Category: News

Charles Barkley is one of the folks who believe that the Portland Trail Blazers have what it takes to knock off the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1-8 series in the Western Conference. None of us can tell the future, but the Blazers took the first step towards making that prediction look really good, as Portland gutted out a Game 1 win on Tuesday night, 100-93.

A fun wrinkle to this game is that Barkley thought it was must-win for the Lakers. In his eyes, Los Angeles needed to win or else they were going to get swept by a hungry Blazers squad led by a superstar in Damian Lillard. Because L.A. did indeed lose, Barkley decided to go grab a broom and celebrate before Inside the NBA provided analysis on the game. Barkley went around and swept up the set, much to the delight of Ernie Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal, and Kenny Smith.

Barkley went as far as to guarantee that a sweep is coming, which is quite the lofty proposition, even if the Blazers are better than most teams you’d expect to get the 8-seed. Still, if he has his way, we’re getting three more appearances out of that broom, the first of which would come at the conclusion of Game 2 on Thursday night. Chuck might need to find a different way to show off the broom, though, as that one will be broadcast by ESPN.

Just a little over a month removed from their third album, City On Lock, City Girls found themselves in a war of words with fans on Twitter shortly after Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion shared the video for their soon-to-be No. 1 single, “WAP.” Stans of both Cardi, Megan, and other rappers took issue with City Girls’ lack of support for “WAP” on social media in the mere hours following the video’s release and called out the Florida-based rappers for their slow response to the song. City Girls clapped back at fans for their attack, but many believed their slow response was due to some sort of beef with the two rappers, something City Girls denied in a recent interview on The Morning Hustle.

“Let me correct you. Cardi [B] did promote our album,” JT said after the host incorrectly stated that her and Yung Miami’s anger was due to Cardi or Megan not supporting their City On Lock album. “We was not talking about any artist in specific. I was talking about those fan pages.” JT would also clarify their support of Nicki Minaj in any instance is not out of any spite towards Cardi B. “When we talk about Nicki Minaj, we’re not doing some shade at Cardi. We’re just personally fans. For us to be artists, we deserve to like everybody too. It’s not nothing against her, it’s not nothing against anybody, period.”

The interview arrives after the duo said male rappers were threatened by female rappers who are “threatened by the women dominating right now.”

Watch City Girls’ interview on The Morning Hustle above.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

For the second time in one day, the 8-seed took a Game 1 off of a 1-seed. The Orlando Magic stunned the basketball world when they beat the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday afternoon, and that same evening, a less surprising result happened: The Portland Trail Blazers continued their torrid run of form in the NBA’s Bubble to take down the Los Angeles Lakers, 100-93. It was a tense affair, but the Blazers relied on their tried-and-true formula for success to come out on top in the Bubble: Give Damian Lillard the basketball and watch what happens.

The Blazers looked fantastic during the game’s first frame. Between Lillard doing the stuff that made him must-watch during the seeding games (15 points) and a double-double for Jusuf Nurkic (10 points, 10 boards), Portland’s offense was humming during the opening 12 minutes. They led by as many as 16 points and held a 36-25 lead at the end of the quarter.

It also helped that L.A. was ice cold. They shot 30 percent from the field, missed all eight of their attempts from three, and while Anthony Davis was the leading scorer with nine points, he was 1-for-8 from the field.

The two teams switched places during the second quarter. Portland couldn’t hit water if they fell out of a boat, hitting three shots from the field over the entirety of the second, the first of which came at the 4:56 mark in the quarter. Of their 21 points, eight came from the field and the rest from the free throw line. The Lakers, meanwhile, found their groove early. The team ripped off a 13-1 run while Lillard and Davis were on the bench, with James orchestrating the attack by scoring or assisting on 12 of those.

While Portland competed for the entirety of the quarter, Los Angeles was able to find a bit of a rhythm and finally took the lead when James played a cheeky pass to Davis for a dunk.

