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Philadelphia 76ers count on MVP Joel Embiid, new coach as season arrives marred by Harden turmoil

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:25:17 GMT

PHILADELPHIA 76ERSLast season: 54-28, reached Eastern Conference semifinals. Coach: Nick Nurse (1st season with 76ers, 277-163; 6th season overall, 329-293).What to expect: Headaches. The 76ers again reign as Team Turmoil. Only two years removed from watching former No. 1 pick Ben Simmons sit out and cause a roster disruption, the Sixers are at it again with James Harden. All Harden did in the offseason was pick up a $35.6 million contract option only to then demand a trade. When the Sixers couldn’t find a suitor, Harden called team president Daryl Morey a liar and vowed he would never again play for a team run by Morey. Harden did report to the final days of training camp and practiced to meet certain contractual obligations before he skipped practices ahead of the preseason finale. The 76ers can only hope reigning NBA MVP and two-time scoring champion Joel Embiid and guard Tyrese Maxey can keep them afloat under first-year coach Nick Nurse until the situation is resolved.Dep...

All eyes on Victor Wembanyama as the No. 1 pick opens a new era with San Antonio Spurs

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:25:17 GMT

SAN ANTONIO SPURS Last season: 22-60. The Spurs missed the playoffs for fourth straight season.Coach: Gregg Popovich (29th season, 1,366-761).What to expect: Wembanyama! Wembanyama! Wembanyama! All eyes have been on No. 1 pick Victor Wembanyama and that hype will only increase once the season gets underway. At 7-foot-3 with an 8-foot wingspan, Wembanyama has impressed in the preseason with his long-range shooting, footwork in the paint, ability to quickly close defensively and block shots as well as his immense skills around the rim. The 19-year-old from France has done little to dampen the hoopla that began swelling following his performance in the 2021 FIBA U19’s in Latvia. Tim Duncan had a lot of talent around him when he joined the Spurs a quarter-century ago, but that’s not the case for Wembanyama. His supporting cast includes Devin Vassell, Jeremy Sochan and Keldon Johnson along with Zach Collins at center and Tre Jones at point guard. Key re...

Mavs have Doncic, Irving from the jump after their partial-season debut was a dud

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:25:17 GMT

DALLAS MAVERICKSLast season: 38-44, missed playoffs.Coach: Jason Kidd (3rd season with Mavericks, 90-74; 8th season overall, 273-264).What to expect: The Mavericks will find out what a full season looks like for the All-Star pairing of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. Dallas faded and missed the playoffs after the blockbuster trade that brought Irving from Brooklyn. Injuries limited their chances together. This season starts with an injury question for Doncic. He’s battling a left calf strain that might keep him out of the opener. The Dallas front office believed the roster around Doncic and Irving was part of the problem last season. The club’s two first-round picks — Dereck Lively II and Olivier-Maxence Prosper — could be in the rotation or even start. Grant Williams was acquired from Boston in an effort to upgrade the frontcourt. Sharpshooting Seth Curry is back for a third stint in Dallas, which hopes his presence will loosen things for Doncic and Irving and give the cl...

Indiana Pacers begin season chasing a playoff berth instead of biding time to rebuild

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:25:17 GMT

INDIANA PACERSLast season: 35-47, missed playoffsCoach: Rick Carlisle (7th season with Pacers, 241-251; 22nd season overall, 896-793 )What to expect: All-Star guard Tyrese Haliburton took one big step last season and another this summer at the FIBA World Cup. Now, he’s ready to take the Pacers on a new journey — back to the playoffs. Haliburton realizes the fastest way to end a three-year postseason absence is for the Pacers to improve defensively. And with their deepest, most talented roster in years they just might. Ten players on the roster were first-round picks. Guard Andrew Nembhard was the first pick in the second round in 2022. Buddy Hield and Obi Toppin, both college national players of the year, are expected to play key roles while Oscar Tshiebwe, the 2021-22 college player of the year, plays primarily in the G-League. But after spending the past two years near the bottom of the league in scoring defense, the Pacers have gone all-in on a fix. They signed two=time NBA...

