us, for sure.”

 

Simmons at center surely won’t become the norm, although Rivers said, “it’s a look that I like.” He’s looking forward to working on it, noting the Sixers should have a rare opportunity to practice early next week. 

Read original article here

Sports

Knicks’ Immanuel Quickley dominates in win over Cavaliers

Leave a comment

Immanuel Quickley dropped face down on the court and made a swimming motion with his arms and legs after nailing his third of five 3-pointers Friday night.

The electrifying rookie point guard helped the Knicks make their way back upstream after three straight losses to end their recent road trip, scoring 25 points in 23 minutes off the bench, including 14 in the fourth quarter, in a 102-81 win over Cleveland at the Garden.

The Knicks (9-11) held All-Star big man Andre Drummond to just four points — albeit with 15 rebounds — in another strong defensive effort, despite nine combined fouls between centers Mitchell Robinson and Nerlens Noel.

Darius Garland had 24 points for the Cavaliers, who scored just 37 in the first half and 55 through three quarters. The 81 points were the second-fewest points allowed by this Knicks this season, behind only the 75 they held the Celtics to on Jan. 17.

RJ Barrett contributed 24 points, Austin Rivers added 13 off the bench and Julius Randle finished with 16 points, eight rebounds and six assists for the Knicks, who will face the Los Angeles Clippers at home on Sunday.

Immanuel Quickley, who scored 25 points, goes up for a shot during the Knicks’ 102-81 win over the Cavaliers.
NBAE via Getty Images

Quickley, who continues press starting point guard Elfrid Payton (two points in 23 minutes) for playing time, also converted the Knicks’ first 4-point play of the season with four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. The 25th overall pick out of Kentucky had shot just 1-for-11 from the floor in Tuesday’s loss in Utah, one game after notching a career-high 31 in the previous game in Portland.

Robinson had said before the game that he was focused on his matchup with Drummond, who dominated in a 106-103 win over the Knicks on Jan. 15 with 33 points and 23 rebounds.

“Oh definitely. Tonight I’m going to play a whole lot smarter. Going to come out here and get after it, give my best,” said Robinson, who scored six points and committed five fouls Friday night.

Robinson also was minus-15 in Tuesday’s loss in Utah and outdone on the stat sheet by All-Star center Rudy Gobert (18 points and 19 rebounds).

Asked if he envisions eventually putting up numbers like Drummond’s and Gobert’s, Robinson added: “I know I can defend. I don’t really compare myself to other players. I mean, I’m worried about our team. Other players, they can talk about whatever they want to talk about. I’m just talking about us as Knicks.”

The Knicks missed eight of nine shots and spotted Cleveland a quick 13-3 lead, but Rivers and Quickley combined for a dozen points during a 16-4 run for a two-point lead by the end of the quarter.

Randle didn’t attempt a field goal until there were four minutes left in the second quarter, but his 19-foot jumper, two dunks by Robinson put the Knicks up 38-31. Two drives and a corner three by Barrett extended the Knicks’ lead to 14, and they carried a 47-33 lead into intermission.

Drummond had just four points in the half, but Noel was whistled for three fouls and Robinson had two, prompting the first appearance for veteran big man Taj Gibson — albeit for just one minute — since he signed to return to the Knicks on Jan. 7.

The Cavs shot just 29 percent from the floor and were 2-for-10 from 3-point range through two quarters, but Sexton and Garland combined for 16 points in a 19-2 surge to open the third to help close the gap to 52-49.

The Knicks reheated with a 12-1 run to close out the quarter, however, including a baseline dunk for a three-point play by Quickley and a late three by the rookie point guard for a 72-55 lead entering the fourth.

Read original article here

Sports

3 observations after Sixers pass their biggest test yet, pull off dramatic win over Lakers

Leave a comment

Though Wednesday night’s game was never going to provide a definitive answer to whether the Sixers are a bona fide NBA title contender, it was the team’s most significant early-season test yet.

The Sixers just about passed it, earning a 107-106 win over the defending champion Lakers to improve to 13-6.

