Tag: timely

Sixers rookie Tyrese Maxey cleared to return vs. Celtics after negative tests

Philadelphia 76ers rookie Tyrese Maxey has been cleared to return against the Boston Celtics.

The Philadelphia 76ers had a bit of a scare on Sunday when rookie Tyrese Maxey was a late scratch before their matchup with the Memphis Grizzlies and he was put into the league’s health and safety protocols. Considering that the Sixers were hit hard by those protocols in January where they were missing a majority of their team for some time, alarms were raised.

However, all is fine for the Sixers as Maxey was just out for Sunday’s game due to an inconclusive test. He has since received two negative COVID test results and he has been cleared for Tuesday’s game against the Boston Celtics as the team begins another 4-game road trip.

The Sixers should have their full complement of players, minus George Hill, on Tuesday when they take on the Celtics. Joel Embiid missed Sunday’s game against Memphis due to recovery from his knee injury, but he should be set to go for Tuesday barring any setbacks.

This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!

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BetMGM: NCAA championship odds for tonight

Who do you have cutting down the nets tonight?

After Baylor cruised to victory over Houston and Gonzaga won an all-time thriller against UCLA, the men’s basketball national championship will be decided tonight in Indianapolis.

The two combined to go an absurd 58-2 before tonight’s game as Gonzaga is trying to become the first team to finish a season undefeated since Bob Knight led the Indiana Hoosiers to that accomplishment in 1975-76.

Who has the upper edge and do we have another classic awaiting us tonight after the epic battle Saturday?

Here are the latest national championship game odds courtesy of BetMGM, The King of Sportsbooks:

The line:  Gonzaga -4.5
Total:  159.5
Moneylines:  Gonzaga -200, Baylor +165

Looking for some action on this game or others? Place your legal sports wagers online at BetMGM in CO, IN, NJ, TN, and WV. New Customer Offer: Risk-free first bet up to $500! Terms and conditions apply. Visit BetMGM and bet now! 

Maybe one day we’ll see Notre Dame playing basketball on the first Monday night of April.

But I won’t be holding my breath.

Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services. Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.

The Celtics hit 21 3-pointers in 30-point route vs. the Hornets

Tonight, the Boston Celtics won their second-straight game, hitting 21 3-pointers in their 116-86 route of the Charlotte Hornets.

The Boston Celtics won their second-straight game tonight on the heels of 21 made 3-pointers in a 30-point dominant victory over the Charlotte Hornets as the Celtics find themselves back at .500.

Though the start of the game looked like a lot of the recent Celtic losses,  falling down by nine points early in the first quarter, Boston ultimately only trailed by one at the end of the first. The Celtics dominated the second and third quarters, outscoring the Hornets 73-44, including buzzer beating 3pointers to end both frames by Marcus Smart and Jayson Tatum.

Tonight’s victory was led by the mirage of 3-point shooting, as the Celtics hit 21 3-pointers by eight different players, led by Jaylen Brown, who hit 5-of-8 from downtown.

 

Sixers say Tyrese Maxey was out vs. Grizzlies due to inconclusive test

The Philadelphia 76ers explain the situation with rookie Tyrese Maxey for being out.

The Philadelphia 76ers already knew that they would be without Joel Embiid heading into their matchup with the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday, but they also found out late that they would also be without their rookie guard.

Tyrese Maxey was a late scratch due to the league’s health and safety protocols and that is something that rings alarms in Philadelphia. The Sixers had a tough time with those protocols in January when they were without a majority of their team for a tough stretch.

When the news came out about Maxey, it was confusing, but coach Doc Rivers cleared everything up after the loss to Memphis on Sunday.

“Just the protocols, an inconclusive test,” said Rivers. “It was a shame too because this was the night where whenever Joel is out and we slide him into the rotation. He can’t get a break right now so it is what it is.”

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It is tough because due to the game being a blowout, the Sixers played a lot of younger guys in the fourth quarter. Iggy Brazdeikis made his Sixers debut and he was joined on the floor by Paul Reed, Isaiah Joe, and Mason Jones. Those minutes could have gone to Maxey to help him move his development along.

It is unfortunate that this happened to him, but hopefully, he is ready to go on Tuesday against the Boston Celtics.

This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!

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Doc Rivers, Sixers blame fatigue in blowout home loss to Grizzlies

The Philadelphia 76ers blame fatigue as a big factor in their loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.

The Philadelphia 76ers have played a wild schedule coming out of the All-Star break. They recently just finished up a 13-day and 6-game road trip which included four games out West and they then returned home just for a back-to-back against two tough teams.

That is a lot of games to be played in a short amount of time. On top of that, they are doing this all while Joel Embiid is dealing with a bone bruise in his left knee.

