US mourns basketball trailblazer Harris
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sport, local-sport
Lusia ‘Lucy’ Harris, the basketball pioneer who won a silver medal at the 1976 Olympic Games and was the first Black woman inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, has died at the age of 66. No cause of death was given. “We are deeply saddened to share the news that our angel, matriarch, sister, mother, grandmother, Olympic medallist, ‘The Queen of Basketball’, Lusia Harris has passed away unexpectedly today in Mississippi,” her family said in a statement. “She will be remembered for her charity, for her achievements both on and off the court, and the light she brought to her community, the State of Mississippi, her country as the first woman ever to score a basket in the Olympics, and to women who play basketball around the world.” She led the US national team to a gold medal at the Pan American Games in 1975 and a silver the next year at the Montreal Games, which was the first Olympics to have a women’s basketball tournament. She was drafted by the NBA’s New Orleans Jazz in 1977 but never played in the league, instead choosing to focus on raising a family. She was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1992 and the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999. Her life story was chronicled in a critically acclaimed documentary last year entitled “The Queen of Basketball”. “When I got the call and they said they wanted to do this documentary, I was really kind of surprised,” she told Good Morning America in June. “That was just unreal.” Australian Associated Press
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US mourns basketball trailblazer Harris
Sixers turned down trade package from Pistons for Simmons?
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It’s no secret the 76ers want to trade Ben Simmons; the only hang-up appears to be when they’ll get offered a package they like. Details have reportedly emerged about what those offers have looked like.
Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer wrote Tuesday that Philadelphia was not impressed by an offer made by Detroit earlier this season of Jerami Grant, Saddiq Bey, Kelly Olynyk and a first-round pick. Fischer reports the offer was made during or shortly before last fall.
Simmons has been on the trade block since last summer, and partially as a result of that, he’s yet to appear in a game this season. He’s currently being fined with each absence as he continues to hold out.
The 76ers have reportedly been seeking at minimum one All-Star-caliber player in a trade for Simmons, and while Grant has not yet made an All-Star Game, he’s awfully close. This season with the Pistons, he’s averaging 20.1 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game on decent shooting splits. He’s viewed as a solid defender, too, making him one of the most attractive trade candidates on the market.
Bey is also viewed as an appealing asset, as he’s shown steady improvement so far and is averaging 15 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game in his second season. Olynyk is a veteran presence who is averaging 12.5 points and 5.3 rebounds per game in addition to being a solid 3-point shooter, and is also on a medium-sized contract that would help match salaries in a potential trade for Simmons.
The trade deadline is just a few weeks away at 3 p.m. EST on Feb. 10.
Report: Bol Bol traded again by Nuggets, this time to Celtics in 3-way deal with Spurs
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Bol Bol is on the move again.
This time he’s reportedly headed to Boston. After a trade to the Detroit Pistons last week was voided because of a failed physical, the Denver Nuggets center is now headed to the Boston Celtics in a three-way deal involving the San Antonio Spurs, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports.
The Nuggets are also sending guard P.J. Dozier to Boston and will receive Spurs guard Bryn Forbes in return. The Celtics are sending forward Juancho Hernangomez to San Antonio. The Spurs will also receive Denver’s second-round pick in the 2028 draft.
Bol Bol is on the move to Boston. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images)
Bol slated to have foot surgery
News of the deal arrives hours after The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported that Bol is slated for foot surgery that will sideline him for 8-12 weeks. The surgery sheds light on why the Pistons voided the previous trade. The Celtics are apparently content to trade for Bol knowing he won’t be immediately available.
Bol, the son of 7-7 former NBA center Manute Bol, joined the Nuggets as a high-profile second-round draft pick out of Oregon in 2019. A 7-2 center, Bol has flashed a versatile game with ball-handling skills and 3-point range, but never broke into Nuggets coach Michael Malone’s rotation.
