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Magic Look to Bounce Back With More Energy at Celtics

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Magic Look to Bounce Back With More Energy at Celtics


BOSTON – Over two weeks ago, after the Orlando Magic’s latest rally fell short in a loss to the Detroit Pistons, fourth-year guard Jalen Suggs called out a worrying trend among his team in hopes of nipping it in the bud.

“We’re putting ourselves in these holes and spotting teams leads, then having to fight, scratch, claw just to get back in the game and give ourselves a chance,” Suggs said on New Year’s Day.

The Magic had developed a resilience that meant they were never out of games, no matter the score. Complimentary, energy-filled basketball helped Orlando do the fighting, scratching and clawing to get back into those games.

Did it always result in a victory? Not quite. But the relentless attitude and constant effort – especially for a team so handicapped by its shrinking list of healthy players – was commendable, and has been embedded in the Magic’s DNA.

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In the rare occasions when it doesn’t show face, though, Magic coach Jamahl Mosley says it’s “glaring.” That was the case when the Milwaukee Bucks delivered a 29-point shellacking to Orlando, marking the most lopsided loss for the Magic this year.

“There was an energy and effort issue,” said Mosley postgame.

Wendell Carter Jr. would later say his team was “out-physicaled” and made life too easy for their opponent.

Then, in the locker room, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope told reporters Orlando got its “a– whooped,” and Paolo Banchero told reporters, “[A]s a group top to bottom, we’ve got to be more ready to play. We’re down a lot of bodies, but we can’t make excuses and we’ve just got to come out and play for each other.”

To Banchero’s point, the Magic’s 124 missed games from players due to injury or illness haven’t been a catch-all, safety-net excuse when the team is struggling. Instead, their aforementioned resilience built an identity that helped them generate results throughout the entire first half of the season, regardless of available contributors.

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It justifies Mosley’s claims that the lackluster performance vs. the Bucks “wasn’t Orlando Magic basketball. Not even close.” Because although that was the case in Game 42, through the first 41 games, it wasn’t.

“It’s something that you can learn from, and you have to be able to bounce back, which this group has always done,” Mosley said.

With a national audience watching along, Orlando (0-4 in national TV games this season) pays its only visit to TD Garden Friday evening, squaring off with the defending champion Boston Celtics for the second of three matchups this season. The Magic host the 18-time champs once more in April to close the Kia Center’s regular season slate.

Boston has dropped three of their last five outings, including an uncharacteristic loss to the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night in Scotiabank Arena. The Celtics were without Jayson Tatum due to a last-minute spat with an illness in the Magic’s Dec. 23 home win, but Orlando was shorthanded as well. Of their top four scorers, only Suggs was available.

“We beat them last time at home, so I’m sure they haven’t forgot that,” Paolo Banchero said in Orlando’s locker room Wednesday. “They have a hell of a home atmosphere [and] home crowd, so they’ll be ready to play in front of their fans.”

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Heading into Friday’s tilt, where both teams are eager to wipe the slate clean from their mid-week malaise, Boston reports a clean bill of health. Now, only Banchero is available of the Magic’s top scorers, and other key reserves are unavailable as well.

MORE: Magic-Celtics Injury Report

Those who are available, however, say they shouldn’t have any issue getting back to their standard.

“Playing against teams like this is what hoopers get up for,” Anthony Black said. “Definitely getting up for this game. It’s always fun playing against some good hoopers, so I think we’re up and I think we’ll be ready to bring energy come game time.”

“You don’t like losing games, especially when you get your butt kicked,” Mosley said, “but you also have to know you have to bounce back, can’t hang your head, be ready to go and move on the next game.”

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Stairlift brings relief to residents stuck in building with broken elevator

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Stairlift brings relief to residents stuck in building with broken elevator


A broken elevator has left some residents of a Boston apartment building unable to leave, but a new stairlift has brought temporary relief.

When 80-year-old Silke Evans, who lives at the Villa Michelangelo Apartments in the North End, spoke with NBC10 Boston last Wednesday, she had been stuck inside for weeks.

“I feel imprisoned. That’s it,” she said at the time. “I feel like I’m in prison.”

Silke Evans, an 80-year-old woman living at the Villa Michelangelo Apartments in the North End, has been unable to use the elevator at her building for three weeks.

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“She was stuck up on the third floor for a total of three-and-a-half weeks,” her daughter, Katharine Clark, said Thursday.

Thursday, Metro Management, which runs the building, installed the stairlift as a temporary solution while waiting for elevator repairs.

It allowed Evans to leave for the first time in nearly a month.

“They had food, and got to eat out, and just feel like a normal person,” Clark said. “She’s been looking kind of sad for weeks, so it’s the first time I saw some pictures where she was genuinely smiling.”

The fix brought major joy to Evans, with hopes of a long-term solution in the future.

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“We’re not out of the woods. We still have a broken elevator. Hopefully, it’s not too many months with just a chairlift,” Clark said.

Jeff Buono, director of property management, told NBC10 Boston last week that the process to repair the elevator has been difficult.

