Washington
San Antonio vs. Washington, Final Score: Spurs ride Wemby’s first 50-point game to 139-130 win over Wizards
Another day, another historical game for Victor Wembanyama. The Spurs came into tonight’s match-up against the struggling Washington Wizards looking for their third win in four games during this five-game home stand, and while the second unit gave up a couple of double-digit leads in the first and fourth quarter, they were built on the back of Wemby’s red-hot shooting, and the Spurs were able to hold on down the stretch to secure the 139-130 win.
Wemby scored a career-high 50 points with the help of another career-high of 8 threes on 15 attempts, along with 6 rebounds and 3 blocks. His big night actually overshadowed a similarly big one from Jordan Poole, who had 42 points and led the Wizards in their last-ditch comeback attempt to keep the game interesting down to the final seconds.
Observations
- In case you missed it, the Spurs announced earlier in the day that the medical episode Gregg Popovich suffered back on November 2 ahead of the Timberwolves game was a mild stroke. He is now in a rehabilitation program and is expected to make a full recovery, but there is no timeline for him to return. Pop and his family remain in our thoughts and prayers, and hopefully he can return to the sideline again.
- Jonas Valanciunas continued his Spurs-killer ways, recording a double-double of 10 points and 11 rebounds in just 10 minutes of action in the first half alone. Fortunately, he never got going in the second half as the Spurs pulled away.
- Sometimes Box Score plus/minus doesn’t lie, and that was the case in the first half. All the starters had a plus/minus ranging from +9 to +17, while everyone off the bench had a negative, double-digit plus/minus except Blake Wesley, who was at 0. That certainly passed the eye test, as the Spurs built an early 16-point lead before almost instantly giving it back up when the bench came in for the first time, and the teams played pretty even from there to end up tied 67 all at halftime.
- Wembanyama is on an absolute tear in this home stand, and it continued today. He had 24 points by halftime and didn’t slow down in the second half. For the third game in a row, he matched his career high for threes in a game (6) early in the third quarter — only to soon break it with another. Even though he attempted 15 threes (maybe he will keep taking them and break the franchise record after all), he made 8 of them. The real test will come when the Spurs return to the road on Saturday, as his splits between home and the road are night and day.
- One thing the Spurs did not do well in this game was protect leads. They came out of the gate hot from three early to build a 16-point lead in the first quarter, but bench blew it almost entirely, and the lead was down to one at the end of the first quarter. The Wizards would eventually take a lead of three a few times before a huge 26-7 Spurs run to end the third quarter. The Spurs then built the lead all the way to 21 in the fourth, but once again the Wizards began to chip away once Mitch Johnson went the bench, and the starters had to return with five minutes left to close things out. Credit to the Wizards for not giving up.
- To end on something the Spurs did well that they haven’t in past games: protect the ball. They only had nine turnovers, conceding just 4 points off them. On the other hand, the Wizards had 18 turnovers, giving up 20 points off them to the Spurs. It turns out, the Spurs needed every bit of that difference tonight.
For the Wizards fans perspective, visit Bullets Forever.
The Spurs will conclude their home stand on Friday for the NBA Emirates Cup opener against the Los Angeles Lakers. Tip-off will be at 6:30 PM CT on ESPN.
Washington
Brothers shot Park Police officer who arrested one of them the day before, documents say
Charging documents reveal the U.S. Park Police officer who was shot Monday in Southeast D.C. had arrested one of the suspects the day before and was following that suspect at the time.
The suspects are brothers, 22-year-old Asheile Foster and 21-year-old Darren Foster, of Southeast. They appeared in federal court Wednesday afternoon.
Court documents state the Park Police officer who was shot had arrested Asheile Foster on Sunday on suspicion of dealing drugs. The officer said he followed Foster after he was released from jail on Monday and came to Park Police headquarters to get his personal belongings.
According to prosecutors, Foster told police he knew he was being followed by a white Tesla, and he confronted the officer on Queens Stroll Place SE, jumping out in front of the Tesla before the officer swerved around him.
Then, dozens of gunshots went off, the officer told police. He said in charging documents he was shot in the shoulder as he kept driving several blocks to the intersection of Benning Road and Southern Avenue SE, where police found him. A helicopter then took him to a hospital. According to charging documents, the officer was treated and released the same night as the shooting.
A U.S. Park Police officer who was shot in Southeast D.C. on Monday is recovering from what authorities say was likely a targeted attack. Multiple law enforcement sources tell News4’s Mark Segraves that when the officer was shot, he was investigating a shooting that occurred in Anacostia Park on Friday.
Photos in the charging documents show the brothers firing at the officer’s Tesla, according to prosecutors.
The shooting drew a massive police presence to the Southeast neighborhood near the D.C-Maryland border Monday night.
Shell casings littered the middle of the street. Police said they recovered two weapons: a Glock 9 with an extended magazine and an AR-15.
Prosecutors said that when the officer was shot, he was investigating a shooting that occurred in Anacostia Park on Friday. No one was injured in that shooting.
