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Aside from the Celtics blowout win in Game 5, the Raptors Celtics series has been a highly competitive and entertaining one, and it’s fitting that it will go the full seven games. Game 6 was a microcosm of the entire series as a whole, with both defenses shining, each team going on runs to seemingly take control and then giving it back, and two overtime periods filled with big shots, great defensive effort, and even some refereeing controversy.

In the end, the Raptors emerged victorious with a 125-122 win, following the lead of Kyle Lowry, who had 33 points, eight rebounds, six assists, and two steals to force Game 7. It was arguably the best game of the playoffs thus far, which given the level of play in Orlando is a high bar to clear, with incredible shot-making and defense from both teams. With Game 7 ahead on Friday night, we’ll look at three takeaways from a thrilling Game 6.

1. Kyle Lowry is incredible

The Raptors offense was dreadful for much of the first half. They couldn’t get anything going, Pascal Siakam continued to struggle mightily from inside and out, and things looked dire as Boston ran out to an early advantage. However, in the third quarter it was Toronto’s backcourt that took over. Fred VanVleet got hot with a few three-pointers and then Kyle Lowry took over the rest of the way, hitting some incredibly difficult threes, attacking the Celtics defense downhill to create for himself and others, and putting the Raptors up for good with a ridiculous turnaround jumper in the post on Kemba Walker.

It’s clear who is the most important player on this team, with all due respect to Fred VanVleet and Pascal Siakam’s abilities. The Raptors have to put the ball in Lowry’s hands — something they inexplicably didn’t do on key late possessions out of timeouts both in the fourth quarter and overtime — and let him make the decisions late. VanVleet hit some big shots in the third, but also took some horrific heaves down the stretch trying to be the hero. Siakam couldn’t buy a bucket aside from a very helpful baseline jumper in double overtime, and he likely needs to be tasked with doing less ball-handling if he’s going to press as much as he did late amid his struggles scoring.

Lowry was the one, unsurprisingly, that was more than ready to takeover and bring some calm to the frenetic energy of this game for the Raptors. They’ll need that again in Game 7, but hopefully Nick Nurse recognizes that and calls his number more in key moments.

2. Marcus Smart will do whatever it takes

Jaylen Brown dominated early, before waning late, scoring 31 points on 30 shot attempts, with 21 of those coming in the first half. Jayson Tatum had 29 points, 14 rebounds, and nine assists, as he hit some huge shots, but did have six turnovers including a few very costly ones in the overtime periods. Daniel Theis was excellent with 18 points and seven rebounds on 9-of-11 shooting, but no one had a greater impact on this game for Boston than Marcus Smart.

Smart finished with 23 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists, hitting six three-pointers in 11 tries (and nearly tied the game with a late turnaround heave, to go along with his usual harassing defense that had the Raptors quite literally ready to fight him after the final buzzer sounded.

His ability to do seemingly whatever is needed at any given time is such an incredible luxury to have, and while he couldn’t get Boston to a win on Wednesday, there’s no way they end up in overtime without his contributions. His defensive ability made him first team All-Defense this season and deservedly so, but his improvement as a playmaker offensively might’ve been the biggest key on Wednesday night. He had some late passes that were simply sublime to go along with making some huge shots early and late. Game 7 is the kind of atmosphere one would expect Smart to thrive in, given the chaotic, nervous energy of a win-or-go home game.

3. Who will make winning plays in Game 7?

Both teams were sensational in Game 6, and the shot-making in double overtime was truly something to behold. In the end, it was the Raptors that made just enough plays, led by Lowry, but with significant contributions from Norman Powell and a timely three from OG Anunoby once again.

The Celtics had some big shots and big defensive stops of their own, but in the final overtime period it was Toronto that made more and, quite simply, that made the difference. The expectation for Game 7 is another close-fought game, and it’s going to come down to which team makes those plays down the stretch. Each of these teams have players capable of doing so on both ends, as Marcus Smart and Kyle Lowry showed in Game 6 with some key strips, rebounds, passes, and shots. At the same time, it will be incumbent on the two teams’ stars to avoid making critical mistakes.

Jayson Tatum, for as spectacular as he was scoring the ball, had some key turnovers late. Pascal Siakam was bailed out by his teammates, but his inability to put the ball in the basket looms very large going into a Game 7 where Toronto desperately needs him to find some kind of rhythm. Kemba Walker likewise struggled to score in Game 6, as the Raptors made him the focal point of their box-and-one when they decided to mix it up and go to that on defense.