They were able to knock off the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday, but the number of games caught up to them on Sunday as they looked tired in a 116-100 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. They got off to a solid start on Sunday, but they just weren’t able to sustain it.

“We’re human, and we played a lot of games in this stretch on the road as long as we were and you come back on the back-to-back,” said coach Doc Rivers. “With the 8:00 game on one night and earlier on the next, 7:00 game, we didn’t stand much of a chance. We played a team that had the night off the night before, with great energy, they played hard so give them credit, and you could tell that they knew that. Not a lot we can do about it.”

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Considering how it was a lot of factors being thrown into it, this was a loss that was not too surprising.

“I wasn’t too surprised,” said veteran Dwight Howard. “You could tell tonight, as the game kind of moved on, a lot of us was just a little winded. We were a step slow to a lot of plays rebounds, loose balls, steals, even getting blown by something that we haven’t had this season.”

Howard had nine points and 12 rebounds and Mike Scott had nine points as the two of them did their best to fill in for Embiid, but they are not the MVP candidate. On top of that, the rest of the team had tired legs. It was a recipe for a tough loss.

“That’s how it’s been going this year,” said Scott. “A lot of games in less days. Everyone has to go through it. We’ll be alright.”

The Sixers now have to move on to the next one as they prepare for the Boston Celtics on Tuesday to begin the road trip.

“I don’t want to make any excuses, but I could tell that we were all tired,” Howard added. “Even me being a young 35, I was a little winded tonight. I just got to make sure we get our bodies right and get ready for the next one.”

This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!

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Georgia ‘22 athlete has Notre Dame in trimmed down group

Another potential Georgian likes the Irish in the 2022 class

It may seem as if the mid-December early signing period is fairly far away, but in the recruiting world, there really is no specific time frame. Players are on their own individual timelines, choosing when and who to commit to when they feel the time is right.

In the case of Georgia athlete Jake Pope, now was the time to narrow his group of schools and focus in on a top 8 set of potential destinations.

The class of 2022 athlete most likely will end up as a safety when he arrives on a collegiate campus, and whichever one Pope will be attending, will be a very good one football choice.

His final group consists of Alabama, Ohio State, and Oklahoma, each the king of their respective conference, along with Auburn, North Carolina, Michigan and Georgia. The Irish have their work cut out for them, but if they get an ever coveted official visit from Pope, they’re squarely in the mix.

Time will tell if they get to host the Georgian, but the recent success by Brian Kelly and his staff in the state means we shouldn’t rule it out. Who knows when Pope will decide that next step in his recruitment, but what we do know is the Irish have a chance to get at another impressive Peach State star.

Oklahoma loses series finale to TCU 7-3 for home sweep, seventh loss in last eight games

Oklahoma baseball fell to TCU 7-3 Sunday afternoon for their seventh loss in the last eight games and suffer a series sweep.

Oklahoma baseball limped into Sunday’s series finale against No. 11/12/22/25 TCU needing a win about as bad as you could need one. After getting clobbered 17-6 by the Horned Frogs Saturday night, the Sooners had dropped six of their last seven games and had fallen all the way back down to .500 on the season.

Needing a good outing desperately, Skip Johnson turned to left-hander Braden Carmichael who did well in a similar spot just a week ago to help Oklahoma salvage the series and avoid a sweep against Texas. He was solid in this one, giving his team a chance to win, but got burnt late perhaps being left in the game just an inning too long.

Carmichael started off strong tossing three scoreless frames to open things up. Meanwhile, the Sooners were able to plate three runs in the second and third innings on a sacrifice fly from second baseman Conor McKenna and a two-run home run by first baseman Tyler Hardman to hold a 3-0 lead heading to the fourth.

It was at that point where Carmichael would run into serious problems for the first time, allowing the Horned Frogs to knot things up with three runs of their own on a two-run double by shortstop Tommy Sacco and an RBI single by left fielder Porter Brown.

The game would remain even at 3-3 into the seventh inning when TCU’s bats would come alive again on a trio of home runs. The first was a two-run shot off the bat of Brown to make it 5-3 and knock Carmichael out of the game. Oklahoma would then turn to one of their best relievers in right-hander Carson Carter, but he would serve up a pair of solo home runs to right fielder Phillip Sikes and third baseman Brayden Taylor to make the lead 7-3.

7-3 would go on to be the final score as the Horned Frogs completed the sweep of Oklahoma in Norman, dropping the Sooners below .500 on the season at 13-14 and just 1-5 in Big 12 play.

This rough patch for Oklahoma has gotten to a very tough point for the team, as this is their seventh loss in the last eight games. To say they have to find a way to turn things around soon would be a pretty big understatement, as their hopes for making much of this season are starting to hang on by a thread.