Still, the Blazers took a 57-56 lead into the locker room, with Lillard unsurprisingly being the main reason why. He had 23 points on 6-for-11 shooting, while Carmelo Anthony scored eight and Nurkic had 14 points and 12 boards. The Lakers’ dynamic duo shouldered the load for them — Davis lived at the foul line, with 11 of his 21 points coming from the stripe, while pitching in seven boards. James’ metronomic ability to dictate a game’s tempo led to him having 12 points, 10 assists, and eight rebounds at the half.

The offensive struggles for both teams continued in the third. The Blazers outscored the Lakers during the frame, 21-19, in something reminiscent of when the two teams would battle in the postseason in the early-00s. CJ McCollum wasn’t quite the scoring threat he can be during the first half, but dropped 11 on L.A. in the quarter.

Still, stars on both sides of the equation had highlight moments in the third. Davis showed off his ability to make things happen on both ends of the floor, while Lillard ended things with a flourish when he sliced through Los Angeles’ defense to set up a dunk for Hassan Whiteside.

The Lakers managed to get the lead early on in the fourth. A slow start for Portland led to Kyle Kuzma tying things with a triple before a bucket by James nudged them ahead shortly after. Lillard was eventually able to stop the 9-0 run L.A. found itself on to start the frame, knocking down his first bucket of the second half at the 7:37 mark. Before Dame Time could get going, though, James came right back with a triple of his own.

But this Blazers squad has been defined by its resiliency in the Bubble, and thanks to an 11-3 run in which Lillard canned a triple from 30 feet out to tie things up, they were able to go back up by two, 89-87.

Danny Green stopped the bleeding for a moment with a layup to tie things up, but thanks in big part to some stellar rim protection by Whiteside, Lillard threw a haymaker.

From there, the Blazer offense hit some gigantic shots, while the Lakers couldn’t quite find enough juice. Anthony and Gary Trent Jr. connected on a pair of triples, with Nurkic capping things off with an uncontested dunk as Los Angeles bizarrely opted to not foul down five.

The 34-point outing by Lillard, who pitched in five rebounds and five assists, led the way. Both Nurkic (16 points, 15 rebounds) and Anthony (11 points, 10 rebounds) had double-doubles, while McCollum went fo 21 points. Whiteside contributed off the bench, recording seven points, eight rebounds, and five blocks. The Lakers had monster games from James (23 points, 17 rebounds, 16 assists) and Davis (28 points, 11 rebounds), but the team struggled to hit shots all evening. That was particularly the case from three, where L.A. went 5-for-32 (15.6 percent).

The two teams will square off again on Tuesday evening on ESPN, with things tipping off at 9 p.m. EST.

A month ago, people began to be concerned for Britney Spears after a series of strange social media posts from the pop singer arrived on TikTok and Instagram. Fans began to theorize that the videos were Britney’s way of calling out for help, and soon the second wave of the #FreeBritney movement began. Shortly after, a report arrived refuting claims that Britney was being held captive by her conservator, her father James Spears, who labeled the movement as “a joke.” However, thanks to new court documents, it’s apparent that Britney no longer desires that her father retains that role.

According to documents obtained by the New York Times, Britney says she is “strongly opposed” to having her father regain his role as sole conservator and requests that it “be changed substantially in order to reflect the major changes in her current lifestyle and her stated wishes.” In 2019, James temporarily surrendered the role due to health issues and the position was given to Jodi Montgomery, a licensed professional conservator. Per the new documents, Britney does not desire to have Montgomery removed from the role, but rather, she seeks power to end the conservatorship role altogether.

Britney also revealed her career plans, including her “desire not to perform at this time.” Her lawyers expect her father to strongly fight against Britney’s request and that they are planning to push back via a legal team with “substantial expertise in handling contested litigation in a highly complex case such as this one.”

(via New York Times)

Earlier today, Travis Scott spoke about some of his upcoming music — specifically his forthcoming joint album with Kid Cudi — in a new profile with GQ. Despite being “hesitant to offer details” on upcoming work, he did confirm that he and Cudi are working on that one. On Tuesday, Travis was back with more news, namely an upcoming single, which is set to be a part of the soundtrack to Christopher Nolan’s upcoming film Tenet. The single, entitled “The Plan,” will be released later this week, on Friday, August 21.

