Sports
Charles Barkley rips Pelicans after playoff exit, takes swipe at Texas city
Charles Barkley criticized the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday as they were swept by the Oklahoma City Thunder in their playoff series.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Josh Giddey and Jalen Williams each had at least 20 points as Oklahoma City won the game, 106-85. It’s the first playoff series the Thunder have won since they made it to the NBA Finals in 2016.
As NBA fans would jokingly say, the Pelicans are headed for a vacation in Cancun, Mexico. But the Pelicans were going somewhere worse, Barkley asserted on TNT, because of how badly the team played in the series loss to Oklahoma City. The Basketball Hall of Famer said they were headed for Galveston, Texas.
“Where they going, Chuck?” Shaquille O’Neal asked.
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“Galveston,” Barkley responded, leading Shaq to burst out laughing. “That dirty a– water. We not even gonna send them to Cancun. We’re gonna send them to Galveston where that dirty a– water be washing up on the shore. You people think they’re at the beach.
“We ain’t sending you to Cancun. Y’all quit. Y’all get down to Galveston. C’mon man. They didn’t even try, man. We ain’t giving them no plane ticket to the beach. We send their a– to Galveston, Texas, right where that dirty water washes up on the beach. They can’t even get in the water.”
Oklahoma City will face the winner of the series between the Los Angeles Clippers and Dallas Mavericks.
Dallas leads the series against Los Angeles, 2-1.
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Sports
Monday's high school baseball and softball scores, updated playoff pairings
City Section
BASEBALL
Tuesday’s schedule
(All games at 3 p.m. unless noted)
Division I
First round
#17 Westchester at #16 South Gate
#18 Franklin at #15 LACES
Division II
First round
#17 Sun Valley Magnet at #16 Van Nuys
#20 Stella at #13 Fremont
#19 Los Angeles at #14 Rancho Dominguez
#18 SOCES at #15 Grant
Division III
First round
#17 Animo Venice at #16 Downtown Magnets
#20 Central City Value at #13 Community Charter
#19 Animo Robinson at #14 Triumph Charter
#18 CALS Early College at #15 L.A. Jordan
Wednesday’s schedule
(All games at 3 p.m. unless noted)
Open division
First round
#1 Granada Hills, bye
#9 El Camino Real at #8 Narbonne
#12 Sun Valley Poly at #5 Sylmar
#4 Bell, bye
#3 Carson, bye
#11 Cleveland at #6 Legacy
#10 San Pedro at #7 Taft
#2 Birmingham, bye
SOFTBALL
Monday’s results
Division I
Quarterfinals
Garfield 7, Bravo 0
San Fernando 5, Verdugo Hills 1
Granada Hills Kennedy 4, Eagle Rock 0
Palisades 5, L.A. Marshall 1
Division II
Quarterfinals
Chatsworth 3, Franklin 1
Sylmar 10, Taft 2
L.A. Wilson 9, North Hollywood 7
Marquez 7, King/Drew 5
Division IV
Quarterfinals
Fulton 15, L.A. Leadership Academy 5
Tuesday’s schedule
(All games at 3 p.m. unless noted)
Open division
Semifinals
#5 El Camino Real at #1 Granada Hills
#3 Carson at #2 Birmingham
Division III
Semifinals
#9 VAAS at #4 Bell
#11 Sotomayor at #2 Narbonne
Division IV
Semifinals
#5 LA University at #1 Community Charter
#11 Fulton at #10 LACES
Wednesday’s schedule
(All games at 3 p.m. unless noted)
Division I
Semifinals
#4 San Fernando at #1 Garfield
#15 Palisades at #3 Granada Hills Kennedy
Division II
Semifinals
# 12 Sylmar at #1 Chatsworth
#3 L.A. Wilson at #2 Marquez
Southern Section
BASEBALL
Tuesday’s Schedule
(All games at 3:15 p.m. unless noted)
Semifinals
Division 1
Huntington Beach at Corona
Harvard-Westlake vs. Orange Lutheran at Hart Park, 6 p.m.
Division 2
Arcadia at Hart
Ayala at Moorpark
Division 3
St. John Bosco at South Torrance
Beckman at Los Alamitos
Division 4
Culver City at Camarillo
St. Francis at Ontario Christian
Division 5
Oxnard Pacifica at Santa Monica
Chino Hills at Chino
Division 6
Diamond Bar at Village Christian
Colony at Rancho Mirage
Division 7
South El Monte at Buena Park
Oxford Academy at Lancaster Desert Christian
Division 8
San Bernardino at Orange County Pacifica Christian
Azusa at Edgewood
SOFTBALL
FINALS
At Barber Park in Irvine
Friday
Division 8
Hesperia Christian (18-5) vs. Jurupa Valley (19-12), 10 a.m.