Granted playing Texas, Oklahoma State and TCU is certainly a difficult seven-game stretch on the schedule for just about any team in the country…but you still have to find a way to win more than once. You just have to. The next week is easily the biggest of the season to this point for the Sooners as they simply have to pick up wins to try to turn things around before any hope of NCAA Tournament berth is gone.

Luckily for the Sooners, they have many home games still coming up over the month of April to try and stock pile some wins and get momentum back. Next up is a date with in-state foe Oral Roberts on Tuesday night back at L. Dale Mitchell Park.

Doc Rivers says it’s smart for Sixers to sit Joel Embiid vs. Grizzlies

Philadelphia 76ers coach Doc Rivers breaks down why Joel Embiid is sitting on Sunday.

The Philadelphia 76ers were able to have star big man Joel Embiid return to the lineup on Saturday after he missed 10 games with a bone bruise he suffered on March 12. The MVP candidate went for 24 points and eight rebounds in 29 minutes in a 122-113 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves as it was a successful return.

As the Sixers get set to take on the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday in the second game of a back-to-back, the team will sit Embiid in this one to manage his injury. It makes a lot of sense that the big fella will be out for this one as he is so important to what Philadelphia wants to do in terms of a title chase.

“His first game back was yesterday (Saturday),” explained coach Doc Rivers. “I would say, any player, not just Joel, any player who’s been out for three weeks and plays in a game, you probably don’t play on the next night. It’s just smart.”

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The Sixers have another big 4-game road trip coming up starting on Tuesday against the Boston Celtics before having two days off in between games. At this point, it is all about making sure Embiid is truly healthy for the stretch run.

There is another back-to-back coming up on April 9 and April 10 on the road trip and Rivers will have to make another decision when the time comes. In terms of this one on Sunday, it was an easy move for the organization.

“This one is pretty simple,” Rivers finished. “I don’t think this is a hard decision for any of us. All the other ones, we go by game by game and day by day, but this one didn’t take a lot of thought in this.”

The Sixers and the Grizzlies will tipoff at 7 p.m. EDT from the Wells Fargo Center.

This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!

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Ex-Notre Dame O-lineman Colin Grunhard compares Irish to Kansas

Will Colin Grunhard experience a turnaround in Lawrence like he did in South Bend?

After four years of mostly sporadic playing time for Notre Dame, offensive  lineman Colin Grunhard chose to move on. He entered the transfer portal and quickly chose to go back home and play at Kansas. Going from a national championship contender to a team that went 0-9 in 2020 can be daunting, even if you’re closer to familiar surroundings. However, Grunhard recently decided to compare his new situation with when he first came to the Irish:

“When I was a freshman at Notre Dame, we were coming off a 4-8 season, one of the worst years in Notre Dame history. The biggest change happens in the weightroom. With [KU strength] coach Ben [Iannacchione], I’ve been experiencing that a lot. We’re working out hard. When we’re running, we’re running hard. Everything matters. The little things matter. If it’s three seconds, you hold it for three seconds.”

Obviously, Grunhard will need a lot more than his own improvement to win with a program that just dismissed Les Miles and has yet to hire his replacement. After all, you can’t just join an offensive line that allowed a nation-worst 47 sacks and 5.22 sacks a game last season and expect a quick fix. The good news for Grunhard is he has two years of eligibility remaining, so he can at least help his new unit make incremental changes. Who knows how much better it will be by the time he’s done playing in Lawrence?

Notre Dame commit Blake Wesley earns hardware at high school contest

The future of Notre Dame got some exposure during Final Four week.

Both Notre Dame and South Bend were represented in this year’s American Family Insurance High School Slam Dunk & 3-Point Championships. Specifically, Riley product and Irish commit Blake Wesley was on hand for the competition ahead of the Final Four in Indianapolis. The contest was held Tuesday, but the broadcast was delayed until Sunday on CBS.

Wesley’s first appearance in the competition came in the IHOP Team Shootout, which teamed him with Auburn commit Jabari Smith and UConn commit Azzi Fudd. His team went first, and it took 48 seconds for the group to complete the sequence, which bore a resemblance to the Shooting Stars competition that once took place at NBA All-Star Weekend. The second team failed to make the final half-court shot in 48 seconds, so Wesley’s team was declared the winner. His prize was a trophy shaped like a stack of pancakes, one of the coolest things you’ll ever see:

Wesley also took part in the dunk contest, but he did not fare nearly as well. Scoring a 22 out of a possible 30 on his first dunk of the first round already put him in a hole. He sealed his fate when he failed to complete his second dunk of the round in the allotted 30 seconds, giving him a 15 on the attempt and a 37 overall. Kansas commit KJ Adams ultimately won the title.