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Nuggets bench struggles as Houston Rockets pull off upset in spite of massive Nikola Jokic game

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:28:06 GMT

On the road for the first time this season without Jamal Murray, the Nuggets suffered the second loss of their title defense Sunday, falling 107-104 to the feisty Rockets in Houston.Denver (8-2) returns home to face the Clippers on Tuesday night in an in-season tournament game.Depth woes, illuminatedSince Murray’s injury a week ago, Denver’s bench has been strained and out of sync, shaken out of its strong start to the season. Detractors of the defending champions often identify their questionable depth as the Achilles’ heel, and it was easy to see why Sunday night.While Nikola Jokic, Michael Porter Jr. and Aaron Gordon combined for 77 points on 30-of-55 shooting, the rest of the team scored 27 points on 36 shot attempts. The bench was outscored 31-8 by Houston’s, and after three quarters, the only backup who had cracked the scorebook was Collin Gillespie, a two-way contract point guard who isn’t even supposed to be part of Denver’s regular 10-man...

Mayor Bass, city Leaders update public on fire that indefinitely closed 10 Freeway

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:28:06 GMT

Mayor Bass along with officials from the Los Angeles Unified School District, the Department of Transportation, Metro and the L.A. Fire Department updated the public Sunday on the massive fire that has indefinitely closed the 10 Freeway in downtown L.A. Officials said that they wanted to prepare the public for significant delays in the coming days weeks as all lanes within a two mile stretch of the I-10 downtown are closed until further notice. The blaze was first reported around 12:30 a.m. Saturday morning in a storage yard near East 14th and Alameda streets. Flames quickly spread to a neighboring storage yard and eventually engulfed the freeway overpass above. The fire was so hot that it melted some of the freeway’s steel guardrails and concrete pillars, fire officials said. It eventually spread to eight acres before being contained. Gov. Newsom declared a local state of emergency on Saturday, and on Sunday, it was announced that the freeway would remain closed...

Gov. Gavin Newsom, L.A. Mayor Karen Bass discuss 10 Freeway fire response, updates

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:28:06 GMT

California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass held a joint news conference Sunday regarding the fire that destroyed part of the 10 Freeway in downtown Los Angeles.The blaze was first reported around 12:30 a.m. Saturday morning in a storage yard near East 14th and Alameda streets. Flames quickly spread to a neighboring storage yard and eventually engulfed the freeway overpass above.The fire was so hot that it melted some of the freeway's steel guardrails and concrete pillars, fire officials said. It eventually spread to eight acres before being contained.No homes were affected as the area is largely industrial but the traffic impacts are severe for thousands of commuters, L.A. Mayor Karen Bass said. Abatement company beginning remediation process at historic Tustin hangar Gov. Newsom declared a local state of emergency Saturday, and on Sunday, it was announced that the freeway would remain closed until further notice. Mayor Bass noted that the structural damage s...

Brink, Iriafen lead No. 15 Stanford to whopping 96-64 rout of No. 9 Indiana

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:28:06 GMT

STANFORD – Senior Cameron Brink has enjoyed not being the favorite, for a change. She might not get to play that role much longer based on Sunday’s performance.The No. 15 Stanford women will take a big jump in the rankings after jumping out to a 28-point halftime lead and beating No. 9 Indiana 96-64 at Maples Pavilion.“We want teams to keep sleeping on us,” Brink said. “Since my freshman year we’ve always been in the Top 5, so it’s fun to hunt instead of being the hunted.”Despite returning four starters, the Cardinal (2-0) was picked outside the Top 10 in the preseason AP poll for the first time since 2016-2017, and was picked outside the top two in the preseason Pac-12 media poll for the first time since 1999-2000.In its first test this season, Stanford got double-doubles from Brink (20 points and 17 rebounds) and Kiki Iriafen (20 points and 11 rebounds) while holding AP first-team All-American Mackenzie Holmes to eight points – 14 below her average from last season – and two rebou...

Fred VanVleet leads Rockets to sixth straight victory with 107-104 win over Nuggets

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:28:06 GMT

HOUSTON (AP) — Fred VanVleet scored 26 points and Alperen Sengun added 23 to lead the Houston Rockets to a 107-104 win over the Denver Nuggets on Sunday night.Houston’s six-game winning streak is the longest since the team won seven straight in January 2021.Nikola Jokic had his fourth triple-double of the season, racking up 36 points, 21 rebounds and 11 assists in the loss.Jokic hit a 3 with 19.1 seconds remaining to cut Houston’s lead to 103-102. Denver fouled and VanVleet hit two free throws. On the next play, Jae’Sean Tate stole the inbounds pass. Jokic had a full-court shot at the buzzer to tie it but fell short.The Nuggets entered the game 8-1, their best start since the 2018-19 season when they started 9-1. Houston improved to 6-3 after starting the season 0-3.Rockets veteran Jeff Green hit a big 3 with 1:49 left in the fourth, putting Houston up 103-94. Green appeared in all 20 playoff games during Denver’s championship run last season. Green scored 15 points off the bench Su...

