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New Orleans Pelicans star Zion Williamson flourishes in debut without limitations

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At the point when Zion Williamson told reporters concerning not having such a limitations on him this season, he was upbeat. The grin all over was brilliant and his bliss radiated through on the video call a week ago.

After the New Orleans Pelicans’ 114-92 success over the Miami Heat in their preseason opener Monday night, obviously any limitations were a relic of past times.

“It felt great to be out there for extended stretches,” Williamson, who dealt with what the team dubbed “burst restrictions” last season, said. “It was great to experience that again.”

Williamson played 33 minutes, 13 seconds against the Heat, the third-most minutes he’d played in a NBA game – preseason or something else.

“It was a different feeling. I can’t even lie,” Williamson said after the game. “It was a different feeling for sure. I think I was only able to finish a game maybe three, maybe four times last year. But it was a great feeling. When the clock struck zero, I was almost like, ‘Wow, it’s been a while.'”

Williamson really completed 11 of 24 games last prepare however pardon him if his memory is a little murky as the Pelicans just won three of the 11 games he wrapped up. In any case, he once in a while played for extended lengths last season. That changed Monday, as he played 10:19 in the principal quarter, more than he played in any first quarter last season, as per ESPN Stats and Information research. Truth be told, he just played in any event 10:19 in just 75% last season absolute.

Williamson additionally seemed as though his old self on the court as he got done with 26 focuses and 11 bounce back. He just had two twofold copies in 24 standard season games last season (he had one in the preseason a year ago) and his 11 bounce back would’ve tied his vocation high.

Pelicans mentor Stan Van Gundy said he was intrigued with Williamson’s work on edge glass where he pulled down eight bounce back – which likewise would’ve been a vocation high.

“He hasn’t really been doing much of that in practice to be honest and it wasn’t a strength last year,” Van Gundy said. “For him to be able to rebound the ball the way he did on the defensive end was good.”

Van Gundy was additionally dazzled with Williamson’s free-toss shooting as he went 10-of-11 from the line. The lone occasions last season where Williamson, a 64.0 percent free-toss shooter in 2019-20, shot over 90% from the line were the point at which he hit his possibly endeavor against Utah in the air pocket and when he thumped down the two endeavors against Cleveland on Feb. 28.

“The free throws, I feel like I’m going to get fouled a lot,” Williamson said. “That’s free money. I gotta make that.”

Williamson has been placing in work this offseason with Pelicans collaborator mentor Fred Vinson, who was credited with aiding Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram with their shot upgrades last season.

“Me and Coach Vinson have been putting in a lot of work every day in practice, free throws, working on the jumper, working on everything involving my shot,” Williamson said. “That’s been really helpful up to this point.”

Williamson was sitting at 26 minutes when he looked at after the second from last quarter however returned to play the last 6:38 for Van Gundy, who said he needed to get his starters around 30 minutes since they just have two preseason games.

Williamson has conceded how intense it was on occasion to play under burst limitations last season. He said it was hard on occasion to get a cadence moving last season. So to hit the 33-minute imprint on Monday, it was something that felt right.

“That’s why I play basketball,” Williamson said, “to play a lot of minutes and help my team win.”

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Dodgers Unveil Plans for Friday Parade and Stadium Celebration

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The Dodgers announced Wednesday night that they would celebrate their World Series victory on Friday with a parade in Downtown Los Angeles and a special ticketed event at Dodger Stadium. The full broadcast of both tournaments will be available on AM 570, local television stations, and Spectrum SportsNet LA. Fans will not be able to attend both events due to scheduling conflicts, transportation, and logistical issues.

The parade will start at Gloria Molina Grand Park on Spring Street in front of City Hall at 11 a.m. PT. The procession will begin with an official kickoff by Mayor Karen Bass and go for 45 minutes from 1st Street to Grand Avenue to 5th Street, ending at the corner of 5th and Flower Street. Dodgers players will ride double-decker buses during the parade. Due to extensive street closures and a shortage of public parking, those who desire to join the parade are strongly recommended to use public transportation.

At around 12:15 p.m., a special ticketed event at Dodger Stadium will start after the procession. The stadium’s entrance gates will open at 9 a.m., and parking gates for attendees will open at 8:30 a.m. There will be food and merchandise for sale. Before the team arrives, there will be entertainment inside the stadium, including DodgerVision scoreboards that will show the parade. This event will be subject to all Dodger Stadium policies and procedures, including the reminder that signs, bags, and other objects that are prohibited by our policies are not allowed.

At 9:30 a.m., SportsNet LA and local networks CBS 2, NBC 4, KTLA 5, ABC 7, KCAL 9, and Fox 11 will start airing coverage of every event on Friday. On AM 570, there will be radio coverage.

The Los Angeles Dodger Foundation, which is working to address the most important issues confronting Los Angeles with a mission to enhance social justice, health care, education, and homelessness for all Angelenos, will get a part of the stadium event’s earnings.