Taking to his Twitter page, Travis posted the song’s artwork in a tweet that said, “FLAME x CHRIS NOLAN COOK UP THE PLAN FRIDAY.” The song would serve as Travis’ fourth release of the year, following “The Scotts” with Kid Cudi, “TKN” with Rosalía, and “Wash Us With The Blood” with Kanye West.

Travis’s announcement arrives after Nolan spoke about the rapper’s contribution to his Tenet film, saying, “His voice became the final piece of a yearlong puzzle. His insights into the musical and narrative mechanism [composer] Ludwig Göransson and I were building were immediate, insightful, and profound.” As for the film itself, Tenet is the much-anticipated — and, to the consternation of Nolan fans, repeatedly delayed due to COVID — and it stars John David Washington,Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, and others.

With Russell Westbrook ruled out for the start of the team’s first round series against the Oklahoma City Thunder, skeptics emerged concerning the Houston Rockets and their ability to advance. After Game 1, however, some of that skepticism likely evaporated, with the Rockets controlling the action virtually from start to finish on the way to a comfortable 123-108 victory.

Despite strong offensive pedigree on both sides, the early minutes of the game were marred by inefficiency. Houston did end the first quarter with a flourish, taking an eight-point lead after 12 minutes, but the Rockets weren’t at their best and the Thunder visibly struggled. Oklahoma City shot just 6-for-20 in the first quarter, including 0-for-7 from Chris Paul and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and the Thunder also committed five turnovers in the opening frame.

Making matters worse for the Thunder, the Rockets scored the first nine points of the second quarter, taking full control with a 37-20 lead.

Oklahoma City did begin to show some life on the offensive end but, just as that took place, Houston began to ramp up its explosiveness on the offensive side. A pair of three-pointers from Ben McLemore and P.J. Tucker, along with a layup from James Harden, capped a Houston push to give the Rockets a 20-point edge midway through the second quarter.

Houston’s lead grew to as many as 21 points, but the Thunder did respond to make things interesting before halftime. Led by the battle-tested five-man group of Paul, Gilgeous-Alexander, Dennis Schroder, Danilo Gallinari, and Steven Adams, the Thunder zoomed to a 12-2 run to slash the margin to 60-49.

The Rockets did push the margin back to 16 by the break, remaining in control of the proceedings. Much of that success was predicated on efficient offense, with Harden scoring 15 points and Eric Gordon adding 16 points in the first half. Houston buried 11 three-pointers and 13 free throws in the first 24 minutes, leaning on their analytically-inclined approach. Meanwhile, Oklahoma’s three leading guards combined to shoot 5-for-19 from the floor, helping to explain their deficit on the scoreboard.

Though a technical foul leading into halftime gifted a free point to the Rockets before the third quarter even began, the Thunder began chipping away at the margin with improved offense. Oklahoma City scored 16 points in four minutes, slashing the lead to ten, and that put Houston on notice.

On cue, the Rockets put the pedal to the floor, zooming to a 13-2 run that stretched their advantage to 98-75 late in the third quarter.

After that explosion, the Thunder never seriously threatened again, although Oklahoma City did cut the deficit to 13 with four minutes to play. Ultimately, crunch time came and went without drama, with the Rockets cruising to a series-opening victory.

Despite a slow start, offense wasn’t the overall problem for the Thunder, with Gallinari scoring 29 points and Oklahoma posting a perfectly respectable offensive rating. However, the defensive end of the floor was challenging, which could inspire dread when remembering Westbrook is due to return at some point in the near future.

Harden finished with 37 points and 11 rebounds, and he was helped by big nights from Eric Gordon (21 points) and Jeff Green (22 points, six rebounds). All told, the Rockets buried 20 three-pointers and scored more than 1.2 points per possession, both of which are disturbing trends for the Thunder as the series moves forward.

The Rockets and Thunder will return to action on Thursday with a 3:30 pm ET tip-off in Orlando, with the Thunder looking to avenge this defeat and even the series.

