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Nuggets 3-pointers: Michael Porter Jr. puts Kevin Durant on poster in Game 3 loss

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:27:00 GMT

Initial thoughts from the Nuggets’ 121-114 loss to the Suns in Game 3 of their Western Conference semifinal series.Nuggets missed key 3-pointers down the stretch: The Nuggets’ 3-point shooting in the fourth quarter prevented them from pulling off a comeback and taking complete control of the series. Trailing by nine points in the middle of the fourth, Michael Porter Jr. pump-faked then missed a 3-pointer. Moments later, Bruce Brown watched a wide-open 3-pointer bounce off the rim. Just after Nikola Jokic cut the Suns’ lead down to 109-104, Jamal Murray missed a 3-pointer, and added another miss from deep soon after that. The Nuggets simply ran out of gas in the fourth and the Suns took advantage.Devin Booker stole the night: It was Devin Booker’s world and the Nuggets were living in it Friday night. Booker was getting anything he wanted on the floor. He was knocking down stepback jumpers, pulling up from the 3-point line, and driving down the lane for layups. In the second qua...

Scoring explosion from Devin Booker, Kevin Durant lift Suns to 121-114 Game 3 win, Nuggets’ series lead halved

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:27:00 GMT

PHOENIX – Suns coach Monty Williams found no reason to sugarcoat his team’s situation as the earliest arrivers to the Footprint Center started to file in here Friday evening.“It’s a game that we all know we need,” he said. “There’s nothing wrong with admitting that truth and then it’s like, do the things necessary to get it done, that’s it.”Phoenix’s superstar duo made sure the Suns got it done. The Nuggets will not sweep. Series on.Devin Booker (47 points) and Kevin Durant (39 points) combined for 86 points in a 121-114 Game 3 win over Denver to make it 2-1 in the Western Conference semifinals. Game 4 is here Sunday.“Our defense on Devin Booker was unacceptable,” Denver coach Michael Malone said after Booker hit on 20 of 25 shot attempts overall and lamenting, particularly, the number of step-in attempts he got from 3-point range.“That was pretty incredible. Book’s a hell of a baller man, c’mon. We know this,” Nugget...

Man struck while running across 101 Freeway in Ventura County

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:27:00 GMT

A man was struck and hospitalized while running across the 101 Freeway in Ventura County on Thursday.California Highway Patrol responded to reports of a man running on the freeway just south of Rose Avenue in Oxnard around 3:13 p.m.When deputies arrived, they spotted a 49-year-old Javier Dominguez running across the northbound lanes of traffic toward the southbound lanes.Dominguez climbed over a concrete divider wall and ran into a southbound lane where he was immediately struck by a Chevrolet 3500 utility truck, deputies said.The impact left Dominguez with major injuries as he landed two lanes over from where he was hit.The truck driver, a 63-year-old Camarillo man, was not injured during the crash and was determined to be sober, said CHP. The victims’ sobriety, however, was unknown at the time of the crash. Woodland Hills man comes face-to-face with coyote that entered through doggie door Dominguez was transported to the Ventura County Medical Center where his condition remains ...

Rooker, Laureano go back-to-back as A’s outslug Royals 12-8

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:27:00 GMT

By AVERY OSEN (Associated Press)KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Brent Rooker and Ramón Laureano hit back-to-back homers, Ryan Noda drove in three runs and the Oakland Athletics outslugged the Kansas City Royals 12-8 on Friday night in a matchup between the bottom two teams in baseball.Kyle Muller became the first A’s starter to earn a win in 33 games this year. The drought was the longest to begin a season in MLB history, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.“It’s been a long time coming,” Muller said. “We have had some opportunities and fell a little short. I don’t think the performance was worthy of the first win because we’ve had some guys have some good outings. We’re just going to keep rolling from here.”Rooker, Noda, Esteury Ruiz and Tony Kemp each had three of Oakland’s 17 hits, a season high. Ruiz and Noda both scored three times as the A’s improved to 7-26 with only their second victory by more than one run.Nick Pratto homered for the Royals (8-25), who dropped to 2-15 at home. The...

Air pollution improving in California, but still worst in the nation, report shows

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:27:00 GMT

The American Lung Association has released its annual ‘State of the Air’ report, and the news isn’t good for California.Golden State cities swept the top spot in all three pollution categories: ozone, year-round particulate matter (PM), and short-term particulate matter - all of which come largely from man-made sources like vehicles, factories and refineries.Natural sources include forest fires and volcanoes.The Los Angeles-Long Beach metro area ranked #1 with the most high ozone days of the 227 metropolitan areas that were ranked. Bakersfield was #1 in both year-round and short-term particulate pollution (aka. smog).Sacramento, Fresno and Visalia also landed in the top 10 in each category.The data used to create the rankings came from official monitoring sites across the nation and shows 119.6 million Americans -nearly 36% of the population- live in places with failing marks. But the news isn’t all bad.“Overall, this is 17.6 million fewer people breathing unhealthy air compared to ...