Darren Foster was located and stopped shortly after the shooting, D.C. police said. Asheile Foster was found on Tuesday.
The brothers were charged with assault on a federal officer, assault with intent to kill and weapons charges. They could face up to 60 years in prison if they’re convicted.
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Washington
Washington passes new AI laws to crack down on misinformation, protect minors
Washington just became the latest state to regulate artificial intelligence.
Under a pair of bills signed by Gov. Bob Ferguson Tuesday, companies like OpenAI and Anthropic will have to include new disclosures in their popular chatbots for Washington users.
Ferguson asked legislators to craft House Bill 1170 to crack down on AI-generated misinformation. When content is substantially modified using generative AI, that information will now have to be traceable using watermarks or metadata. The new law applies to large AI companies more than 1 million monthly subscribers.
“ I’m confident I’m not the only Washingtonian who often sees something on my phone and wondering to myself, ‘Is that AI or is it real?’ And I feel like I’m a reasonably discerning person,” Ferguson said during the bill signing. “It is virtually impossible these days.”
RELATED: WA Gov. Bob Ferguson calls for regulations on AI chatbot companions
House Bill 2225 establishes new guard rails for AI chatbots that act like friends or companions. It applies to services like ChatGPT and Claude, but excludes more narrowly tailored chatbots, like the customer service windows that pop up when visiting a corporate website.
Chatbots that fit the bill will have to disclose to users that they are not human at the start of every conversation, and every three hours in an ongoing chat. The tools will also be barred from pretending to be human in conversation with users.
The rules go further if the user is a minor. Companies that operate chatbots will have to disclose that the tools are not human every hour, rather than every three hours, if the user is under 18. The bill forbids AI companions from having sexually explicit conversations with underage users. It also bans “manipulative engagement techniques.” For example, a chatbot is not allowed to guilt or pressure a minor into staying in a conversation or keeping information from parents.
“AI has incredible potential to transform society,” Ferguson said. “At the same time, of course, there are risks that we must mitigate as a state, especially to young people. So I speak partly as a governor, but also as the father of teenage twins who grapple with this as a lot of parents do every single day.”
Under the law, AI chatbots will not be allowed to encourage or provide information on suicide or self-harm, including eating disorders. The companies behind these tools will be required to come up with a protocol for flagging conversations that reference self-harm and connecting users with mental health services.
The regulations come in the wake of several high-profile instances of teenage suicide following prolonged interactions with AI companions that showed warning signs. Many more AI users of all ages have reported mental health issues and psychosis after heavy use of the technology.
Washington
Washington faces Utah, aims to stop 16-game skid
Washington Wizards (16-55, 14th in the Eastern Conference) vs. Utah Jazz (21-51, 14th in the Western Conference)
Salt Lake City; Wednesday, 9 p.m. EDT
BOTTOM LINE: Washington heads into the matchup with Utah after losing 16 in a row.
The Jazz have gone 13-24 in home games. Utah ranks second in the Western Conference with 16.6 fast break points per game led by Lauri Markkanen averaging 3.3.
The Wizards are 5-29 in road games. Washington is 9-10 when it has fewer turnovers than its opponents and averages 15.3 turnovers per game.
The Jazz score 117.4 points per game, 6.7 fewer points than the 124.1 the Wizards give up. The Wizards’ 46.1% shooting percentage from the field this season is 2.9 percentage points lower than the Jazz have allowed to their opponents (49.0%).
The teams square off for the second time this season. The Jazz won the last meeting 122-112 on March 6, with Ace Bailey scoring 32 points in the victory.
TOP PERFORMERS: Kyle Filipowski is averaging 10.5 points and 6.9 rebounds for the Jazz. Brice Sensabaugh is averaging 19.9 points over the last 10 games.
Alex Sarr is averaging 16.5 points, 7.4 rebounds and two blocks for the Wizards. Will Riley is averaging 14.4 points over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Jazz: 3-7, averaging 116.4 points, 43.3 rebounds, 27.7 assists, 9.9 steals and 4.4 blocks per game while shooting 45.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 122.7 points per game.
Wizards: 0-10, averaging 114.3 points, 37.4 rebounds, 24.5 assists, 6.9 steals and 4.5 blocks per game while shooting 47.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 130.6 points.
INJURIES: Jazz: Lauri Markkanen: out (hip), Isaiah Collier: out (hamstring), Keyonte George: out (leg), Cody Williams: out (shoulder), Walker Kessler: out for season (shoulder), Jusuf Nurkic: out for season (nose), Jaren Jackson Jr.: out for season (knee).
Wizards: Anthony Davis: out (finger), Tristan Vukcevic: day to day (back), Cam Whitmore: out for season (shoulder), Alex Sarr: day to day (toe), Tre Johnson: day to day (foot), Kyshawn George: out (elbow), D’Angelo Russell: out (not injury related), Trae Young: out (quad).
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
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