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Anthony Davis to Rui Hachimura matchup change won’t be Lakers’ only adjustment vs. Nikola Jokic: “Several other things that we didn’t unveil tonight”

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:51:56 GMT

Maybe the Lakers actually will attempt kidnapping Nikola Jokic at some point during this series.First-year Los Angeles coach Darvin Ham quipped before Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals that the best strategy to defend Denver’s two-time MVP is to “catch him coming out of his house.” The Lakers didn’t deploy that trick in a 132-126 Nuggets win Tuesday night. But if Ham’s postgame comments indicated anything, it’s that anything is on the table — from the now-familiar coverages of Game 1 to the mysteries still up Ham’s sleeve.“It’s not any one coverage that you’re going to be able to stay in versus that kid,” Ham said. “There’s no one person that’s going to stop him. It has to be done by committee. … You have to switch up matchups at times and you have to switch up coverages. We didn’t want to go too deep into the in-game adjustments. You know, it’s still that ultimate chess...

Nuggets’ Jamal Murray scores 31 points in Game 1 win despite lingering ear infection: “We need that from our leader.”

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:51:56 GMT

Jamal Murray left his locker room stall, a jar of watermelon chunks in his hand, and let out a long, deep sigh.Having already scored 31 points on 12-of-20 shooting in Tuesday’s Game 1 win over the Lakers, Murray had one more obligation to fulfill: his postgame media.With a stuffy nose and a coarse voice, Murray said his current status was “manageable.”“I got an ear infection on Saturday,” Murray said. “You know how ear infections are. They hurt a lot.”Before erupting for those 31 points, second only to Nikola Jokic’s 34, Murray didn’t practice in the days leading up to Tuesday’s series opener. Nuggets coach Michael Malone said Murray came to the team’s practice facility, watched film, studied personnel and then went home. They didn’t want him practicing. They wanted him resting.“I sometimes marvel at the kid,” Malone said, lauding his toughness and explaining that as soon as the ball tipped, Murray blocked out whatever impediments the earache was causing.“He showed up and performed ...

Kiszla: This Nikola Jokic 34-21-14 triple double against Lakers was for that trio of ESPN dunderheads Mark Jackson, Kendrick Perkins and Stephen A Smith

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:51:56 GMT

These are not your grandfather’s Nuggets. In a basketball city haunted by the ghosts of nearly 50 years of playoff failure, Nikola Jokic and his teammates refused to run and hide when LeBron James dared them to be spooked by to the Los Angeles Lakers’ championship mystique.After blowing all but a nervous fraction of a 21-point lead, the Nuggets held off L.A. for a 132-126 victory in the series-opener of the Western Conference Finals at Ball Arena.“I don’t think there was any panic, there was poise,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said Tuesday, when asked how his team survived a furious second-half comeback by the Lakers.Well, poise and a whole lot of Nikola Jokic.There’s only one difference between King James and the Joker. According to Nuggets guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who has been a teammate of both superstars. “I feel like the only difference is that Bron can jump higher than Jokic.”Oh, yeah?“That’s really offensive,...

High-speed pursuit suspect evades authorities in L.A. County

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:51:56 GMT

Officers with the California Highway were in pursuit of a driver wanted for traveling at a high rate of speed in Los Angeles County. Authorities initiated the pursuit while the driver was on the westbound 91 Freeway, approaching Vermont Avenue. The suspect was clocked at speeds of 110 miles per hour, while blacking out the vehicle's headlights. After exiting the freeway, footage from Sky5 showed the suspect again speeding on surfaces, blowing through stoplights and driving erratically. As the suspect continued to stay on surface streets, officials with CHP pulled out of the pursuit and officers with the Los Angeles Police Department did not immediately pick up the chase. Pursuit suspect in a white sedan evading authorities in L.A. County. The suspect was last seen traveling near Angeles Vista Boulevard and Knoll Crest Avenue in View Park with no law enforcement units nearby.

LAPD seeks driver involved in street takeover with stolen vehicle

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:51:56 GMT

Los Angeles police detectives are looking for a driver who was involved in a street takeover with a stolen vehicle late last month.The street takeover was reported around 10:50 p.m. on April 30. The driver of a 2022 Dodge Charger was spotted by police doing burnouts at the intersection of Vernon Avenue and Figueroa Street in the Vermont Square neighborhood of South L.A. Nonprofit hopes to crack down on speeding, takeovers with camera systems In a video shared by LAPD on Tuesday, several people are seen hanging out of the red-orange car, while another vehicle also does burnouts at the intersection. LAPD released these images of a man being sought after allegedly being involved in a street takeover with a stolen vehicle on April 30, 2023. Officers tried to stop the driver, but he drove off and eventually got away, police said.The victim, identified only as "Allen," spoke to KTLA about the incident."I woke up Saturday morning and I came out there to go somewhere and it was gone," he ...