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Tuten Leads the Hokies with 4 Touchdowns and 266 Running Yards in a Blowout Victory

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Thursday night, Virginia Tech defeated Boston College 42–21 thanks to a school record 266 yards and four touchdowns from Bhayshul Tuten.

For the Hokies (4-3, 2-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), who scored touchdowns on their first three possessions and never trailed en way to a second straight victory, Kyron Drones added two rushing scores and a touchdown pass.

Tuten completed 18 carries while also scoring on 83 and 61-yard touchdown runs, the latter of which came with 8:28 remaining to win the game. And he caught a touchdown pass from Drones that was 20 yards in length.

Tuten declared, “Every game is a special game.” “That’s how I look at it. I just felt a little better today. We had a bye week. I felt great throughout practice. I took the knee brace off (for a sore knee). I felt fast, I felt good, I felt fluid. I just came out and balled today, and that’s what we needed.”

After trailing 28-0 at the half, Boston College (4-3, 1-2 ACC) got within 28-21 on a 5-yard run by Kye Robichaux with 2:55 remaining in the third quarter, and they were on the drive early in the fourth. However, Robichaux was stopped on a fourth-and-1 at midfield, and Virginia Tech took advantage of the next play. With 11:02 remaining, Tuten scored on a 6-yard run to give Virginia Tech a 35-21 lead.

“That’s a good team that we beat tonight,” stated Brent Pry, the coach of Virginia Tech. “And we beat them soundly.”

With his 266 rushing yards, Tuten eclipsed the previous school record of 253 established by Darren Evans in 2008 versus Maryland. After removing Tuten from the game because of his proximity to the record, the Virginia Tech coaching staff decided to put him back in to break it. During the Hokies’ last drive, Tuten set the record with a 17-yard run.

“I normally don’t like that, but a school record at a place like Tech with so many great running backs, and he was deserving with his performance,” Pry stated.

Drones completed 14 of 18 passes for 164 yards and ran for 40 yards. Drones scored on runs of 11 yards and 1 yard on the Hokies’ opening two possessions. The Hokies finished with a season-high 533 yards, trailing just Tuten and Drones.

The Eagles finished with 372 yards, led by Thomas Castellanos, who passed for 205 yards and two touchdowns.

“I felt really good about the preparation for the game,” Boston College head coach Bill O’Brien remarked. “Obviously, I was wrong. We’ve got to prepare differently, better, whatever it might be. We’ve got to figure it out. … We’ve got to coach better. We’ve got a good coaching staff. We do. We have a lot of experience. But we didn’t play well tonight, so that’s on the coaching. We’ve got to coach better and hopefully we’ll get it turned around.”

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Shohei Ohtani Gets Standing Ovation After Achieving 50-50 Milestone, Then Hits 52-52

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After securing the first 50-50 season in MLB history on Friday, Shohei Ohtani made a triumphant homecoming to Dodger Stadium. He continued doing what he does best after that.

The Los Angeles Dodgers player began the 52-52 club with a home run and a steal against the Colorado Rockies, after the teams reached 50-50 and 51-51 in the same game. In the fifth inning, Ohtani faced Rockies starter Kyle Freeland. He worked the count full before taking a pitch at his armpits to deep center field.

Few batters possess the ability to hit a pitch that high and blast it 423 feet in the opposite direction.

After a double and a single two innings later, Ohtani advanced to second base on Mookie Betts’ first pitch.

Ohtani broke Rickey Henderson’s record of 13 home runs in a single game set in 1986 by recording both a stolen base and a home run for the 14th time this season.

After going 9 for 10 with four home runs, two doubles, three steals, six runs, and 12 RBI in his last two games, Ohtani is now one home run behind Aaron Judge for the MLB lead. The majority of that output occurred on Thursday night against the Marlins, when Ohtani not only reached 50-50 with style, but he also had one of the best offensive outings in MLB history.

Ohtani combined an incredible season-long feat with the 16th 10-RBI game in MLB history in the same game that he hit his 49th, 50th, and 51st home runs of the year and stole his 50th and 51st bases. In addition, it was the first three-homer, two-steal game in MLB history, all on the anniversary of Ohtani’s unbelievable—that he didn’t have Tommy John surgery—on September 19, 2023.

The only downside of that magical night was that it happened on the road. Still, Ohtani received a curtain call at LoanDepot Park in Miami. Dodgers fans made an effort to show their support by giving him a standing ovation before his first at-bat on Friday, which earned him a wave in return.

Though it’s unclear how far into untested terrain Ohtani can go in homers and steals, he may have reached 50-50.

In addition, there’s the playoff issue. With eight games remaining, the 92-62 Dodgers have a four-game lead over the San Diego Padres for the NL West championship. They also secured their spot in the playoffs on Thursday. They’ll need to get beyond a string of pitching injuries if they hope to give Ohtani a ring, regardless of where they finish in his debut postseason.

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