Tobias Harris’ pull-up jumper on the Sixers’ last possession won the team the game and saved it from what would’ve been a bitterly disappointing loss.

Up 14 points with a little over five minutes to go, the Sixers late-game execution simply wasn’t good enough as they seemed more eager to watch the clock wind down than score.

“It shouldn’t have gotten that close,” Danny Green said. “We were up double digits most of the game and us growing and showing some maturity, hopefully, throughout the season we’ll keep that lead and keep our foot on the gas. But we had too many lapses, too many lulls of not playing solid offense and moving the ball, too many turnovers and bad shots on goal. And then defensively, just a couple lapses.”

Harris ultimately saved the day, and an off-balance Anthony Davis heave at the buzzer came up short. 

“I’m a person that visualizes myself in those spots,” Harris said. “When the opportunity came, we came out of the timeout and me and Seth (Curry) were talking and basically discussing how they’re more likely to switch that pick-and-roll coming off if Joel (Embiid) isn’t open, and just let me iso at the top and get to my spot.

 

“That’s a shot I work on time and time again. In those moments, being confident enough to let it go and being OK with the result. Tonight, it fared well.”

LeBron James posted 34 points, six rebounds and six assists in a losing effort, keeping Los Angeles competitive throughout the game. 

The win is the 2020-21 Sixers’ best thus far, an impressive response to the notion that their place at the top of the Eastern Conference is attributable to an easy schedule. 

Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey was not at the game as he’s working remotely because of COVID-19 contact tracing unrelated to the Sixers, according to a report from The Inquirer’s Keith Pompey. 

The Sixers next play on Friday night, a road matchup against the Timberwolves. Here are observations on their win over the Lakers: 

Simmons vs. James

Ben Simmons was in attack mode from the jump, scoring six of the Sixers’ first nine points, quickly eating up the ample space James gave him to operate and setting the tone well. 

James was predictably the focal point of the Lakers’ offense, and he burned Simmons and the Sixers’ zealous defense early by scoring off of multiple back cuts. James’ sense for when and how to use his wide array of skills remains special; he’s a basketball genius who happens to have extraordinary physical gifts. His aggression was necessary in the first half as Los Angeles shot 1 for 11 from three-point range and received no meaningful scoring from anyone besides James and Davis. 

Though James scored much more than his mentee, Simmons left his mark on the game in many ways, recording a triple-double with 17 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. 

“He was huge,” head coach Doc Rivers said. “The numbers will say the offense, but the defense and all these other little things he did was unbelievable. He’s playing great. It’s funny, on his low-scoring nights, you look at the game film and he’s flying all over the place.

“The stuff he does for us, the winning things he does, it’s hard to put into numbers, and unfortunately we’re in this numbers generation where everything’s numbers. His brilliance sometimes is missed by a lot of people.”

Green said after the Sixers’ shootaround Wednesday that he sees why people link James and Simmons, but that he thinks it’s “unfair” to compare anyone to James. We think that’s a reasonable assessment. 

Embiid’s eventful evening 

It didn’t take long for Embiid to frustrate Marc Gasol, the man who guarded him during his career-worst 0-for-11 performance last season, as the 35-year-old picked up a technical foul in the first quarter for objecting to an Embiid and-one. The Sixers’ All-Star center started rolling after that, squaring up and making his move in the post before double teams could arrive. 

 

Rivers left Embiid in for over 10 minutes and played him in a lineup with no true power forward. That unit was excellent as the Sixers shaded help in the direction of whichever man was facing a size disadvantage on a particular defensive possession and continued to cook offensively, gaining a 34-18 lead. 

The non-Embiid minutes that followed were a lot less fruitful for the Sixers as the Lakers went on an 8-0 run. Dwight Howard missed four throws during that stretch and didn’t play well, prompting Rivers to insert Simmons as his team’s defensive center. A member of the Los Angeles bench yelled out “No rim protection” upon seeing that decision and, with all due respect to Simmons and his diverse defensive talents, the sentiment wasn’t wrong. 

