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Winderman’s view: At this point, stability has to be spelled L-o-w-r-y for Heat

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:53:00 GMT

Observations and other notes of interest from Wednesday night’s 104-100 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers:– As the turnovers multiplied, up to 20 through three quarters, it became apparent the Heat need a settling force.– Something more than Gabe Vincent.– Something less erratic than Victor Oladipo.– All signs point to Kyle Lowry returning possibly as soon as this weekend.– The Heat not only need Lowry to be good.– They need him to be everything they sought when he was added in the 2021 offseason.– Because this against the Cavaliers was nothing short of helter skelter.– Yes, Lowry has been out more than a month, so perhaps expectations should be tempered.– But perhaps the month off will deliver a rested player, capable of providing a settling force.– This appeared to be a season that would not offer Lowry a second chance.– That opportunity yet could be at hand.– Kevin Love was back after missing Monday’...

Heat can’t overcome their miscues, fall 104-100 to Cavaliers as play-in odds increase

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:53:00 GMT

When the Miami Heat talk about competing, the approach often is expressed as a willingness to play in the mud.Wednesday night at Miami-Dade Arena, Erik Spoelstra’s team created its own slop, with a season-high 24 turnovers.That ultimately provided too much adversity in a 104-100 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers that dropped the Heat four games behind the New York Knicks in the battle for the No. 5 playoff seed in the Eastern Conference and three behind the Brooklyn Nets in the race for No. 6.Their odds for a play-in berth increasing with 15 games remaining, the Heat now find themselves in a tenuous spot for No. 7, just one game ahead of the No. 8 Atlanta Hawks in that loss column.In the play-in, No. 7 hosts No. 8 in a single game to decide the No.7 playoff seed in the best-of-seven first round. The loser of that game hosts the winner of the Nos. 9-10 game for the No. 8 playoff seed.Jimmy Butler led the Heat with 28 points, with Tyler Herro adding 22 and Bam Adebayo 17, on a nig...

Chicago Bulls must find their clutch gene if they want to make the postseason: ‘We can’t think about how it’s been. You just fight.’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:53:00 GMT

Last season, the Chicago Bulls were at their best with a thin margin and a waning clock.The Bulls had the fourth-best record in clutch games, going 25-16 while shooting 48.4% in such situations. DeMar DeRozan became indomitable down the stretch, knocking down game-winning shots with an air of inevitability.But this season, the result of a close game feels like a foregone conclusion. The Bulls entered their game against the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday night with the second-worst record (11-22) in clutch games — ones with a margin of five or fewer points in the final five minutes.It’s enough to give a team whiplash. But DeRozan feels the cause is still a confusion — even with less than five weeks left in the season.“The tide just isn’t turning for us when we’re in those positions,” DeRozan told the Tribune. “Last year, we had everything going our way.”At least on paper, the Bulls don’t look like that bad of a clutch team. The...

MIAA statewide scoreboard and highlights from Wednesday

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:53:00 GMT

BOYS BASKETBALLThe Boston English run continues.David Ballenilla scored 13 points, while Jayson Edwards added 12 as 22nd-seeded Boston English (13-8) advanced to the Div. 3 quarterfinals with a 61-54 win over No. 27 Lowell Catholic. Alijah Iraola had a game-high 17 for the Crusaders.Josh Jean Charles scored 22 points as No. 2 Burke (18-4) cruised to an 80-44 win over No. 15 Tyngsboro in a Div. 4 second-round contest. … Trystan Carter led the way with 18 points for No. 7 Randolph (18-4) in a 74-56 win over No. 10 West Bridgewater (16-5).GIRLS BASKETBALLMcKenna Colella scored the game-winner with 2:15 left and Megan Carney added an empty netter as No.2 Duxbury (22-1-2) advanced to the Div. 2 state semifinals with a 4-2 win over No. 10 Malden Catholic.In the Div. 1 round of 16, Natalia Hall-Rosa collected 25 points and five boards for No. 7 Bridgewater-Raynham (19-3) in a 60-43 win over No. 10 Newton North. … Emily Collins scored 17 points as No. 11 Winchester (16-6) ousted sixth-seede...

3 officers shot in east L.A.; suspect barricaded

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:53:00 GMT

A massive police response was deployed Wednesday night in east Los Angeles after three officers were shot while responding to a call.The shooting took place some time after 6 p.m. near the intersection of Mission Road and North Broadway.Sky5 is overhead where a large perimeter has been set up around the scene for what appears to be a barricaded suspect.Details are limited at this time, and the condition of the officers remains unclear.Police did confirm that two of the officers were patrol officers and a third was a K9 unit officer. Check back for details on this developing story.