Shooting upgrade for Nuggets
Dozier, Hernangomez and Forbes have all seen limited action as reserve players on their previous teams. Forbes is the most productive of the three this season, averaging 9.1 points, 1.6 rebounds and one assist while shooting 41.7% from 3-point range in 16.9 minutes per game during his time with the Spurs. He’s an upgrade as a shooter and scorer over Dozier, who averaged 5.4 points and 31.3% from 3-point range with the Nuggets and will miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL. He’ll provide salary cap relief to the Celtics as a pending free agent.
The Daily Sweat: After first losses of season, can Baylor bounce back vs. WVU?
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After a weekend dominated by the NFL, it’s time to turn our focus toward basketball for a few days.
There are only two NBA games on tap for Tuesday night, but college basketball is full of intriguing matchups. Leading the way is Baylor’s trip to West Virginia.
A week ago, Baylor, the defending national champion, was undefeated and the No. 1 team in the country. Entering Tuesday night’s game in Morgantown, though, the Bears have lost two straight and are aiming to get back on track in one of the tougher venues in the Big 12.
Baylor, which lost back-to-back home games to Texas Tech and Oklahoma State, is a 6.5-point favorite at BetMGM. The total is listed at 138.5.
Baylor, now ranked No. 5, has covered the spread just once over its past six games and is 1-4 ATS in conference play. BU has been dealing with some injuries as of late. James Akinjo has been banged up while Jeremy Sochan, a key bench piece, has been out with an ankle injury. The Bears also really struggled with their outside shooting in those two losses.
West Virginia, meanwhile, is coming off a tough road loss to No. 9 Kansas. Before that loss, the Mountaineers, now 13-3 on the year, had won 10 of their previous 11. Like Baylor, WVU has struggled ATS in Big 12 play. The Mountaineers are 1-3 ATS against conference competition and are 5-5 ATS at home this season.
Baylor’s James Akinjo handles the basketball against Oklahoma State in the first half at the Ferrell Center on Jan. 15, 2022, in Waco, Texas. (Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images)
What are the other big college basketball games?
Elsewhere in the Big 12, No. 18 Texas Tech will host No. 15 Iowa State. The Red Raiders were riding high after upsetting Baylor and then blowing out Oklahoma State, but they came out flat on Saturday and were upset on the road by Kansas State.
TTU should be much more focused against the Cyclones, a team that they lost to 51-47 in Ames a few weeks ago. ISU opened Big 12 play 1-3, but put together a nice 79-70 home win over No. 21 Texas on Saturday.
For their trip to Lubbock, the Cyclones are 8.5-point underdogs at BetMGM. That’s a pretty big number. Perhaps an Iowa State team that has surprised in the first few months is coming back down to earth in the eyes of the oddsmakers.
Story continues
No. 7 Kansas, sitting in first place in the Big 12, is just a 3.5-point favorite on the road against Oklahoma, which has lost three of its last four but is 8-1 at home.
In the ACC, No. 6 Duke is a 5.5-point favorite on the road against unranked Florida State. FSU had some slip-ups early in the year but is playing much better in recent weeks. The Seminoles have won four of their last five, including a road win over Syracuse on Saturday.
Duke forward Paolo Banchero (5) dunks against North Carolina State during the second half in Durham, N.C., on Saturday, Jan. 15, 2022. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)
Another team in the ACC to keep an eye on is Miami. The Hurricanes went on a nine-game winning streak that included a road upset of Duke, but that streak was snapped on the road against FSU last Tuesday. Following a week off, the Hurricanes are back at it against North Carolina. Miami is a 2.5-point home underdog against a UNC team that has won four of its last five.
Miami is 4-1 ATS as an underdog and 5-1 ATS in ACC play. UNC has covered the spread in five of its last seven games and is 4-1 ATS vs. ACC opponents.
A few other point spreads that caught my eye are No. 8 Wisconsin as just a 3.5-point favorite on the road against Northwestern, and Davidson as a 2.5-point underdog at VCU.
Wisconsin, which is 11-5 ATS this year, has won six straight games and is coming off a 10-point win over Ohio State. Northwestern snapped a four-game losing streak with a road upset of No. 10 Michigan State on Saturday. And NU did it without leading scorer Pete Nance, who is dealing with an ankle injury. Before the MSU win, the Wildcats had lost their previous four games by single digits.
