Detroit Pistons (2-9, 15th in the Eastern Conference) vs. Toronto Raptors (7-6, seventh in the Eastern Conference)
Toronto; Saturday, 7:30 p.m. EST
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Raptors -8.5; over/under is 202
BOTTOM LINE: Eastern Conference foes Toronto and Detroit take the court.
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Toronto went 27-45 overall and 17-25 in Eastern Conference play last season. The Raptors averaged 18.6 points off of turnovers, 12.5 second chance points and 30.0 bench points last season.
Detroit went 20-52 overall and 12-30 in Eastern Conference action during the 2020-21 season. The Pistons averaged 16.5 points off of turnovers, 12.7 second chance points and 41.3 bench points last season.
INJURIES: Raptors: Khem Birch: day to day (knee), Precious Achiuwa: day to day (shoulder), Yuta Watanabe: day to day (calf).
Pistons: Kelly Olynyk: out (knee).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
PORTLAND, Ore. — Trail Blazers president and CEO Chris McGowan has decided to step down after nine years in the position.
Dewayne Hankins, chief commercial officer and executive vice president, will take over as the team’s new president of business operations.
McGowan’s resignation is effective on Nov. 26. He released a statement thanking the Blazers organization and the team’s fans.
“It has been a pleasure serving our passionate fans and team partners, and I wish nothing but continued success to everyone in Rip City,” he said.
McGowan also serves as CEO of Vulcan Sports & Entertainment, an affiliate of Seattle-based Vulcan Inc., the privately held company founded by Paul Allen.
Initially, it looked like another huge blow to Whyte’s hopes of finally landing a world title shot, but ‘The Body Snatcher’ has seemingly been given a reprieve with the WBC set to rule that his withdrawal has not affected his status as the no 1 contender.
And the father of ‘The Gypsy King’ has dismissed Whyte’s injury claims, instead crediting himself for the fight – that was due to take place at the O2 Arena on October 30 – being called off.
John had initially said that taking on Wallin was risky for Whyte, given if he lost it would scupper his chances of finally getting the title chance he craves.
“Dillian Whyte has pulled out from Otto Wallin. You know why? He listened to what I said,” Fury, 57, told BT Sport.
“He’s thought: ‘Hang on a minute, John knows his stuff, I’m not fighting Wallin. I’m going to get turned over probably, I won’t get my title shot then.’
“It takes them to listen to my videos, and then he hears me talking about Wallin, because Wallin is a danger to anybody.
“He thought: ‘I’m not having that smoke, I’ll wait, I’ll wait.’ Let’s just see what he’s waiting for.”
Indeed, the Fury’s themselves know all about the potential of Wallin, 30.
He went the distance with the Manchester man in September 2019, a bout that ended with a unanimous decision in favour of the British fighter, but only after he had to nurse a nasty cut above his eye for much of the night after Wallin struck him early on.
Whyte has long sought a bout with Fury though, and on his Twitter page, his pinned post remains a tweet from June 2020 that labels his rival a coward and references his claims he once knocked him out in sparring.
The Brixton man was mandatory challenger then but in August that year, he suffered a setback when he was knocked out by Russian fighter Alexander Povetkin.
BELLEAIR, Fla. — Lexi Thompson birdied four of her last five holes Friday for a 6-under 64 to share the lead with Jennifer Kupcho going into the weekend at the Pelican Women’s Championship.
One big prize was awarded when Pavarisa Yoktuan made a hole-in-one with an 8-iron on the 145-yard 12th hole and won a two-year lease for a Lamborghini.
Christina Kim felt like a winner, too, even though her work is not done. Kim missed out on Monday qualifying, received a late sponsor exemption and responded with rounds of 65 and 66 to sit just two shots off the lead.
That’s a big deal for Kim because she is No. 98 in the Race to the CME Globe, and only the top 100 keep full cards for next year after this event. She would have to win — something Kim hasn’t done in seven years — to move into the top 60 and advance to the CME Group Tour Championship next week.