Australian leader plans meeting with Biden after India trip

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:53:00 GMT

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Wednesday he plans to meet with President Joe Biden in the United States following a trip to India this week, amid speculation the leaders will make an announcement about Australia’s plans to build nuclear-powered submarines.Albanese gave few details of the U.S. trip, saying there would be further announcements about the arrangements. Albanese is visiting India through Saturday. U.K. officials said Wednesday that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will meet with Biden and Albanese in San Diego on Monday for talks on Australia’s procurement of nuclear submarines under the AUKUS defense agreement among the three nations. The White House confirmed the meetings in a statement released later Wednesday.The previous Australian government infuriated France in 2021 by canceling a $66 billion contract for a French-built fleet of conventionally powered submarines and opting instead for nuclear-powered versions in a ...

U.S. gets warrant to seize Russian company’s Boeing 737

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:53:00 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal court in New York authorized the seizure of a $25 million Boeing 737 owned by a Russian energy company, citing U.S. sanctions against Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine, U.S. authorities said Wednesday. The aircraft is owned by PJSC Rosneft Oil Co., headquartered in Moscow and led by sanctioned oligarch Igor Ivanovich Sechin.The court found probable cause that the aircraft, which has not been in the U.S. since 2014, could be seized by the U.S. based on violations of the Export Control Reform Act. “Today’s enforcement action demonstrates there is a price to pay for Russian companies and oligarchs that flagrantly evade sanctions that the United States has imposed in response to the unjustified war against the people of the Ukraine,” Breon Peace, the U.S. attorney in Brooklyn, said in a news release.Rosneft Oil did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.The action is part of a continuing effort to diminish Russian wealth after its invas...

Will China’s next premier be a moderating influence on Xi?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:53:00 GMT

HONG KONG (AP) — The pro-business track record of the man poised to become China’s top economic official will make his term a test of whether he might moderate President Xi Jinping ’s tendency to intervene.Li Qiang, 63, who is expected to be chosen China’s premier on Saturday, will have to grapple with a slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy, which is dealing with emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic, weak global demand for exports, lingering U.S. tariff hikes, a shrinking workforce and an aging population.Xi, who has bolstered the state sector, has said that he wants the ruling party to return to its “original mission” as China’s economic, social and cultural leader. That has been accompanied by tighter control over some industries, more aggressive censorship of TV and pop culture and the spread of a “social credit” system that penalizes the public for offenses ranging from fraud to littering. Xi took China’s most powerful role in 2012. Now, observers are watching whether L...

Vallas, Johnson debate for first time before runoff election

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:53:00 GMT

CHICAGO — Paul Vallas and Brandon Johnson faced off in their first head-to-head televised debate before the runoff election.Johnson and Valas clashed on public safety and the budget. Vallas, Johnson campaign for allies ahead of first mayoral runoff debate First, Johnson went after Vallas' tenure as the city's budget director under mayor Daley, accusing him of implementing policies that triggered property tax hikes."We're in this predicament because of the bad accounting measures of Mr. Vallas," Johnson said. "The truth of the matter is he has not put forth a budget plan because when he put forth a budget plan four years ago, he came in ninth place.""When I was budget director," Vallas said, "I actually passed budgets and put 13,500 police officers on the streets without raising property taxes once. Johnson went on the offense after taking heat during the campaign for his $1 billion investment plan paid for by various new taxes. On public safety, the candidates articulated their p...

Instagram users report issues accessing app

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:53:00 GMT

(NEXSTAR) - Instagram users trying to check their feeds Wednesday night were met with an unfortunate message - their feeds weren't updating. Users began reporting Instagram being down at around 8 p.m. CT Wednesday. According to Downdetector.com, an outage tracking website, more than 46,000 people reported issues accessing the social media platform. Around 9 p.m. CT, a second spike of Instagram outages was being reported on Downdetector, which collects status information for dozens of sites through user-submitted reports, social media discussion, and "other key indicators." What do the orange, green dots on my iPhone mean? The majority of reported problems were being seen on the Instagram app rather than on the desktop version. Many said they weren't able to see stories at the top of the screen and their feed wouldn't refresh.As of 9:45 p.m. CT, outage reports on Downdetector were declining. It's unclear what exactly caused the outage. Meta, Instagram's parent company, didn't immed...