“They’re estimating four to five weeks to get the parts and then four to five weeks for the install,” Buono said in a phone interview. “It’s tough to get parts in general. It takes longer to get them than it ever has before. So the systems now just need to be modernized. I mean, it does take a toll on our elderly population — it really does. And we do feel for them. They’re likely family to us.”

NBC10 Boston reached out to the management company for further comment Thursday, but staff had already left for the holiday weekend.

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Review & setlist: It was 100 degrees in Boston, and Goose was on fire

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Review & setlist: It was 100 degrees in Boston, and Goose was on fire


Concert Reviews

The Connecticut jam band delivered an incendiary show at Leader Bank Pavilion Wednesday night.

Goose lit up Leader Bank Pavilion Wednesday night. Lauren Daley / Boston.com

Goose at Leader Bank Pavilion, Boston, July 1, 2026.

I discovered the fan spritzing water at 7:07 p.m., as the “feels like” temp hit 102.  It stood near a semicircle of coed porta-potties at the back of Boston’s Leader Bank Pavilion, and we gathered round it like wallowing water buffalo at a flooded rice paddy.

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Still, despite the temperature, the weather was not the hottest thing in Boston last night. Goose was on fire.

Night 2 of their “Big Modern!” Boston run saw mostly old favorites. All fat funky jams and spectacle, it veered into the frantic — primal guitar and crowd whoops. You could’ve charged for the light-show alone. They made a case for frontman/Berklee alum Rick Mitarotonda as one of the great lead jam guitarists working today.

Now, sometimes the most selfless gift a band can give fans on a new album tour is to not play much off the new album. I’m thinking of how heartbroken my dad was when Neil Young indulgently played 2003’s “Greendale” in full. With costumed actors. Before most fans had the album (if they bought it).

As for Goose, I’m not a big fan of their slick, heavily produced (overproduced?) “Big Modern!,” released last month.  The record gives big “I said we’re not a jam band, Mom!” vibes. Whether it’s a new direction, a lark, something to get out of their system,  or a Bob Dylan-esque random venture into new territory, a la “Saved,” only time will tell.

But unlike Neil Young, Goose selflessly delivered the hits. They played just one song off the new album — the title track. For the record, they played only one “Big Modern!” song on night 1 in Boston: “Torero.”

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Live, the artists’ DNA remains. Those funky, meaty jams, Mitarotonda’s smooth vocals and raw guitar that feels at all times begging to be let off the leash to run wild, howling — until it inevitably does.

Sorry, Goose. You’re a jam band. You cannot fight animal-nature.

When the powers of lead guitarist/vocalist Mitarotonda, multi-instrumentalist Peter Anspach — both natives of  Wilton, Conn. — combine with bassist Trevor Weekz and Bedford, Mass. native drummer Cotter Ellis, jams get electric. 

When that electricity combines with the Jedi-level mastery of their  brilliant lighting production team, including lighting designer Andrew Goedde — it feels otherworldly.  By the end of the night, my camera roll looked like a kaleidoscope.

Lauren’s camera roll.

The Connecticut quartet took stage at 7:39 p.m.  Anspach, typically the one to address the crowd, walked on stage with:  “Alright, Boston let’s do this. Drink your water tonight, man. It’s f—ing hot.”

They launched into a fiery “Iguana Song” with red and green lights which turned to green and blue, then epic white and red strobes as Mitarotonda’s guitar let out primal screams, and Cotter thwacked. The crowd got on their feet and never sat down.

“Iguana” reached two peaks and ended with all of us cattle-lowing “Goooooooooose” in the way that Springsteen’s fans shout “Bruuuuuuuuuuce.” (We’re not booing.)

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The smell of weed poured over me by 7:42. Yes, by God, in the age of ubiquitous vapes and pre-packaged candy edibles, a few old-souls brought skunky old-school pot.  The smell immediately took me back to childhood days at Great Woods. (Single tear in eye.)

Next: fan favorite “Royal” as a blue balloon was tossed in the crowd. Things slowed down a bit with “It Burns Within,” before launching into “Wisteria Lane” with Anspach playing both guitar and keys simultaneously, and lights shooting like UFO beams before breaking into greens and purples. 

The highlight of the night, though, was an incendiary version of “Electric Avenue” — a 1982 Eddy Grant song that’s become a repertoire staple — that had the whole crowd singing, then shouting as Mitarotonda’s lightning-fast fingerpicking became frantic.

Then Ellis took lead vocals on a funky “Draconian Meter Maid,” a Swimmer song Ellis apparently brought to the band when he joined in ’24. It ended in a cacophony of electric sound, warped beats building into a frenzy before slowing to almost a full halt as bands of orange and green light waved like seaweed in water. As it built back up to the frenzy, the crowd lost it, whooping and screaming, dancing in aisles. 


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Next came a bluegrassy hoedown “Flodown” to end set 1 around 9:06 p.m., with the “feels-like” temp a balmy 93 degrees.

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Intermission saw guys sticking heads under outdoor bathroom sink faucets, wiping faces down with paper towels, holding sweating beer cans to foreheads.