For now, she was floating on air, no small task for a 37-year-old who referred to herself as an “Old Betty” who can “occasionally just whack it around and find the bottom of the cup every now and again.”
“Turns out I’m a bit of a control freak. So not being in control of my own destiny, not a big fan of that,” Kim said. “So once I knew I could control my own destiny I was able to just focus on getting the job done.”
Nothing is settled just yet for Kim or anyone else.
Kupcho, who has been a runner-up in each of the past three years on the LPGA Tour while still trying to capture her first title, ran off four birdies in a six-hole stretch around the turn for a 64 that set the target at 11-under 129.
“I don’t know if I necessarily have it figured out,” said Kupcho, who had 12 birdies over her last 28 holes. “I’m just hitting really good iron shots and getting myself in good position on the greens.”
Thompson played in the afternoon and finished strong, her only blemish down the stretch a bogey on the par-4 eighth hole. She has not won since the ShopRite LPGA Classic more than two years ago and has slipped to No. 13 in the women’s world ranking.
Nine players were separated by two shots at the halfway point at Pelican Golf Club.
Leona Maguire of Ireland cooled slightly from her opening 62 and had a 68 to join Wie-Ling Hsu (64). The group another shot back included Mi Hyang Lee (62), Matilda Castren (64), world No. 1 Nelly Korda (66) and defending champion Sei Young Kim (67).
“It’s going to be probably a shootout at the weekend,” Maguire said. “If that’s kind of the case, just trying to make as many birdies as you can and keep your foot down, see where it stands at the end of the weekend.”
Jin Young Ko, who has won four of her last seven starts on the LPGA, had a 66 to get back into the picture. The South Korean’s start was five shots behind.
Emma Talley overcame a bogey-bogey start for another 70 to make the cut on the number, important for her because she is No. 60 in the Race to the CME Globe. In the season finale next week, everyone starts from scratch with $1.5 million at stake.
As for Yoktuan, that hole-in-one left her six shots behind and still a longshot to keep a full card next year because the Thai is at No. 158 in the standings.
The first winners of the NextGenATP Finals squared off on the second day with Carlos Alcaraz winning easily in straight sets, while Holger Rune put up a brave fight, taking down Juan-Manuel Cerundolo in four sets to keep his hopes alive for a semifinal spot.
Brandon Nakashima is out of contention as he fell in straight sets, while Sebastian Baez will only qualify if he beats Sebastian Korda in straight sets, hoping that Musetti will equally beat Gaston also in straight sets.
21-year-old Korda, who is in form, and won a title earlier in the year, is expected to win easily. Korda will qualify if he beats Baez, and Gaston defeats Musetti. 20-year-old Baez, with five ATP Challenger Tour titles on clay in 2021, upset home favourite and World No. 58, Lorenzo Musetti, 4-1, 4-1, 3-4(5), 4-3(5) in 99 minutes. It was the World No. 111’s first tour-level match on hard court.
Carlos Alcaraz is showing why he is top seed at the finals, posting effortless wins to get his Milan campaign underway. He defeated Rune easily, putting up a master class against USA’s Nakashima.
Alcaraz started the year ranked 141 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, but arrived in Milan at a career-high No. 32 after a standout season. In a year of firsts, Alcaraz captured his maiden major title in Umag and upset World No. 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas en route the quarterfinals at the US Open.
The top seed, who is making his debut in Milan, also reached tour-level semi-finals in Marbella, Winston-Salem and Vienna in 2021.
Valtteri Bottas revealed to reporters ahead of the 2021 Sao Paulo Grand Prix that signing a multi-year deal with Alfa Romeo was an unexpected boost to his confidence.
In retrospect, Bottas was doomed to play number two from the moment he took over Nico Rosberg’s side of the Mercedes garage, alongside Lewis Hamilton.
The “perfect wingman“, as Mercedes boss Toto Wolff touted the Bottas, will be his legacy with a team he helped win four F1 constructors’ titles and backing Hamilton up when needed for the four titles he added to his CV since the Finn’s arrival at Brackley.