The shooting incident that took place between Tory Lanez and Megan Thee Stallion captivated the music world, with many looking to find out what happened that night in the Hollywood Hills. Weeks later, the general consensus labeled Lanez as the aggressor in the situation, as he was reportedly the one who shot Megan twice in the foot. As a result, many have stood with Megan. Among them were Kehlani, who revealed that Tory Lanez’s verse on her song “Can I” would not appear on the upcoming deluxe version of her album It Was Good Until It Wasn’t. Instead, it would be replaced by a yet-to-be-named artist. Joining the crew at Chicago’s WGCI radio station, Kehlani explained her reasoning behind the decision to remove his verse.

“As someone with a large platform, as someone that people look up to, as a woman that makes other women feel safe and empowered, people were asking me, ‘Are you gonna keep somebody on it who doesn’t necessarily make us feel safe or empowered as a woman?’” she said. “And not only that but, you know, this situation was involving someone that I [am] extremely close to, so I just felt like on some loyal sh*t, and on some do the right thing, you have to be responsible. Absolutely I’m changing up the record.” She would also clarify her relationship with Megan saying, “It was business and it was also loyalty to a situation. This is not an industry friendship. That’s really my friend and someone I say I love you to.”

Kehlani’s explainer arrives after she shared a video for “Can I,” which did not feature Lanez but rather sex workers, as she showed appreciation for their work on content-sharing websites like OnlyFans.

You can watch the video above to hear Kehlani’s explanation.

Kehlani is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

The Umbrella Academy is a sci-fi odyssey filled with a circus of freakishly powered characters. In just two seasons, the show has ended the world twice, traveled through multiple timelines, revealed that aliens walk among us, taught us the flatulent side-effects of paradoxes, started a cult, and dismantled a nefarious agency charged with keeping tabs on time itself. You’d think we’d be done with being surprised by the weird sh*t this series comes up with. But then, the show introduced Ritu Arya in Season 2 and left us questioning the fragile nature of our accepted reality all over again.

Arya plays Lila, a mysterious young woman who befriends Diego (David Castaneda) while he’s stuck in a psych ward after a botched time-jump. She quick-witted, capable of taking out grown men twice her size, and oddly determined to keep both Diego and his brother, Five (Aidan Gallagher), alive. As the season goes on, we learn bits of Lila’s background, her connection to The Commission, and her real motives for befriending the Hargreeves siblings — but even after a handful of out-of-left-field reveals, nothing prepared fans for the season’s final episode and the part Lila had to play in it. We chatted with Arya about joining this misfit crew of superpowered losers, the clues to Lila’s origins hidden early in the season, and that time-traveling cliffhanger.

Were there clues early in the season as to who Lila was?

Yeah, there were moments that were placed in for sure. In episode five where she’s having a fight with Five, she’s using his powers then, and it’s important to not give away that she is. However, you watch it a second time, it’s quite clear that of course, she’s doing that, you know?

How did you make sure not to give too much away?

That was a worry. I did my best to really think about that. For instance, in episode one where she beats up the security guard at the end, she whacks his gun out of his hand, and [Diego] says, “How’d you learn to fight like that?” And she says, “My mother.” I think it was very important for me to make that a charming casual comment as opposed to a literal, “My mother… who is The Handler, who is the head of The Commission.” I didn’t want to put much weight on those moments so that you could easily shift by it and not think too much about her at that stage.

Her romance with Diego really impacts both characters as the season goes on. How does she view that relationship?

At first, it’s just all part of a mission. She’s having to lie to him and gain his trust. In doing so, she starts falling for him, and I think she’s in denial about that until quite some time until she’s finally open about it. And by then, it’s tricky because her mum is on this power trip, and she’s losing trust with that, and Diego leaves the commission after she thinks that they’re now going to be together again. So, it’s a bit of a roller coaster, to be honest.

Speaking of an overbearing mother, what was it like going toe-to-toe with Kate Walsh?

We had rehearsals together and it was quite a natural bond that we had. A lot of it was just how I felt in the moment with her during a scene. She carries so much gravity and power and status, generally that it’s quite easy to work with that dynamic. So it was easy to love her as a mum and be afraid of her as a mum, too.