Athletics tie it on Ryan Noda’s grand slam in 11th, win it in 12th against Diamondbacks

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:51:56 GMT

OAKLAND — The Athletics tied it in the seventh inning on a two-out grand slam from Ryan Noda and Esteury Ruiz singled home a run in the 12th in a 9-8 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks t the Coliseum before what was left of a crowd of 3,261.Austin Pruitt (1-1) was the winning pitcher with three scoreless innings of relief despite the presence of a free lead runner. Scott McGough (1-1) took the loss for Arizona.Ruiz lined a one-hopper off Nick Ahmed with one out, bringing in Ramon Laureano with the winning run.Nick Allen andLaureano also had solo home runs for the A’s, the first for Allen and the fourth for Laureano. For Arizona, Christian Walker hit a two-run shot in the first (his 10th) and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. had his seventh, a two-run shot in the fifth.The Athletics improved to 10-35 and evened the series at 1-1 with an opportunity to win their second series of the season in Wednesday’s getaway game against Arizona (24-19). The A’s came in having lost three straight an...

Oakland: Deputy injured, patrol vehicles damaged after traffic stop, pursuit

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:51:56 GMT

OAKLAND — A 27-year city resident was in county jail Tuesday after his arrest on suspicion of multiple charges in connection with a pursuit and ramming of multiple vehicles that injured an Alameda County sheriff’s deputy, authorities said.According to a statement posted to an Alameda County Sheriff’s Office social-media account, deputies found a vehicle that had been reported stolen traveling westbound along Interstate 580 near Estudillo Avenue in San Leandro around 2 p.m.Additional deputies followed the vehicle, coordinating with others to carry out a traffic stop, and approached it with several patrol vehicles after it stopped in a parking lot near 35th Avenue and East 12th Street in Oakland.Moments later, the vehicle’s driver responded by intentionally ramming three of the patrol vehicles, leaving a deputy with minor injuries and disabling two vehicles. The vehicle then fled, but a sheriff’s air unit followed it to the 700 block of High Street, where...

Reports say 39 missing after Chinese fishing boat capsizes in Indian Ocean

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:51:56 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — Reports Wednesday said 39 people are missing more than 24 hours after a Chinese fishing boat operating in the Indian Ocean capsized. Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said the accident happened around 3 a.m. Tuesday. The report said the crew includes 17 from China, 17 from Indonesia and five from the Philippines. Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Li Qiang have ordered Chinese diplomats abroad, as well as the agriculture and transportation ministries, to assist in the search for survivors. “All-out efforts” must be made in the rescue operation, Xi was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua News Agency. Li ordered unspecified measures to “reduce casualties and strengthen safety management of fishing vessels at sea to ensure safe maritime transport and production,” Xinhua said. No word was given on the cause of the capsizing. Australia, Indonesia and the Philippines have also expressed their willingness to join in the search. Indonesia’s National Search an...

Singapore hangs 2nd citizen in 3 weeks for trafficking cannabis despite calls to halt executions

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:51:56 GMT

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Singapore on Wednesday hanged another citizen for trafficking cannabis, the second in three weeks, as it clung firmly to the death penalty despite growing calls for the city-state to halt drug-related executions.The 37-year-old man was executed after his last-ditch bid to reopen his case was dismissed by the court Tuesday without a hearing, said activist Kokila Annamalai of the Transformative Justice Collective, which advocates for abolishing the death penalty in Singapore.The man, who was not named as his family has asked for privacy, had been imprisoned for seven years and convicted in 2019 for trafficking around 1.5 kilograms (3.3 pounds) of cannabis, she said. His bid to reopen his case was based on DNA evidence and fingerprints that tied him to a much smaller amount, which he admitted to possessing, but the court rejected it, she added. Under Singapore laws, trafficking more than 500 grams (1.1 pounds) of cannabis may result in the death penalty.“I...

Nepal’s Sherpa guide regains title for most climbs of Mount Everest after 27th trip

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:51:56 GMT

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — One of the greatest mountain guides regained his title for the most climbs of Mount Everest after scaling the peak for the 27th time on Wednesday, just three days after a fellow Sherpa climber had equalled his previous record. Kami Rita, 53, reached the 8,849-meter (29,032-foot) summit guiding a group of climbers on the world’s highest mountain, and was safe and in good health, said Mingma Sherpa of the Kathmandu-based Seven Summit Treks.A fellow Nepali Sherpa guide Pasang Dawa scaled the peak on Sunday for the 26th time, equalling Kami Rita’s record last year. The season’s first wave of climbers reached the summit over the weekend as Sherpa guides fixed ropes and made paths for the hundreds who will attempt to scale the peak over the remaining days of May. May is the best month to climb Everest since it has the best weather conditions. There are generally only a couple of windows with good weather on the highest section of the mountain in May tha...