Division 6
Ganesha (21-0) vs. Viewpoint (17-2-1), 1 p.m.
Division 4
JW North (17-13) vs. Paraclete (29-2), 4 p.m.
Division 1
Orange Lutheran (21-3) vs. Garden Grove Pacifica (26-2), 7 p.m.
Saturday
Division 7
Oxford Academy (25-5) vs. Eastside (22-10), 10 a.m.
Division 5
Liberty (22-6) vs. Cerritos Valley Christian (17-6), 1 p.m.
Division 3
Etiwanda (27-5) vs. King (19-9), 4 p.m.
Division 2
California (28-3) vs. Gahr (18-10), 7 p.m.
Sports
Magnussen’s tactics have helped Haas — and put him in danger of a race ban
If you’d have told Haas going into this Formula One season that, after Miami, it would have points from four rounds and sit seventh in the championship, the team would have been delighted.
A car that is more forgiving on its tires, combined with some particularly impressive displays from Nico Hülkenberg, has put Haas a step ahead of Williams, Sauber and Alpine so far in 2024. It has surpassed all preseason expectations, set low after a difficult end to last year, in which it finished last, and that resulted in Guenther Steiner’s offseason exit.
On a couple of occasions, the deciding factor to make the top 10 has been Hülkenberg’s teammate, Kevin Magnussen, whose bold defensive tactics — it wouldn’t be a stretch to call them aggressive — have helped his teammate snare a couple of extra points.
But after a penalty-laden weekend in Miami, Magnussen will spend the rest of the season on the brink of an F1 race ban for his driving behavior, assuming he doesn’t trigger it with one more offense.
At a time when the gulf between F1’s fastest five teams and the slowest five is so great, every single point is valuable in the battle at the back of the grid, particularly as each constructors’ championship position is worth in the region of $12-15 million in prize money.
Magnussen had this in mind in Saudi Arabia after picking up a time penalty for a collision with Alex Albon early on and another for passing Yuki Tsunoda off-track. Knowing his race was ruined by the added time, he got aggressive in his defensive moves to help Hülkenberg. By slowing down the cars he was fighting, Magnussen created a gap that meant Hülkenberg could pit without losing a position, keeping 10th to score a precious point for Haas.
Post-race, Hülkenberg thanked Magnussen for playing the team game. Magnussen picked up three penalty points for the collision with Albon, while the overtake on Tsunoda only resulted in a 10-second time penalty — even though it had cost the cars behind far more.
Magnussen picked up another two penalty points in China for his collision with Tsunoda after the safety car restart, putting him on five for the season. Any driver who accrues 12 penalty points on their super license in a 12-month period is subject to a one-race ban, per the rules introduced in 2014.
Kevin Magnussen’s 2024 driving offenses
Race | Offense | Penalty |
---|---|---|
Saudi Arabia |
Causing a collision with Albon |
10s time penalty; 3 penalty points |
Saudi Arabia |
Leaving the track and gaining an advantage |
10s time penalty |
China |
Causing a collision with Tsunoda |
10s time penalty; 2 penalty points |
Miami (sprint) |
Leaving the track and gaining an advantage |
10s time penalty |
Miami (sprint) |
Leaving the track and gaining an advantage |
10s time penalty |
Miami (sprint) |
Leaving the track and gaining an advantage |
10s time penalty; 3 penalty points |
Miami (sprint) |
Leaving the track without a justifiable reason multiple times |
5s time penalty |
Miami (GP) |
Causing a collision with Sargeant |
10s time penalty; 2 penalty points |
Miami (GP) |
Entering the pit lane under safety car and not changing tires |
Drive-through, converted to 20s time penalty |
But it was in the Miami sprint race that Magnussen did himself the real damage, again to aid Hülkenberg score a few points. He went off-track on three occasions to help stay ahead of Lewis Hamilton, opening up a gap to Hülkenberg ahead in the process. Each triggered a 10-second time penalty that meant Magnussen was classified last, but his actions were effective in allowing Hülkenberg to speed away in front.