That said, the Sixers were at least able to muster some offense and stabilize things a bit when Simmons replaced Howard. Rivers’ willingness to use Simmons at center is certainly a notable development; perhaps it’s a look the Sixers will start incorporating more if they envision featuring it in the playoffs. Rivers did give Howard his normal backup center minutes in the second half. 

The Sixers welcomed back Embiid’s ability to draw fouls (along with his many other skills, of course) after he missed the team’s loss Monday to the Pistons with back tightness. Embiid was 11 for 13 from the foul line and is now averaging 10.9 free throw attempts per game through 15 contests. 

Embiid (28 points, six rebounds, four assists) had an injury scare in the third period when he went up for a dunk and fell hard to the floor after James made contact with his chest. He pounded his fist into the floor and got up gingerly but stayed in the game and made both free throws. James was called for a Flagrant 1 foul, though Embiid said after the game he thought the 16-time All-Star should’ve been ejected.

Embiid was whistled for a Flagrant 1 foul of his own about a minute later when he hit Davis in the face with an elbow while looking to draw a foul on a drive. 

Complementary pieces step up 

In a star-centric game, the Sixers won in large part because their complementary players were better overall than the Lakers’.

At an important juncture early in the third quarter, Harris drove into Gasol’s body and laid the ball in to give the Sixers a 57-53 lead. Harris (24 points on 10-for-16 shooting) and Green (14 points on 5-for-11 shooting) both drained three-pointers shortly thereafter, helping the Sixers build their advantage back up to 12 points, forcing a Lakers timeout and removing some of the uneasiness that might have stemmed from the Lakers’ second-quarter comeback. 

Though the Lakers didn’t go away, Harris was vital again later in the third, converting a lefty layup, stopping Davis one-on-one twice in the post and enabling the Sixers to maintain their lead. His All-Star case certainly grew a little stronger Wednesday night, especially with his clutch jumper to cap a high-drama game.

 

“I hope we do all make it together,” Harris said when asked about himself, Embiid and Simmons possibly all being All-Stars. “Obviously, this season we’ve been playing great basketball as a team. We have the MVP on our team in Joel. He’s been playing lights-out since Day 1. Ben has been a great player. This year he’s been playing at a great pace, really dictating everything and defensively, offensively, doing his thing all around.

“I hope we do all make the game. For myself, I’ve always just been about winning and letting that handle itself, but I’ve been playing consistently at an All-Star level every night. I’m not one to always toot my own horn but in the past I’ve had a couple times where I felt like I should’ve been there and didn’t make it, so that would be my little pitch for it right there.”

Read original article here

Business

From Pony Ma to Jack Ma, the Rich Win Big With Wild H.K. Stocks

Leave a comment

(Bloomberg) — Pony Ma got $6.9 billion richer on Monday after one of the companies his Tencent Holdings Ltd. backs revealed its IPO plans, while Jack Ma’s public reappearance Wednesday added $1.6 billion to his net worth.

Even though the Hong Kong market has proved particularly volatile lately — the benchmark Hang Seng Index gave up all of of its Monday gain on Tuesday — it’s been one of the world’s highlights this month.

Tencent and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., along with food-delivery giant Meituan and carmaker Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd., were among the stocks helping propel the rally. Their top executives have made a combined $32 billion this month through Monday, and they’re not the only ones benefiting, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

The Top 10 richest moguls with companies that have a primary listing in Hong Kong have added more than $60 billion of wealth in January — or $3.8 billion for each trading day. This doesn’t include Jack Ma, whose Alibaba trades in Hong Kong but has its primary listing is in New York. His net worth is up $3.5 billion this month to $54.1 billion as he resurfaced in a video after weeks of speculation about his whereabouts following a Chinese government clampdown that had left his business empire in crisis.

Read more: Jack Ma’s Video Chat Prompts a $58 Billion Sigh of Relief

Even China Evergrande Group’s Hui Ka Yan, whose net worth sank more than anyone elese’s in Asia last year, has regained $2.6 billion in 2021. His electric-vehicle startup said Sunday it’s selling HK$26 billion ($3.35 billion) of shares, triggering a 52% surge in the stock.