Set 2 kicked off at 9:35 p.m. with the only song they’d play off “Big Modern!” all night: the title track. The set started off spacier, adding to a slow trippy feel. It was now fully dark, and the lights popped even more, hazy light beams illuminating mist and smoke in the air. 

“Creatures,” had a sway-in-the-aisle feel, ending with some goosebumps-inducing vocals from Mitarotonda, as lights turned aqua blue.  “Jive II” was pure funk that proved they’re a jam-beast at heart. Set 2 ended with “Jive Lee,” but they quickly returned for an encore with “Doobie Song,” a pure reggae tune played for the first time in a year, which Anspach said was dedicated to their crew.

The mellow song was a beautiful way to bring everyone down off the mind-melting jams. It reminded me of how the Grateful Dead capped nights with a lullaby, “We Bid You Goodnight” as a chamomile tea for the mind. 

They capped with “Give It Time,” under a hushed aqua light, ending around 11 p.m. Mitarotonda sang, “Go ahead, give it hell.”

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They did.

It’s easy being green — or almost any other color — when you’re Goose. – Lauren Daley / Boston.com

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After 13 songs in more than three hours, they delivered something for every type of Goose fan in Boston last night — and every type of Goose fan was there.

There were the “Big Modern!” fans— one dude in a bright yellow and pink jumpsuit, to match the album colors. Young couples in Dead & Co shirts, gray-haired dads with polo shirts, khaki shorts and Keens drinking next to classic wooks. A white-haired grandmother-type in a long floral dress swayed next to a pack of teens with glitter on their faces.

I spotted half a dozen Celtics jerseys with “Walton” on the back, an homage to Boston Biggest Deadhead. Grateful Dead-themed Red Sox jerseys — some with Garcia on the backs — peppered the crowd. A man in Lululemon. A young girl with hand-made patchwork overalls. Bearded hippies with decades-old Neil Young tees.

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All of us here to happily dance in the 100-degree heat for hours of fiery jams.

Like it or not Goose, you’re a jam band. It’s coiled in your DNA. Your cells ring with it. You can put out as many bubblegum-slick albums as you want. Blood always tells. 

Full setlist for Goose at Leader Bank Pavilion, Boston, July 1, 2026:

Set 1:

  • Iguana Song
  • Royal
  • It Burns Within
  • Wysteria Lane
  • Electric Avenue
  • Draconian Meter Maid
  • Flodown

Set 2:

  • Big Modern!
  • Creatures
  • Jive II
  • Jive Lee

Encore:

Lauren Daley is a freelance culture writer. She can be reached at [email protected]. She tweets @laurendaley1, and Instagrams at @laurendaley1. Read more stories on Facebook here.

Profile image for Lauren Daley

Lauren Daley is a longtime culture journalist. As a regular contributor to Boston.com, she interviews A-list musicians, actors, authors and other major artists.

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2026 Yukon Denali Ultimate gets pricey, but tops the charts

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2026 Yukon Denali Ultimate gets pricey, but tops the charts


GMC and their flagship Yukon brings all-around excellence with this week’s tester: the 2026 GMC Yukon Denali Ultimate

This cousin to the Chevrolet Tahoe provides all of the space, comfort, style and luxury anyone could want.

In 2026, the GM brand worked wonders on their existing fleet and added nice trim levels to keep the competition always thinking about what they’re doing next.

Our Glacier White Tricoat tester was flawless and completely destroys the competition in the American Luxury market.

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Known for its high MSRP and resale values, the Yukon Denali Ultimate has a base price of $103K and is powered by a 6.2L ECOTEC3 V8 engine and 10-speed automatic transmission. With 420 horsepower and 460 lb-ft of torque, our weeklong tester had a 8,400 pound towing capacity.

The Yukon Denali Ultimate had a slew of standard features including a 16.8-inch premium infotainment system, 24-inch wheels and a 15-inch head-up display. Upgrades include second-row captains seats, BOSE performance sound system with 22-speakers and Night Vision – all totaling an additional $7,090. Boasting a Woodland Mahogany interior, the Yukon Denali Ultimate is certainly classy for all consumers and exemplifies the American Luxury that GMC provides.

In Grasso’s Garage, the Flagship GMC Yukon Denali Ultimate is the real deal. It looks stellar, rides good, and has good values. Although pricey for most consumers, the usage in this category is second to none. I was able to fit six adults on our way to dinner and heard a ton of compliments on its comfort and style, in addition to its spaciousness.

The GMC Yukon has a long-lasting history in the fleet, and in my opinion, having the Denali Ultimate package added is just the way it has to be to experience its full offerings.

Grasso’s Garage is here for you! Looking for more auto reviews or are you in the market for a new car? Head to https://www.bostonherald.com/tag/automotive/. Also, for honest input, reach out to me directly: marc.grasso@bostonherald.com.

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2026 GMC Yukon 4WD Denali Ultimate

MSRP: $103,900

MPG: 14 city / 18 highway / 16.2 as tested

As Tested: $113,785



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