Davidson has the second-best ATS record in the country at 12-3, which includes a 5-0 ATS mark on the road.
What about the NBA?
As previously mentioned, there are only two NBA games scheduled for Tuesday.
The early game is the New York Knicks as 2.5-point home underdogs against the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Knicks are 2-4 ATS as underdogs at Madison Square Garden. Minnesota is 13-8 ATS on the road.
Additionally, the Golden State Warriors are 15.5-point favorites at home against the Detroit Pistons. The Pistons have the second-worst record in the NBA at 10-32 but have won three of their last five and are a very respectable 20-22 ATS this season. The Pistons are 9-8 ATS in the 17 games they have been double-digit underdogs this season.
NBA MLK Day 2022: Full schedule, start times, TV channels, live streams
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Another one of the marquee holidays on the NBA schedule is upon us.
With Martin Luther King Jr. Day set for Jan. 17, there are 12 games of NBA action for fans to watch.
There are a ton of the league’s best players on display, headlined by Jayson Tatum, Joel Embiid, the Nets’ Big 3, DeMar DeRozan, Ja Morant, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Trae Young, Luka Doncic, Devin Booker, LeBron James… the list goes on and on.
If you’re looking for the NBA’s MLK Day schedule along with ways to watch each game, we have you covered below.
NBA League Pass: Sign up to unlock live out-of-market games (7-day free trial)
2022 NBA Martin Luther King Jr. Day schedule
New Orleans Pelicans at Boston Celtics
Time: 12:30 p.m. ET
Channel: Bally Sports New Orleans | NBC Sports Boston
Streaming: NBA League Pass | Sling TV
Charlotte Hornets at New York Knicks
Time: 1:00 p.m. ET
Channel: NBA TV | Bally Sports Southeast | MSG Network
Streaming: NBA League Pass | Sling TV
Philadelphia 76ers at Washington Wizards
Time: 2:00 p.m. ET
Channel: NBC Sports Philadelphia | NBC Sports Washington
Streaming: NBA League Pass | Sling TV
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Brooklyn Nets at Cleveland Cavaliers
Time: 3:00 p.m. ET
Channel: YES Network | Bally Sports Ohio
Streaming: NBA League Pass | Sling TV
Chicago Bulls at Memphis Grizzlies
Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
Channel: TNT | Bally Sports Southwest | Bally Sports South
Streaming: NBA League Pass | Sling TV | Watch TNT App
Indiana Pacers at LA Clippers
Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
Channel: Bally Sports Indiana | Bally Sports SoCal
Streaming: NBA League Pass | Sling TV
Milwaukee Bucks at Atlanta Hawks
Time: 6:00 p.m. ET
Channel: TNT | Bally Sports Wisconsin
Streaming: NBA League Pass | Sling TV | Watch TNT App
Portland Trail Blazers at Orlando Magic
Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
Channel: NBC Sports Northwest | Bally Sports Florida
Streaming: NBA League Pass | Sling TV
Toronto Raptors at Miami Heat
Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
Channel: SN One (Canada) | Bally Sports Sun
Streaming: NBA League Pass | Sling TV
Oklahoma City Thunder at Dallas Mavericks
Time: 8:30 p.m. ET
Channel: Bally Sports Oklahoma | Bally Sports Southwest
Streaming: NBA League Pass | Sling TV
(NBA Getty Images) https://images.daznservices.com/di/library/sporting_news/54/e9/devin-booker_1es7gsknft9pc18ljsc5uomxe3.jpeg?t=1949966853&w=500&quality=80
Phoenix Suns at San Antonio Spurs
Time: 8:30 p.m. ET
Channel: Bally Sports Arizona | Bally Sports Southwest
Streaming: NBA League Pass | Sling TV
Utah Jazz at Los Angeles Lakers
Time: 10:30 p.m. ET
Channel: NBA TV | Root Sports Northwest | Spectrum SportsNet
Streaming: NBA League Pass | Sling TV