Do you think Lila expects her mother to betray her in the end?

No, she doesn’t expect it. She knows that her mum’s very different from other mums, and she knows that she’s been raised with tough love. I think she has always wanted to break through that, but not quite known how. But I don’t think she’s been too aware of her mum’s higher ambitions. That’s not what’s on her mind so much. It’s only when she starts seeing it towards the end of the series that it becomes a worry.

Where does Lila go with that briefcase at the end of Season 2?

That’s a secret.

But you know?

She could be anywhere. She could any time, any place, it’s all very exciting.

What was filming that final battle scene with the whole cast like?

They were all the worst.

Naturally.

But no, I really enjoyed it. I hadn’t worked on set with them yet. So, I was like, “Hey, come play with me!”

What’s Lila’s relationship with Five and will that tension continue now that the Handler is seemingly gone?

I think she’s pissed off at her mum when she says she chose Five to take down the commission board because she wants to be known as the best at what she does. There’s a love and hate thing, because there’s always respect for someone that is really good at what they do, and it’s also fun because no one can really match her. He’s a tricky one.

You studied astrophysics in college. How does the time travel theory hold up on this show?

[Laughs] They are really on it with the writing. I think it’s a really intelligent show, but, it’s also fiction so you can get away with absolutely anything. But yeah, it didn’t ever come into my mind to be like, “Excuse me. Let me just…”

Correct your formula here?

Yeah, no.

Netflix’s ‘The Umbrella Academy’ is currently streaming Season 2.

The Denver Nuggets will be without the services of a major contributor for the foreseeable future. One day after the team took down the Utah Jazz in the first game of their playoff series thanks to Herculean efforts from Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, Mike Singer of the Denver Post reported that Will Barton will not suit up for the Nuggets any time soon.

According to Singer, the knee issues that have held Barton out for the entirety of Denver’s stay in the NBA’s Orlando Bubble will sideline him indefinitely. It is unclear exactly what is wrong — he’s been listed as having “right knee soreness” in each game that he’s missed, but Singer brings word that this will keep Barton out for the “foreseeable future,” an ominous sign for his prospects of coming back any time soon.

Barton is not the only major injury that has fallen upon the Nuggets, as Gary Harris has not been able to suit up in the Bubble due to a hip issue that is slated to keep him out of Game 2 against the Jazz. In their absence, Michael Porter Jr. has emerged as an effective perimeter scorer, but obviously getting both Barton and Harris healthy and performing at the level they’re capable of achieving would be a gigantic boost for Denver going forward.

Barton started all 58 games he appeared in this season for the Nuggets, averaging 15.1 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 3.7 assists in 33 minutes a night.

There are few unluckier movies in screen history than The New Mutants, which was filmed three years ago, went through a round of reshoots, and has been rescheduled on many occasions. The last time it was supposed to hit theaters was last April. That didn’t happen, for reasons that should be obvious. It was then moved to August 28, and…well…will that happen? As per Variety, allegedly! Disney, the company that was bequeathed it in the Fox takeover, is holding onto that spot, at least for now.

Granted, should the X-Men spin-off, which was greenlit not long before the Twilight-era YA bubble burst, hit theaters as planned, it will be in quite a fewer multiplexes than once hoped. Of the nation’s estimated 6,021 venues, only 1,309 have reopened, none of them in hot zones like New York City and Los Angeles. Those theaters should be glad to have it, having been forced to play classics from Star Wars, Harry Potter, and other franchises to fill the empty spaces.

In the meantime, here, as per ComicBook.com, is a new clip. It finds our five young mutants, who are trapped at some secret institution, scrambling for their lives from some off-screen foe. While Maisie Williams’ Wolfsbane tends to an unconscious Mirage (Blu Hunt), Anya Taylor-Joy’s Magick takes it upon herself to wield her superpowers — teleoportation and manifesting the “Soulsword” — to save everyone. The clip is only a minute long, but it does show that one of the missions in the reshoots — to make things scarier — was apparently accomplished.

The New Mutants is set to hit theaters on August 28, for the time being.

(Via Variety and ComicBook.com)