Magnussen was already aware of the first 10-second time penalty dropping him to last before the second and third offenses, the latter also resulting in three penalty points on his super license because of the frequency of the misdeeds. Post-race on the radio, he mentioned some “nice teamwork”, and admitted afterwards to F1 TV that he had to “had to do my thing to protect Nico” who scored two points for Haas in seventh.
“I had to play the sporting game not to have him be overtaken as well,” Magnussen said. “So, not the way I want to go racing. But what I had to do.”
The stewards investigated Magnussen for unsportsmanlike behavior after the sprint, given he so freely admitted to driving how he did to help Hülkenberg, only to deem this bar to be set too high for his actions. Magnussen got the penalties the regulations dictate; if they’re not severe enough, that’s on the rules, not the driver. The stewards did note the fact the rules do not deter the kind of way Magnussen drove, and that they would “raise explicitly” the matter with the FIA and the stewarding team.
Magnussen agreed the rules could be improved. “If you’re fighting and you do something that’s not allowed, it would be great if the FIA had the power to tell you to give it back and swap positions,” he said. “That way, it’s going to have an effect immediately and stop any games being played.”
McLaren boss Andrea Stella was very unimpressed by Magnussen’s actions in the sprint, calling them “unacceptable” and saying that penalties should be “exponential,” not cumulative. “Five plus five plus five should equal… maybe you need to spend a weekend at home with your family, reflect on your sportsmanship and then come back,” Stella said.
It will require a close look from the FIA, whether this is a loophole it needs to close to improve driving standards, or simply part of the game. For now, it firmly remains the latter, and it is one that Magnussen played to perfection in Miami.
That’s not to say there may not be a price to pay. The three penalty points were followed by another two on Sunday for his clumsy collision with Logan Sargeant, taking Magnussen up to 10, two shy of a race ban.
It’s not the first time a driver has reached this tally — Pierre Gasly spent a few races on 10 points in early 2023 — but it will be the first time a driver has to spend the majority of the season with the threat of a ban looming.
Penalty points are typically limited to on-track incidents (the three for the repeated breaches of track limits was an exception), meaning it’s likely to only be a collision with another driver that might tip Magnussen over the limit to 12. Magnussen won’t drop any of his points until the start of next season, meaning he has another 18 races to survive without any more incidents.
Were Magnussen to be benched for a race, Oliver Bearman would be first in line to step in after his star turn for Ferrari in Jeddah. Bearman will take part in FP1 for Haas at Imola next weekend, his first of six scheduled practice appearances with the team over the course of the season.
Asking a driver to change their approach or be more mindful when in battle is far easier said than done. For Magnussen, as successful as his tactics have been so far in helping Haas this season, they now leave him at risk of spending a race on the sidelines barring a spotless remainder of the season.
(Lead photo of Kevin Magnussen: Song Haiyuan/MB Media/Getty Images)
Sports
Avalanche star Valeri Nichushkin suspended for 6 months hours before playoff game
The Colorado Avalanche will be without winger Valeri Nichushkin for the Stanley Cup Playoffs and for several months as he was placed in Stage 3 of the NHL/NHLPA Assistance Program.
The announcement came hours before the Avalanche took on the Dallas Stars in Game 4 of their Western Conference semifinals matchup. It’s the second time this season he’s been in the program, and Stage 3 means he violated the terms of the program.
“Under the terms of the joint program, Nichushkin will be suspended without pay for a minimum of six months and then will be eligible to apply for reinstatement,” a joint statement read.
He was leading the team with nine playoff goals.
Nichushkin was out for nearly two months earlier in the season to receive care from the program for issues that were not disclosed. It came on the heels of missing the final five games of a playoff exit last season for what the team called personal reasons.
During the Avalanche’s playoff series against the Seattle Kraken last season, he left the team for personal reasons. His absence started after officers were called to a crisis at a hotel before Game 3. A 28-year-old woman was reportedly in an ambulance when police arrived, and medics were told to speak with an Avalanche team physician to gather more details.
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A Seattle police report said the Avalanche physician told officers that team employees found the woman when they checked on Nichushkin, The Associated Press reported. The physician told officers the woman appeared to be heavily intoxicated, too intoxicated to have left the hotel in a cab or otherwise and requested EMS assistance.
“I know you guys want to find something there, but it’s nothing really interesting. I think we should close it,” he said before the season when asked about the incident.
In the 54 games he did play during the 2023-24 season, he scored 28 goals and racked up 53 points.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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