Rockets hire Udoka, add veterans Brooks, VanVleet as they try to escape NBA’s basement

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:25:17 GMT

Houston RocketsLast season: 22-60.Coach: Ime Udoka (first season with Rockets, 2nd season overall, 51-31). What to expect: The Houston Rockets invested money to bring in veterans Dillon Brooks and Fred VanVleet to play with their young talent this season as they look to take a step forward after three seasons as one of the league’s worst teams. They also drafted Amen Thompson No. 4 overall this year to give them another high pick to play with 2022 No. 3 pick Jabari Smith and Jalen Green, the second pick in 2021. Also new is coach Ime Udoka after Stephen Silas was fired after three seasons. Udoka led the Celtics to the NBA Finals in 2021, then was suspended last season after the disclosure of an inappropriate relationship with a female Celtics employee. Udoka is looking to develop Houston’s young players. Though the Rockets should be better this season with the addition of Brooks and VanVleet, oddsmakers still expect them to be one of the NBA’s worst teams.Departures: G Kevin Porter ...

Elecciones en Argentina 2023, en vivo: noticias de Massa, Milei, Bullrich y más

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:25:17 GMT

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Airstrikes hit Gaza as Israel says it doesn’t plan to control life there after destroying Hamas

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:25:17 GMT

Palestinian children displaced by the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip walk in a UNDP-provided tent camp in Khan Younis on Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)(AP/Fatima Shbair) Palestinian children displaced by the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip walk in a UNDP-provided tent camp in Khan Younis on Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)(AP/Fatima Shbair) KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel bombarded the Gaza Strip early Friday, hitting areas where Palestinians had been told to seek safety, and it began evacuating a sizable Israeli town near the border with Lebanon, the latest sign of a potential ground invasion of Gaza that could trigger regional turmoil.Amid the fighting, Isra...

Family grieves loss of father after I-25 train derailment

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:25:17 GMT

PUEBLO, Colo. (KXRM) — Lafollette Henderson was doing what he loved and what he told his kids was "vacation." On Oct. 15, Henderson was killed while driving a semitruck along Interstate 25 north of Pueblo when a train derailed on the bridge above. I-25 reopens in both directions after train derailment near Pueblo The 60-year-old truck driver was from Compton, California, and his family confirmed with FOX31's sister station FOX21, he had just beaten cancer. Loved ones said Henderson's nickname was "Ace." "He was the man, that's why they call him 'Ace,'" said Katrina Jordan, who was formerly married to Henderson and now a good friend. "Number one, ain't nothing better than him. He could sell ice cubes to an Eskimo. He was that guy, large in life, and it seems that he's large in death also."Katrina Jordan shared stories behind her great friend's nickname 'Ace.'His family is now left in shock as they are coming to terms with the loss of a man they describe as larger than life."He was ...

The Kremlin’s new targets: Russia goes after Alexei Navalny’s lawyers

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:25:17 GMT

For the nearly three years Alexei Navalny has spent in jail, the Russian opposition leader has fought deprivation with stoicism and humor. At different moments, he has complained of being denied access to walks, food parcels, the radio, contact with his family and even fellow prisoners — all while seemingly remaining unfazed.  But when last Friday he was told by journalists at a court hearing that he had no lawyer, he seemed genuinely stunned. “No way! There’s a raid at Kobzev’s?” Navalny can be heard saying in an audio recording, referring to his long-time lawyer Vadim Kobzev. Several days later he learned, again from journalists, that Kobzev and two other lawyers he had worked with, Alexei Liptser and Igor Sergunin, were in pre-trial detention. They face up to six years in prison for “participation in an extremist organization.”  Two other acting lawyers of Navalny’s, Olga Mikhailova and Alexander Fedyulov, are outside Russia ...

Cairo peace summit is a long-shot to end Israel-Hamas war

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:25:17 GMT

BEIRUT — Egypt’s leader Abdel Fattah el-Sisi is forging ahead with a peace summit in Cairo on Saturday that he hopes can avert the Gaza crisis from escalating into a broader regional war, but his key problem is the all-important trio who won’t be there: the U.S., Israel and Iran. Leaders of a dozen countries, including top officials from Turkey, Qatar and Europe, are converging on Egypt for the conference, but the absence of the big three at the heart of the conflict makes it highly unlikely the summit can pull anything out of the hat.Iran is the heavyweight player looming over the conflict. Tehran is both an ally of Hamas, whose militants killed more than 1,400 people in Israel in the attack of October 7, and of Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which many observers fear is poised to enter the war against Israel from the north. Only increasing the fears that Iran is fomenting a destabilizing proxy war across the Middle East, Tehran-backed militant groups launched a series of ...