While Hong Kong’s economy got badly hit from the coronavirus crisis and a political crackdown, money has kept flowing to the city. Mainlanders taking advantage of bargain prices after international investors were forced to dump some newly banned Chinese stocks have helped boost the market, just as concerns over stricter regulatory rules governing internet giants in China have eased. At the same time, companies linked to Chinese consumers — like Meituan — have benefited as the nation was one of the few able to control the Covid-19 pandemic and the government has pledged to increase consumption.

The Hang Seng Index soared 11% in January through Monday, when it hit its highest level since June 2018. It fell 2.6% on Tuesday.

Pony Ma’s $18.6 billion wealth surge this month is the biggest after Elon Musk’s, while Tencent co-founder Zhang Zhidong has gained $8.5 billion. Zhong Shanshan of bottled-water maker Nongfu Spring Co., who became Asia’s richest person at the end of 2020 and started the year by taking Warren Buffett’s spot as the world’s sixth wealthiest, has added $16.2 billion in 2021. Meituan’s Wang Xing has amassed $7.8 billion.

Xiaomi Corp.’s Lei Jun is the only major tycoon whose net worth has dropped in January. The U.S. blacklisted the smartphone maker in an unexpected move that sank its shares a record 10% on Jan. 15.

(Updates for market move in second, seventh paragraphs)

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.

Read original article here

Sports

Tom Brady’s former Patriots teammates praise him following NFC Championship win: ‘This man is all the GOATS’

Leave a comment

Tom Brady is back in the Super Bowl — but this time he’s leading the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Prior to joining Tampa Bay, Brady was the ringleader for the New England Patriots over a 20-year stretch. He led the Patriots to nine Super Bowl appearances, which included six Super Bowl titles, and he has a host of individual accolades cementing him as one of the greatest players the sport has ever seen.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

On Sunday, Brady completed 20 of 36 passes for 280 yards and three touchdowns to help lead the Bucs to a 31-26 victory over Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship, which clinched Tampa Bay its first Super Bowl appearance since 2002.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Even though Brady is no longer a part of the Patriots organization, many of his former teammates shared their reactions to Brady reaching a 10th Super Bowl in his career. It goes to show how well-respected the future Hall of Fame quarterback was during his time with New England.

Read original article here

Sports

How Tom Brady will reportedly pad his pocket with NFC title, Super Bowl LV win

Leave a comment

There’s a lot more at stake than just reputation for Tom Brady as he prepares to take on the Green Bay Packers in Sunday’s NFC Championship game. 

Brady is set to earn $1 million in incentives if he takes the Tampa Bay Buccaneers all the way, earning the franchise it’s second Super Bowl win and it’s first since the 2002 season, ESPN reported, citing sources. 

TOM BRADY, AARON RODGERS’ RECENT CONFERENCE TITLE GAME APPEARANCES TELL DIFFERENT STORIES 

The 43-year-old quarterback, who has six rings from his time with the New England Patriots, would make $500,000 if the Bucs beat the Packers and he would earn another $500,000 if the Bucs win Super Bowl LV, ESPN reported. 

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

Brady previously signed a two-year $50 million contract with the Bucs during the offseason after 20 years in New England. Reports at the time indicated that the Patriots weren’t willing to give Brady the money he was asking for in order to stay. 

Since joining Tampa, Brady has already earned $1.25 million in incentives in the postseason alone, ESPN reported. He earned $500,000 for making it to the playoffs, $250,000 for the wild-card win over Washington and another $500,000 for advancing to the NFC Championship game after beating Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints in the divisional round.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Money aside, another Super Bowl victory would be record breaking for Brady. He would further his own record for most Super Bowls won by a player with seven rings which would also surpass the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Patriots with the most wins by a team at six.

Read original article here

Sports

3 observations after Sixers grind out road win over Pistons behind Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid

Leave a comment

Last season, an away game against a less talented opponent following two encouraging wins over an Eastern Conference foe would likely have been a problem for the Sixers. They lost several frustrating games that fit that description or were very close to it. 

