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With 76ers awaiting, Hawks and Celtics prepare for Game 6

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:52 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — Sorry Miss Jackson, but the Hawks’ first round playoff matchup with the Celtics just got real.Trae Young’s pullup, 30-foot 3-pointer over Jaylen Brown in the closing seconds of Tuesday’s 119-117 win in Game 5 whittled Boston’s series lead to 3-2.The series is now headed back to Atlanta for Game 6 on Thursday, pushing a scheduled Janet Jackson concert at State Farm Arena back a day, and adding at least a dose of concern for a Celtics’ team that reverted to some bad habits that tripped it up on occasion during the regular season.Though still on the verge of a second straight opening round exit, the Hawks have reason to be confident heading home because they will get back Dejounte Murray, who served a one-game suspension Tuesday for bumping official Gediminas Petraitis after the end of Game 4.“I FaceTimed him as soon as I got in the locker room,” Young said after Game 5 of Murray. “I told him to be ready. I told him before the game that we were going to take care of busin...

Lowell nets boys volleyball victory over North Andover

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:52 GMT

NORTH ANDOVER – The Lowell boys volleyball team isn’t quite used to losing sets amid an unbeaten start to the year, so it was in rare territory when host North Andover took an early match lead as two Merrimack Valley Conference powers faced off Wednesday afternoon.Not for long, though.Behind their normal dose of electric hits from all over the lineup, the No. 4 Red Raiders (8-0) found their rhythm fast en route to a 3-1 (24-26, 25-5, 25-18, 25-22) win over the No. 18 Scarlet Knights (7-2). Star setter Tyrell Lout (38 assists, three aces) orchestrated the effort, playing a crucial role in getting the team going in a rare 25-5 second frame that flipped momentum.Cody Fitzpatrick (15 kills), Eddie Djatcha (six kills, seven blocks) and Ceazar Joseph (10 kills, two blocks) heated up in that time, using that confidence to sort through a competitive grind the rest of the way and stay in the driver’s seat of the early MVC title race.“It was night and day after the first game,” said Lowell he...

Undefeated Burlington nips Arlington in nine-inning softball thriller

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:52 GMT

BURLINGTON — Freshman Izzy Ortiz hit a two-out single in the bottom of the ninth inning to help the Burlington High softball team pull out a dramatic 4-3 win over visiting Arlington in a Middlesex League showdown at Marvin Field.The game, which took more than three hours to complete, saw Arlington take a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning, Burlington (10-0) tied the score in the fourth before each team added single runs in the sixth.The Spy Ponders (6-4) started the top of the ninth inning with a single by sophomore starting pitcher Soline Fisher, but after a sacrifice bunt, Fisher was stranded at second.In the bottom of the ninth, Red Devil sophomore Madison King pounded a leadoff triple to center, but Fisher induced two infield pop ups, setting up Ortiz’s game-winning base hit.“She didn’t even start,” said BHS coach Kristen Farrell, as Ortiz entered the game as the designated player in the fourth inning. “Good for her.”Ortiz singled and scored Burlington’s first run in the fo...

Once a contact hitter, Matt Shaw is now Maryland baseball’s all-time home run leader: ‘He cares about everything’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:52 GMT

There is a new home run king in College Park.With a two-run blast in the third inning of Maryland baseball’s game against Georgetown on Wednesday night, Matt Shaw set the record for most home runs in program history.“It’s good,” the junior shortstop said a few days before his achievement. “Hopefully, I can hit more than one past it and kind of make it a little bit harder to break, but it’s definitely cool.”The home run was Shaw’s 44th of his career. He passed former first baseman Paul Schager, who hit 43 from 1984 to 1987 and applauded Shaw’s leapfrog over him.“I’m happy for him,” said Schager, the current executive associate athletic director at Michigan State. “Maryland baseball has improved. They’re competitive now in the Big Ten, and it’s exciting to see that, and that’s a function of when you have a program that’s having success, you’re going to get better players, and Ma...

Julius Randle sprains ankle again, doubtful to return to Game 5

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:52 GMT

CLEVELAND — Julius Randle is hurt again.The Knicks All-Star sprained his left ankle in the second quarter of Wednesday’s Game 5 against the Cavaliers, laying on the court in pain as trainers, teammates and even coach Tom Thibodeau gravitated toward Randle with concern.Randle turned the ankle after contesting a shot and landing awkwardly on Cavs guard Caris LeVert with 1:17 remaining in the second quarter. He sprained that same ankle on March 29 and missed the final five games of the regular season.The Knicks listed Randle as doubtful to return at halftime.Before the injury, Randle was having a rejuvenated performance with 13 points and six assists in 16 minutes. Three nights prior, the 28-year-old struggled in Game 4 — which included his shaky effort on defense — and was benched for the entire fourth quarter.Thibodeau was hopeful that two days off between games would provide Randle a needed refresher. Asked if he expected Randle to bounce back in Game 5, the ...