Speaking to reporters about his new deal, ahead of the race weekend at Interlagos, Bottas admitted: “It had a bigger effect to me than I thought it would have.
“Once everything was done and I knew what I was going to do for the next few years, I just felt a bit more freedom, less pressure in a way, almost like a weight lifted off my shoulders, that feeling.
“That’s something I never had before and I know I can focus on something with the team, with the people around me for a few years ahead, not just focusing on one year. Normally, it’s like six months I need to spend fighting for my seat.
Bottas: Every year there were discussion about who will be in the seats
“Just being able to have that kind of trust from a team that they know I’m going do the best I can for a few years, it just feels good. I can just really focus on the job and think about what I’m going to do next year,” explained Bottas.
The 32-year-old has won ten times for Mercedes but confessed that the year-to-year deal he had with the team was taxing. Every end of the year he was prime time talk of the Silly Season, many predicting this time last year he would be replaced by Russell. They were wrong, he survived another year.
Bottas continued: “Everyone is an individual, how they cope with pressure and which kind of pressure and the length of the pressure but for me, five years in that similar situation never being able to think further than six months, for me, didn’t work.
“It was definitely easier in the beginning, even though there were always discussions pretty much every year, like who will be in the seats, which was a distraction. Don’t forget it was a similar thing for me with Williams more or less, there were always options in the contract, one-year things.
“Now it’s been basically almost nine years always, you know, not being able to think long-term and what was long-term,” added Bottas, who will line up for his 175th Grand Prix, with only this weekend’s race in Brazil and three more as a Mercedes driver. (Additional reporting by Agnes Carlier)
The businessman who organised the 2019 flight that killed Argentine footballer Emiliano Sala in a crash in the English Channel was on Friday sentenced to 18 months in jail for endangering the safety of an aircraft.
David Henderson, 67, was convicted by a jury in Cardiff for endangering the safety of an aircraft over the death of the 28-year-old striker.
He will also concurrently serve a three-month sentence for attempting to discharge a passenger without valid permission or authorisation.
Henderson admitted that charge, which typically concerns a business operator failing to acquire the appropriate licences to hire a plane commercially.
The single-engine Piper Malibu plane carrying Sala crashed into the sea on January 21, 2019, killing him and pilot David Ibbotson, 59.
Sala had signed for Cardiff City, who were then in the Premier League, for a club-record £15 million (18 million euros, $20 million) from French side Nantes.
A British air accident investigation report published in March last year concluded Ibbotson was not licensed to fly the plane or to fly at night.
It assessed that he lost control and flew too fast as he tried to avoid bad weather and that both he and Sala were affected by carbon monoxide poisoning before the crash.
Sala’s body was recovered from the seabed in February 2019 but that of Ibbotson was never found.
DETROIT — Pistons power forward Kelly Olynyk will miss at least six weeks with a sprained left knee.
Olynyk was hurt Wednesday in the Pistons’ 112-104 victory over the Houston Rockets, limping off the court in the fourth quarter.
The Pistons said he underwent testing Thursday that revealed a Grade 2 MCL sprain. The team said Olynyk would be re-evaluated in six weeks by team medical personnel and updates would be provided as appropriate.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Kyle Lowry’s mom was in the house, repping the Raptors in a sweatshirt even though her son has moved on to Miami. But the competitive sprit Lowry left behind in turning Toronto into a champion has rubbed off on this year’s team.
Gary Trent Jr. and Fred VanVleet hit back-to-back 3-pointers over the final 1:10 to lift the Raptors past the undermanned Philadelphia 76ers, 115-109 on Thursday night.
VanVleet hit six 3s and scored 32 points, and Trent added 20. The Raptors lost to Boston on the front end of a back-to-back but the late 3s rallied them to a needed road victory.
The Raptors played hard until the end, a trait that can work wonders for a team trying to surprise this season.
“It’s been in the culture with the Raptors for a while,” coach Nick Nurse said. “We just believe in it, talk about it, drill it. We hold guys accountable. I think the biggest metric is your heart and your toughness and your desire to want to do it. Fortunately, our guys most nights will do that.”