While it wasn’t easy, the team didn’t replicate that trend and took care of business Saturday night in Detroit, beating the Pistons by a 114-110 score and moving to 12-5. 

Detroit was without No. 7 overall pick Killian Hayes (right hip strain) Blake Griffin (left knee injury management) and Derrick Rose (left knee soreness). Vincent Poirier and Mike Scott remained out for the Sixers because of the NBA’s health and safety protocols and right knee swelling, respectively. 

The Sixers will stay in Detroit to play the Pistons again Monday night. Here are observations on their win to open the mini-series: 

Simmons thrives, makes up for bench’s off night 

Like Joel Embiid on Friday night, Ben Simmons had a strong start interrupted by foul trouble. Before being called for his second foul with 4:56 left in the first period, he posted eight points, three rebounds and two assists, driving downhill effectively. 

For a second consecutive game, the Sixers’ bench players didn’t fare well during their time on the floor late in the first and early in the second period, making sloppy mistakes that helped the Pistons prosper in transition. Though the Sixers have gotten valuable performances from their bench early in the season, the team’s all-second unit lineups have sometimes looked shaky.

 

All told, the Sixers’ bench was outscored 55-23 by Detroit’s second unit. 

Dwight Howard did his best to provide physicality and energy but was called for an offensive foul when he fought for an offensive rebound and Pistons rookie Isaiah Stewart ripped off a portion of his shorts. The veteran big man picked up a technical foul for arguing the perplexing call, as you can see in the video above. 

As for Simmons, he resumed his aggressive offensive mindset after that foul trouble-induced stint on the bench. He scored 16 of his 20 points in the first half, adding nine rebounds, seven assists and three steals in a characteristically diverse performance. 

With a 10-for-12 performance at the foul line, Simmons has now made 65.9 percent of his free throws this season. 

Simmons’ primary defensive assignment was Jerami Grant. While the Process Era Sixer has been having by far his most productive NBA season, he had a poor night against Simmons and the Sixers, scoring 11 points on 3-for-19 shooting. It’s certainly not the first time one of Simmons’ matchups has had a subpar game.

Even if missed open shots are part of what went wrong for Grant, it’s no coincidence that Simmons often makes the opposition’s top offensive threat look much less potent than he typically does. Simmons swallowed Grant up on one especially impressive third-quarter possession, mirroring his moves on the baseline, knocking the ball loose and forcing a jump ball. If he stays healthy, Simmons seemingly has the talent to rack up All-Defensive First Team honors year after year. 

Overmatched against Embiid, again 

Almost every time Embiid plays, it seems obligatory to note that he has an advantageous matchup, as if to indicate that his prodigious output comes with a significant caveat. When that’s the case so often, though, it says something about how difficult Embiid is to defend. The apparent formula for slowing him down is double teaming at the right times, making him take contested mid-range shots and avoiding fouls. It’s all much easier said than done.

Miles Plumlee, Stewart and former teammate Jahlil Okafor were the players tasked with guarding Embiid, who was listed as questionable leading into the game because of back tightness. None had any convincing answers against the three-time All-Star, though Embiid wasn’t quite as sharp or efficient as during the Sixers’ mini-series sweep over the Celtics. He scored 80 points on 34 field-goal attempts against Boston.

Embiid still recorded 33 points Saturday on 10-for-20 shooting and 14 rebounds, however, and nothing about his play was startlingly brilliant or exceptional by the very high standards he’s set. These sorts of performances look regularly within reach.

Grinding one out

Detroit held a sizable advantage over the Sixers in three-point shooting during the first half, hitting 9 of 15 long-range attempts compared to the Sixers’ 2-for-8 mark. The Pistons had a lot of success running Wayne Ellington (17 points) around screens, and the Sixers were occasionally lax in either not tracking shooters well or flying past them. 

 

The team’s defense also wasn’t flawless after halftime. However, the facts are that the Sixers overcame an 11-point first-half deficit to win on the road in the second half of a back-to-back. The Sixers did well to plow through those suboptimal circumstances.