‘The rats are going to hate this’: Boston councilors back rodent-killing office

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:52 GMT

“The rats are going to hate this,” City Councilor Gabriela Coletta quipped on Wednesday about a proposal to create a Boston office dedicated to their extermination.Coletta made her remarks at a City Council meeting, where Council President Ed Flynn’s proposal for an office of pest control headed by a “rat czar” drew widespread support from his colleagues.Boston’s operation would be modeled after the pest-control operation in New York City, which appointed its first rat czar earlier this month, Flynn said. He is planning to take a train there within the next 30 days to learn about rodent-killing methods.“Having a dedicated position and office on pest control would allow us to better address the issue, allow for a more streamlined and coordinated process in reducing pests,” Flynn said.Today, pest control is handled by a number of city departments, including inspectional services, water and sewer, and public works, he said.A Boston rat czar would have similar responsibilities to ...

Tatis breaks out in dance while Cubs crowd chants, 'he's on steroids'

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:52 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Fernando Tatis Jr. showed off his expressive personality to Chicago Cubs fans Tuesday night at Wrigley Field.It happened during the fifth inning following his impressive sliding catch in the outfield, when the home crowd started chanting "He's on steroids."Tatis, who returned last week after an 80-game performance-enhancing drug suspension on Aug. 12, took the heckling pretty well by breaking out in dance and pointing to the crowd. ‘The big warm up’ begins in San Diego Over the weekend, Tatis recorded his first home run in his third game back with the Padres since being suspended.The star hitter blamed his positive test for Clostebol on a cream he said he had used for ringworm, which sent shockwaves through the team's facility and fanbase.Prior to his PED suspension, Tatis missed all of last season after breaking his left wrist in his native Dominican Republic.

Why China is trying to mediate in Russia’s war with Ukraine

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:52 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese leader Xi Jinping said Wednesday that Beijing will send an envoy to Ukraine to discuss a possible “political settlement” to Russia’s war with the country.Beijing has previously avoided involvement in conflicts between other countries but appears to be trying to assert itself as a global diplomatic force after arranging talks between Saudi Arabia and Iran in March that led them to restore diplomatic relations after a seven-year break.Xi told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a phone call that a Chinese envoy, a former Chinese ambassador to Russia, would visit Ukraine and “other countries” to discuss a possible political settlement, according to a government statement.It made no mention of Russia or last year’s invasion of Ukraine and didn’t indicate whether the Chinese envoy might visit Moscow.The Xi-Zelenskyy phone call was long anticipated after Beijing said it wanted to serve as a mediator in the war.WHY DOES THIS MATTER?China is the only majo...

Minister didn’t authorize fake travel docs for Afghans, says he didn’t check email

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:52 GMT

OTTAWA — International Development Minister Harjit Sajjan told his fellow MPs Wednesday he did not know a Canadian senator was handing out unauthorized travel documents to hundreds of Afghans during the rise of the Taliban in 2021 because he wasn’t checking his email at the time. Sen. Marilou McPhedran told the House immigration committee last week that Sajjan’s then-chief of staff, George Young, had given her a template for a “visa facilitation letter” that people could use to clear checkpoints on their way to the airport to escape the country. She shared that template with several “trusted advocates,” including the chief human rights officer with FIFA and a former Canadian Olympian.McPhedran said she doesn’t know how many letters were handed out, but believes it was about 640.Sajjan was defence minister at the time and McPhedran said she copied him and several other ministers on many emails about her activities.Sajjan told the committee he...

Rapper MoneySign Suede dies in California prison stabbing

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:52 GMT

SOLEDAD, Calif. (AP) — Rapper MoneySign Suede has died after he was stabbed in a shower at a California prison, authorities and his attorney said.Jaime Brugada Valdez, 22, of Huntington Park, was found in the shower area of the Correctional Training Facility in Soledad shortly before 10 p.m. Tuesday, according to a statement from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.Despite life-saving efforts, he died at a prison medical facility.The agency didn’t detail his injuries but said his death was being investigated as a homicide.“They said it was a stabbing to the neck,” Valdez’s attorney, Nicholas Rosenberg, told the Los Angeles Times.Suede signed to Atlantic Records in 2021, and released his most recent album “Parkside Baby” last September, the Times said.The Monterey County prison houses more than 4,000 minimum- and medium-security inmates.Valdez was sent there after being sentenced in Riverside County last December to serve two years and eight months...