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Joel Embiid, Isaiah Joe, and Matisse Thybulle are still in the NBA’s health and safety protocols and sat out again. Seth Curry did return from a foot injury and Tobias Harris scored 19 points in his return from a six-game absence after testing positive for COVID-19.
“We just need bodies. He’s a warm body. The fact that he’s one of our better players helps,” coach Doc Rivers said.
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The Sixers need more reinforcements and have lost three straight games. Tyrese Maxey did score 33 points for the Sixers.
Andre Drummond had put the Sixers ahead 109-107 with 1:44 left and then followed with a blocked shot on the next possession that sent the crowd into a frenzy.
Trent, though, hit the 3 with 1:10 left that put the Raptors ahead.
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The Raptors led most of the fourth quarter until the Sixers went on a late run. Shake Milton hit a 3 and his baseline drive cut it to 92-89 before Harris scored to bring the Sixers within one. VanVleet and Svi Mykhailiuk, though, each buried 3-pointers that stretched the lead and OG Anunoby dunked off a turnover.
Anunoby then hit a 3, one of 14 for the Raptors.
“He’s always been a great all-around talent,” Trent said. “This year, I’ve seen him lead in certain situation situations, find certain guys. He’s just being that ultimate team player, that ultimate winner.”
TIP-INS
Raptors: Anunoby also scored 20 points. … Trailed 57-52 at halftime.
76ers: Ben Simmons attended Thursday’s film session, though there are still no immediate plans for the guard to return to play. “He’s been around more. He’s doing all the things that I know of that he’s supposed to do,” Rivers said. Rivers continues to deflect questions about Simmons, who officially is out with back and mental health issues. Rivers said Simmons’ status is “the last thing on my mind right now.” Simmons’ agent Rich Paul told The Athletic: “This is no longer about a trade. This is about finding a place where we can help Ben get back to his mental strength and get back on the floor. I want him on the floor playing the game that he loves. I want Ben on the floor. Whether that’s in a 76ers uniform or any other uniform, that’s not up to me, but I want him in a state where he can resume play.” Simmons, a three-time All-Star, requested a trade in the offseason and has a frosty relationship with the Sixers.
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WALK ON
The yearly open tryout held by the NBA G League teams actually yielded a player this season for the Delaware Blue Coats. Brian Cameron, a standout shooter at Division III Wesley College, went from Delaware native to deep reserve on the bench.
He was inactive for the opener but was expected to make the roster at Maine.
Not bad for a guard who pretty much sat out a year because of the pandemic. He impressed in the open workout that included former DI players and was invited to training camp. He signed a one-year deal with the Blue Coats.
“I’m hoping I can find my way in eventually,” he said. “Nothing’s given. Everything’s earned. That’s how I’ve been my whole life coming from small schools here and there. I didn’t have the top recruits with me, or anything. I just have to prove what I can bring with the team.”
Blue Coats general manager Prosper Karangwa said Cameron’s shooting — he shot at least 45% from 3 his first three college seasons — made him attractive to the team.
“I don’t think there’s been a day where Brian hasn’t looked like he didn’t belong,” Karangwa said. “Hopefully there comes an opportunity for him to get some minutes at some point.”
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UP NEXT
Raptors: Return home Saturday to play Detroit.
76ers: Open a six-game road trip Saturday in Indiana.
“I was involved in most of the meetings out here (in the States)”, he told Boxing News.
“They weren’t interviews, they were just watching, looking around, learning, talking to great minds. I think it was pretty good for him, I think the change of scenery will do him good to be honest with you.
“He’s been in Sheffield for [11] years. The problem in there is that he’s god. And when you’re God are going to be worked like a dog? That’s sometimes what you need. He works unbelievably hard but everyone does look at him and they’re like, ‘You are God.’
“You come in here [to an American gym], it is so different. It’s draining for him in the UK. I think it’d really freshen him up out here and I think this is where he should base camp.”
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