Tag: timely

Woj: Sixers have shown interest in Lonzo Ball, George Hill, Norman Powell

The Philadelphia 76ers have shown their interest in Lonzo Ball, George Hill, and Norman Powell.

The Philadelphia 76ers are led by one of the more bold team presidents in the league in Daryl Morey who pulled the trigger on some big moves with the Houston Rockets in the past. Even in his short time with the Sixers, he has made some big moves to help them get to the top of the East.

With the trade deadline right around the corner on Thursday, Morey figures to be active in his quest to help the Sixers make a deep run in the playoffs. There are plenty of needs that the team has right now, including a backup point guard and a need for some more shot creators from the perimeter.

The team has kept their interest in Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry, but they also have their eyes on other options such as Lowry’s backcourt mate Norman Powell as well as New Orleans Pelicans guard Lonzo Ball and Oklahoma City Thunder guard George Hill.

Ball is having a solid season in New Orleans averaging 14.2 points and 5.6 assists and he is also shooting a career-high 38.5% from deep on 7.8 attempts. If the Sixers can bring a guy like Ball in to be their backup, or even start if coach Doc Rivers were to choose so, he would be an immediate help as another ball-handler.

Of course, Powell is playing well averaging 26.6 points and shooting 44.4% from deep over his last 10 games and Hill is a proven veteran. Although, Hill has only played 14 games this season due to a thumb injury.

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

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Walker, Brown react to rumors of chemistry issues, Thompson resentment

Walker, Brown respond to rumors of chemistry issues, Thompson resentment.

Whispers — or if we are being more honest, talk — of a rift between veteran big man Tristan Thompson and his team, the Boston Celtics, caught the attention of fans in a new podcast from The Ringer’s Chris Vernon and Kevin O’Connor on Tuesday.

Speaking to one another on a new episode of “The Mismatch,” the duo discussed the state of the Celtics, talking about how the rumors of a potential Marcus Smart trade might be affecting things in Boston and — later on — Thompson’s situation. The champion center has been in the league’s health and safety protocols for the last four games, and Vernon spoke about how the big man has been flouting COVID-19 safety rules to the chagrin of his teammates.

“I was told he won’t stop going out,” said the Ringer analyst.

 

Rams currently have $17.2 million in salary cap space

The Rams have more cap space than anticipated, which could open the door for them to make a few more moves in free agency.

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Maybe, just maybe, the Los Angeles Rams aren’t in a terrible salary-cap situation after all. Despite entering the first week of free agency $33 million over the salary cap, the Los Angeles Rams managed to get under the $182.5 million limit without cutting a single player. They restructured several contracts, including those of Aaron Donald and Jalen Ramsey, also trading Michael Brockers to the Lions in order to save $6.17 million.

As of now, the Rams have much more money to spend than initially anticipated. According to the NFLPA’s public salary cap report, the Rams have $17.179 million in cap space. That’s based on the top-51 rule, which only counts the 51 largest cap hits for 2021, not all 64 players currently on the Rams’ roster.

Over The Cap has the Rams with $10.252 million in cap space, which is a big difference. Their calculations now include restructures of Donald, Ramsey, Robert Woods, Cooper Kupp and Andrew Whitworth, but it doesn’t account for one possible move: restructuring Matthew Stafford’s deal.

Les Snead said last week that the Rams know restructuring his contract is a possibility, but it didn’t seem imminent. It’s possible the Rams did tweak Stafford’s deal, which if officially done would be reflected in the NFLPA’s report, not necessarily Over The Cap’s.

The Rams could’ve saved up to $12.6 million in cap space by restructuring Stafford’s contract, but they wouldn’t have to convert the maximum amount of his base salary into a signing bonus. They could’ve only converted a portion, which could explain the $6.927 million difference between the NFLPA and OTC.

It’s unlikely that either site reflects DeSean Jackson’s contract, since that hasn’t officially been signed yet. Leonard Floyd’s deal is accounted for on Over The Cap, with a $5.5 million cap hit, but it’s also possible his contract isn’t included in the NFLPA’s report – though that seems unlikely since he put pen to paper last week.

Don’t be surprised if it’s reported in the next few days that the Rams restructured Stafford’s contract because there aren’t many other ways for them to free up cap space.

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Celtics at Grizzlies: Prediction, point spread, odds, over/under, betting picks

Our prediction and best bet for Monday’s Celtics-Grizzlies game.

Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics visit Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday, and if you’re looking to do some last-minute betting research, you’re in luck! We’ll give you the latest point spread, moneyline odds and over-under number, as well as the information you’ll need to make the smartest bet on BetMGM.

The game tips off at 9 p.m. ET and can be seen on NBC Sports Boston and Fox Sports Southeast.

The Grizzlies have lost four of their last six, but are coming off a win over the Warriors. The Celtics (21-21) just snapped a three-game losing streak with a 112-96 win over the Magic, and beat the Grizzlies 126-107 in their first matchup this season.

The lines, courtesy of BetMGM

  • Point spread: Grizzlies -2
  • Money line: Grizzlies -135 / Celtics +110
  • Over-under: 219.5

Place your legal, online sports bets in VA, CO, IA, IN, NJ, PA, TN and WV at BetMGM.

Advice and prediction

This is another Celtics game where I plan to avoid the spread entirely. Boston +2 is tempting given how their last meeting with the Grizzlies played out, but this is also a Celtics team playing the second night of a back-to-back.

Instead, I’m taking the under 219.5. The Grizzlies haven’t scored more than 111 points in their last four games, and twice haven’t broken 100. The Grizz also have a top-10 defense by adjusted defensive rating, and the fatigued Celtics should be a bit slower on Monday.

Prediction: Celtics 107, Grizzlies 105

Get more betting analysis and predictions at Sportsbook Wire.

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

When, where, how to watch Oklahoma basketball take on Gonzaga in the NCAA Tournament

Everything you need to know before Oklahoma takes on Gonzaga in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Monday afternoon.

Fresh off of a 72-68 defeat of the No. 9 seed Missouri Tigers, the No. 8 seed Oklahoma Sooners (16-10, 9-8) are ready to return to action in Indianapolis on Monday afternoon in the second round of the NCAA Tournament against the No. 1 overall seed Gonzaga Bulldogs (27-0, 15-0).

The Sooners did what they needed to do to find a way to win in the first round against the Tigers, pulling out the victory against a tough opponent despite missing their second-leading scorer in sophomore De’Vion Harmon due to a positive COVID-19 test. He will be out once again for this game.

While Oklahoma will certainly be glad to have picked up a March Madness win, they are far from satisfied going into the matchup with the highly-regarded national title favorites. In a tournament that has featured gobs of upsets, the Sooners are primed and ready to try and join the party with one that would be as good as any.

The Bulldogs are undefeated and have been widely looked at as at least a top-2 team all year long and and near-unanimously as the No. 1 team for the past couple of months. They are an incredible group under head coach Mark Few with few holes, led by All-American forward Corey Kispert and future-NBA lottery pick Jalen Suggs. Also certainly not to be overlooked is forward Drew Timme, who is a sensational player as well.

Simply put, Gonzaga has been No. 1 all season long for a reason. They are extremely good and an opponent has to essentially play perfectly to beat them. It isn’t breaking any news to say the Sooners have to offer their best performance of the season to be able to win this game.

For this second round game in the 2021 NCAA Tournament, here is everything you need to know:

WHEN:   1:40 p.m. CT

WHERE:   Indianapolis, Indiana (Hinkle Fieldhouse)

HOW TO WATCH:   CBS (Carter Blackburn, Debbie Antonelli & Lauren Shehadi)

HOW TO LISTEN:   Sooner Sports Radio Network – KRXO 107.7 FM The Franchise in Oklahoma City; KTBZ 1430 AM in Tulsa; Tune In Radio App (Toby Rowland & Kevin Henry)

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Tobias Harris, Julius Randle react to late foul call that lifted Sixers to win

Tobias Harris and Julius Randle react to the late foul call that lifted the Philadelphia 76ers to a win.

The Philadelphia 76ers were down by one late in the game and it looked like they were going to let one slip away to the New York Knicks in overtime. They were in the middle of a tough second half against a physical New York team and things were not going well.

Then, Shake Milton drove to the basket, he missed it, and Knicks star Julius Randle was called for a loose ball foul against Tobias Harris. It seemed like it was a late call and it looked like a questionable call, but it was one that benefitted Philadelphia in this case.

Harris stepped to the line and knocked down both with 5.1 seconds left and the Sixers escaped with a 101-100 win on the road. It was a nail-biting win and it was a good one against a tough team on the road on a night where things were not going so well on the floor.