Pederson, Davis propel Giants to 6-4 win over Brewers

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:27:00 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Joc Pederson hit a go-ahead, two-run single against Corbin Burnes in the fifth inning that propelled the San Francisco Giants to a 6-4 victory over the scuffling Milwaukee Brewers in the opener of a three-game series Friday night.J.D. Davis and pinch-hitter Wilmer Flores homered for the Giants, who twice came back from two-run deficits and won their third consecutive game following a five-game losing streak. The Brewers fell to 0-4 on their trip to Colorado and San Francisco and dropped their fifth in a row overall after starting the season 18-9.Sean Manaea (1-1) allowed four runs —three earned — in five innings for his first win with the Giants. Burnes (3-2) permitted five runs over six innings, but only two were earned. A two-base throwing error by shortstop Willy Adames keyed a three-run fifth that gave the Giants a 5-4 lead.Flores, batting for Pederson to start the eighth, homered against Hoby Milner. Brewers manager Craig Counsell altered a lineup that had ...

A’s broadcaster apologizes after apparent racial slur

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:27:00 GMT

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Oakland Athletics broadcaster Glen Kuiper apologized after uttering what sounded like a racial slur while describing a trip to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.In a pregame segment on NBC Sports California before the A’s played the Kansas City Royals on Friday night, Kuiper talked about a trip to the museum with colleague Dallas Braden but seemingly mispronounced the word “negro,” making it sound instead like a slur.Later in the game, Kuiper apologized on the air without getting into specifics.“Welcome back to Kauffman Stadium. I just want to … a little bit earlier in the show, I said something, didn’t come out quite the way I wanted it to,” Kuiper said. “And I just wanted to apologize if it sounded different than I meant it to be said. And like I said, I just wanted to apologize for that.”The A’s later issued a statement, calling the language used by Kuiper “unacceptable.”“The Oakland Athletics do not condone ...

Angels rally for 5-4 victory over Rangers in 10th inning

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:27:00 GMT

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Zach Neto scored on Josh Sborz’s wild pitch in the 10th inning, and the Los Angeles Angels rallied from a four-run deficit to top the Texas Rangers 5-4 on Friday night for their fifth straight win.Neto started the inning on second base as the automatic runner. After Will Smith (0-2) intentionally walked Mike Trout, Neto advanced to third when Trout was forced out at second on Shohei Ohtani’s grounder. Sborz relieved Smith and his first-pitch slider got by catcher Jonah Heim to score Neto.Carlos Estevez (1-1) pitched a scoreless 10th and had a pair of strikeouts. Trout had two hits and drove in a run.The Angels trailed 4-1 in the ninth and were down to their last out before rallying against Smith.Brandon Drury had a base hit to put runners on first and second. Chad Wallach, who came into the game in the top of the ninth as catcher, followed with a two-run double off the wall in right-center. Luis Rengifo’s single then drove in Wallach, tying it at 4...

5 things to look for during King Charles III’s coronation

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:27:00 GMT

LONDON (AP) — King Charles III’s coronation is a chance to unite people with the history and pageantry of the monarchy, but those traditions are also full of potential controversies as he tries to show that the monarchy still has a role to play in modern Britain.The new king has already recognized these challenges by adjusting the coronation festivities to the realities of today.This coronation will be shorter and more inclusive than his mother’s in 1953. Faith leaders from outside the Church of England will take an active role in the ceremony for the first time. And people from all four nations of the United Kingdom, as well as the Commonwealth, will take part.Here are five artifacts that will play a central role in Saturday’s events.THE CORONATION CHAIR AND STONE OF SCONEKing Charles III will sit atop more than 1,500 years of Irish, Scottish and English history when he is crowned Saturday at Westminster Abbey.The crown will be placed on Charles’ head as he sits in the Coronation C...

Crowns and coaches ready for King Charles III’s coronation

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:27:00 GMT

LONDON (AP) — King Charles III, a man who waited almost 74 years to become king, will be crowned Saturday at Westminster Abbey with all the pomp and pageantry Britain can muster.And it can muster a lot.There will be crowns and diamonds, soaring music and, perhaps, a thunderous pledge of allegiance from Charles’ subjects around the country.To top it off, 4,000 troops will march to Buckingham Palace in the post-ceremony procession, making it Britain’s biggest military parade in 70 years. Bringing up the rear will be the newly crowned king and queen in a 261-year-old carriage gilded from nose to tail in glittering gold.“Even in a world where people are sated with on-demand entertainment, people will stop and stare,” said Michael Cole, a former BBC royal correspondent, “because it will be a spectacular procession and a ritual, a ceremony, unlike anything that occurs anywhere in the world.”But like the best dramas, it’s a show with a message.For 1,000 years and more, Br...