Crew advance to Eastern Conference semifinals with 4-2 victory over Atlanta United

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:28:06 GMT

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Columbus scored three goals in the first 33 minutes and the Crew advanced to the Eastern Conference semifinals with a 4-2 victory over Atlanta United in the rubber match of a first-round MLS Cup series on Sunday night.Columbus (17-9-9) upped its unbeaten streak at home in all competitions to 17, but the third-seeded Crew will hit the road for a semifinal matchup with No. 2 seed Orlando City on Nov. 25. Top-seeded FC Cincinnati will host the fourth-seeded Philadelphia Union in the other semifinal, also on Nov. 25.The Crew hit the ground running against Atlanta United, grabbing the lead in the 9th minute on an unassisted goal by Darlington Nagbe. It was Nagbe’s third career postseason goal and his second with the Crew.Defender Malte Amundsen pushed the lead to 2-0 eight minutes later, using an assist from Aidan Morris to score his first career goal in the playoffs. Alexandru Matan made it 3-0 in the 33rd minute with his first career postseason netter. Diego...

Irving hits 7 of 10 3-pointers, scores 35 points in Mavericks’ 136-124 victory over Pelicans

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:28:06 GMT

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Kyrie Irving made 7 of 10 3-pointers and scored 35 points, Luka Doncic had 15 of his 30 points in a 42-point third quarter and the Dallas Mavericks beat the short-handed New Orleans Pelicans 136-124 on Sunday night.In the first of two straight games between the teams in New Orleans, the Mavericks shot 20 of 53 from long range. Dallas iced it in the third quarter, making 8 of 13 3-pointers and outscoring the Pelicans 42-31.Doncic was 11 of 18 from the field and made 4 of 9 from long range.Brandon Ingram led New Orleans with 20 points and Zion Williamson had 18. The Pelicans, without the injured CJ McCollum, Herb Jones and Trey Murphy, have lost five straight.For the second consecutive game, Irving sizzled from the outset, scoring 22 first-half points on 8-of-13 shooting to help the Mavericks take a 67-54 lead. Irving beat the halftime buzzer with a 3-pointer from the right corner.In a 144-126 home victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday night, Irving had 20...

Geno Smith’s big throws and Jason Myers’ walk-off field goal lift Seahawks past Commanders 29-26

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:28:06 GMT

SEATTLE (AP) — Given the opportunity for some more heroics in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter, Geno Smith was nearly flawless.Not once, but twice, as he helped the Seahawks to a victory that kept them atop the NFC West.Smith led a pair of scoring drives late in the fourth quarter, the second leading to Jason Myers’ 43-yard field goal as time expired, and Seattle held off the Washington Commanders 29-26 on Sunday.Smith and Washington QB Sam Howell traded big throws and touchdown passes in the closing minutes, but it was Smith who had the the final chance at the victory and came through.It was the third time this season Smith has led a winning drive in the fourth quarter or overtime. “I think it was a beautiful illustration of everybody did right down the stretch,” Seattle coach Pete Carroll said. “That’s all we ever hope to do when we talk about finishing is everybody just keep doing stuff that’s right and outlast them and have the chance to win even if it...

Robinson, Adebayo key rally as Heat capture fifth straight with win over Spurs, 118-113

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:28:06 GMT

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Duncan Robinson scored 26 points, Bam Adebayo added 24 points and 11 rebounds, and the Miami Heat rallied in the final quarter to beat the San Antonio Spurs 118-113 on Sunday night for their fifth straight win.Robinson and Adebayo combined for 20 points in the final quarter as Miami won its fourth straight in San Antonio. Jimmy Butler added 19 points.Keldon Johnson had 20 points and 12 rebounds and Victor Wembanyama added 18 points and 11 rebounds in the Spurs’ fifth straight loss.Josh Richardson had 12 points, including six in the final two minutes, in his return to San Antonio after being traded to Miami in February.Kyle Lowry sat out to rest on the second night of a back-to-back.Miami had a slow start coming off a 117-109 win in Atlanta on Saturday.The Heat were held to 15 points in the opening quarter, the lowest by a Spurs opponent in the period.Wembanyama’s one-handed slam on a feed off a loose ball from McDermott gave the Spurs a 27-13 lead in the final min...

Kel’el Ware scores career-high 20, Xavier Johnson 19 as Indiana beats Army 72-64

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:28:06 GMT

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — Kel’el Ware scored 16 of his career-high 20 points in the second half, Xavier Johnson added 19 points, including four free throws in the final minute, and Indiana beat Army 72-64 Sunday night. Malik Reneau had 10 of his 14 points in the second half for Indiana (2-0). TJ Small and Ryan Curry each hit a 3-pointer in a 12-4 run that made it 58-all when Blake Barker’s layup capped the spurt with 3:46 to play. Ware made the first of two free throws to give the Hoosiers the lead for good 26 seconds later and after he missed the second, Johnson grabbed the offensive rebound. Reneau made two foul shots and then blocked a layup attempt at the other end and secured the rebound before Gabe Cupps hit a 3-pointer to made it a six-point game with 2 minutes to play. Josh Scovens made a 3 to trim Army’s deficit to 64-61 with 1:47 left but Reneau hit two free throws, Ware stole the ball and then threw down an alley-oop dunk — from Trey Galloway to stretch the the...