“For me, just going to the line and doing what I normally do,” said Harris. “The same routine, just blocking out all the noise, and just really focusing. I just wanted to win a game, because we had too much going on. I was like ‘Man, we got to put this one down and win the game’.”

Randle, on the other hand, was not happy with the foul call and he let his displeasure be known afterward.

Please be advised that the tweet below contains language that some might consider offensive.

“He made a great cut,” said coach Doc Rivers of Harris. “Randle knew he was kind of beat on it and you can see him shove him. It was clearly a foul. A lot of horrendous execution by us tonight. It’s good when you win these games, film gets a lot better when you’re teaching.”

The Sixers made a ton of mistakes in this one, but they came out on top and that is all that matters at the end of the day.

“We just made a lot of mistakes,” Rivers added. “I had to waste the first timeout in overtime because I thought we lost our spirit. It was one of those games, you just had to pull it out of him and we did that tonight.”

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

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Twitter reacts to Rams signing DeSean Jackson

Twitter is excited to watch Matthew Stafford throwing to DeSean Jackson, for however long the WR can stay healthy.

There’s a new wide receiver in Los Angeles, and his name is DeSean Jackson. On Sunday night, the Rams agreed to terms on a one-year deal with Jackson, bringing him back home to Southern California.

He gets to reunite with Sean McVay, too, who he played for while McVay was on Washington’s coaching staff from 2014-2016. With Robert Woods, Cooper Kupp, Cam Akers and Tyler Higbee already on the roster, the Rams’ offense looks quite good – especially now that Matthew Stafford is their quarterback.

Jackson is injury-prone and 34 years old, but he adds some much-needed speed to the offense. Stafford now has his deep threat, and McVay has yet another chess piece to work with.

Here’s how Twitter reacted to the Rams’ latest addition.

https://twitter.com/HoldenCantor/status/1373796638754541569

Celtics take out frustrations on Magic, return to .500 with 112 – 96 home win

Boston ditched their losing record for the moment with a solid win over Orlando.

The Boston Celtics got back to .500 for the season with a much-needed, 112 – 96 win over the Orlando Magic at TD Garden Sunday afternoon, with a huge game from All-Star forward Jaylen Brown leading the way for his team.

The Georgia native scored 34 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists on an efficient 12-of-24 shooting, including a sizzling 10-of-18 makes from beyond the arc, one shy of teammate Marcus Smart’s record on the team and a career high. Fellow All-Star wing Jayson Tatum added 23 points, 4 boards and as many assists on 7-of-13 shooting overall, hitting 5 of his 8 3-point attempts in a hot-shooting night for the Celtics.

Boston shot 42.6% from deep as a team, and despite drawing just 9 attempts from the stripe throughout the whole game, went perfect from the line to secure the win.

Magic vs. Celtics: Prediction, point spread, odds, over/under, betting picks (3/21)

Everything you need to know to wager on today’s game against Orlando.

The Boston Celtics play the Orlando Magic on Sunday, March 21, 2021, and if you’re looking to do some last-minute betting research, you’re in luck! We’ll give you the latest point spread, moneyline odds and over-under number, as well as the information you’ll need to make the smartest bet on BetMGM.

The game tips off at 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time and can be seen on NBC Boston, and features a likely desperate Celtics hoping to get back to at least .500 and a peculiar Magic franchise that has only one a single game out of its last 10 contests played — but the win came against the mighty Brooklyn Nets.

Talk about mixed signals from a betting perspective!

Make it 7 straight wins for Notre Dame baseball

Don’t look now but a certain school is sitting well-atop the ACC standings…

Make it a perfect four-for-four in terms of series wins for Notre Dame baseball this season as the Irish used a five-run sixth inning on Saturday to clinch the weekend series with Duke.

Trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the sixth, Niko Kavadas hit his third home run in as many games and seventh on the season to put Notre Dame in front, 4-2.

A few batters later it was Friday night’s hero, Ryan Cole, hitting an inside-the-park home run to stretch Notre Dame’s lead to 6-2.

John Michael Bertrand did the rest, pitching a complete game and surrendering just two runs, and mostly scattering five hits throughout.

The win was Notre Dame’s seventh in a row and puts them atop the ACC at 9-2 overall.

You can watch the Irish go for the sweep on Sunday afternoon as they wrap their home-opening series with Duke at 2 p.m. ET on ACC Network.