Read original article here

Business

Hard-luck Maryland town gets a $731.1 million Powerball win

Leave a comment

LONACONING, Md. (AP) — The latest jackpot-winning Powerball ticket, worth $731.1 million, was sold in a struggling coal mining town whose biggest previous claim to fame was being the hometown of baseball Hall of Famer Lefty Grove.

Someone bought it at Coney Market, a convenience store in the Allegany County town of Lonaconing, the Maryland Lottery announced on Thursday. The store will get a $100,000 bonus for selling the ticket to the fifth-largest lottery prize in U.S. history.

It had been more than four months since anyone won the Powerball, allowing the game’s jackpot to grow so large. An even larger Mega Millions jackpot will be up for grabs Friday night.

Just who will collect the Powerball prize may never be known: Maryland is one of the states that allows winners to remain anonymous.

But keeping quiet about such a huge windfall could prove difficult if the ticket was bought by a local. Lonaconing (pronounced LOH-nah-koh-ning) is a town of about 300 families that’s well off the beaten track, with a poverty rate of more than 22 percent, well above the national average.

“We’re really happy for somebody,” Richard Ravenscroft, the store’s owner, told The Associated Press by phone. “I can’t wait to congratulate the person. I just hope whoever has won it uses it wisely and that other people benefit from it.”

The lottery ticket is a big win for a town that has a long history of losses, from the iron furnace that closed in 1855 to the glassworks that were shuttered in the early 1900s, to the coal-mining jobs that virtually disappeared after World War II. Periodic floods along Georges Creek have been devastating, and local streams carry acid from abandoned mines.

Ravenscroft said there is still some strip mining in the area, although that’s winding down because of environmental concerns, and the remaining factory, a pulp and paper company, shut down recently after going through a series of buyouts. Another company is coming in that plans to hire about 200 people to make something out of wood chips, he said.

Another positive headline came in 2001, when the town finally got a library after a local fundraising drive.

Coney Market, named for what locals call their town, is in a century-old building along Maryland’s Route 36, which was designated a Coal Heritage Route in an attempt to attract tourists. It draws its share of regulars, who can eat hamburgers and submarine sandwiches in a small seating area.

Ravenscroft wants to expand the store’s kitchen and serve real meals, like mashed potatoes and gravy. Perhaps the bonus can help with that.

Lonaconing’s previous biggest winner was Robert Moses Grove, known as Lefty Grove, who pitched 17 seasons in the big leagues, nine with the Philadelphia Athletics and eight with the Red Sox. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1947, and died in 1975.

The Powerball jackpot came only a day after nobody won the $970 million Mega Millions prize, the third-largest prize in U.S. history.

Winning numbers for Wednesday night’s Powerball drawing were: 40-53-60-68-69 and a Powerball of 22.

It was the first time both lottery jackpots topped $700 million. The biggest prize was a $1.58 billion Powerball jackpot won by three people in 2016.

No one had won either of the jackpots since mid-September, allowing the prizes to grow steadily for months. Such a long stretch without a winner is rare but also reflects the incredibly small odds of winning — 1 in 292.2 million for Powerball and 1 in 302.5 million for Mega Millions.

Maryland lottery director Gordon Medenica told the AP he’s not surprised when people overcome the odds and hit a giant jackpot, because thousands of people win smaller prizes after every drawing. The chances of winning something are about one in 25.

“The fact is, people win all the time. Clearly the focus is on the big jackpot and that’s what motivates people to play the game, but they come back and keep playing because there are so many other ways to win,” Medenica said.

The prizes listed are for winners who choose an annuity option, paid over 30 years. Most winners opt for cash prizes, which for Mega Millions would be $716.3 million and $546.8 million for Wednesday’s Powerball. After the Powerball win, the new jackpot has a $15 million cash value.

Prizes are subject to federal taxes, and most states take a cut as well.

Mega Millions and Powerball are played in 45 states as well as Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Powerball also is offered in Puerto Rico.

Read original article here