There will be nerves and missed calls to work through for both teams in Game 7, whoever can find a way to make the right plays (and avoid the disastrous ones) down the stretch will earn a trip to face the Heat in the conference finals.

Sure, September is all about bourbon. It is Bourbon Heritage Month, after all. But just because you’re spending a lot of time sipping on the corn-based, American spirit doesn’t mean you can’t take a break and try something else. To travel your whiskey palate, we encourage you to leave the country completely (in a glass as opposed to a plane) and travel to the Emerald Isle.

You get where we’re headed with this? We think you should spend this fall getting acquainted with Irish whiskey.

Yes, Irish. We get that sometimes you forget about whiskey from Ireland until around the end of February until the end of March. But if you normally only reach for Irish brands until around St. Patrick’s Day, you’re totally missing out on a whole range of high-quality, well-made bottles.

Since we love an underdog, we decided to ask some of our favorite bartenders to tell us the best under-hyped Irish whiskeys to try this fall.

Teeling Single Malt

Suman Pradham, director of outlets at Viceroy Snowmass in Snowmass Village, Colorado

Teeling Single Grain — Irish single grain whiskey from Teeling. There are only an elite few Irish single grain whiskeys out there at the moment, but Teeling went ahead and made theirs unique by maturing it in Californian Cabernet Sauvignon casks.

Deliciously sweet, a good deal of spice and fruit hide within the Teeling Single Grain. This dram is adored for its spicy, sweet vanilla, honey, and butterscotch flavor notes.

Yellow Spot

Hayden Miller, head bartender at Bodega Taqueria y Tequila in Miami

Yellow Spot. Irish is not typically my go-to for a sipper, but this bottle almost never warrants a mixer more than ice or some water.

West Cork 10

Gavin Humes, bartender at Scratch | Bar & Kitchen in Encino, California

It’s got to be the West Cork Single Malt Irish Whiskey, aged 10 years. It’s a beautifully smooth example of what Irish whiskey can be. A touch of sweetness, some citrus peel, and a hint of salinity that’s really elegant. And it’s perfectly priced to drink on the regular.

Bushmills Red Bush

Christopher Farzanrad, bartender at Mila Rooftop Bar in Glendale, California

Bushmills Red Bush is extremely underrated in my opinion. It has a similar flavor as Jameson and has a lot of history. Perhaps the crowd is more attracted to Jameson as it’s trendier, but I dig this bottle a lot.

Redbreast 12

Veronica Flores, bartender in Austin, Texas

If I wanted an alternative to the more frequently ordered whiskies, I would go for Powers. If I was in a “treat yo’self” mode, I would go for Redbreast 12. Flavor-wise, they both deliver.

The Sexton

Reniel Garcia, bar director of Havana 1957 in Miami

The Sexton. It’s one of my favorite sherry-aged Irish whiskeys ever made, and surprisingly complex at just four years old. It’s made with 100 percent Irish malted barley, triple-distilled in copper pot stills, and aged in European oak and former sherry casks.

It’s bottled at 80 proof. A must try.

Jameson Caskmates Stout Edition

Aaron Miyakawa, director of restaurants and special at Prince Waikiki in Waikiki Beach, Hawaii

Jameson Caskmates Stout Edition. It’s just a great solid blended whiskey that my friends and I always go to when enjoying a shot of whiskey with beer. It’s very reasonable in price yet its smoothness is why we often choose this brand over all others. If you want to up the ante, grab a bottle of Caskmates Stout Edition. The stout cask makes the flavors even richer.

Powers Gold Label

Zachary Shore, bartender at The Nest in Seattle

In the US you see a lot of consumers going for Jameson, Redbreast, and Tullamore D.E.W.. A bottle that I seem to always notice gathering dust in any bar that isn’t an Irish pub, is Powers Irish Whiskey. Not only does it come with some really great history being around two centuries old and being the first whiskey distilled in Dublin, it also has a great flavor. Smooth enough to drink on the rocks, and light enough to experiment in cocktails for any season.

Tullamore D.E.W. Caribbean Rum Cask Finish

Nestor Marchand, director of food and beverage at Plunge Beach Resort in Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Everyone knows Jameson, but I like Tullamore D.E.W. Irish Whiskey. It is smooth and elegant. I especially enjoy the Caribbean Rum Cask Finish. If you enjoy the original Tullamore, you’re going to absolutely love this version with its brown sugar and toasted oak sweetness.

Green Spot

Adam Steely, owner and manager of Blue Talon Bistro in Williamsburg, Virginia

I might be at risk of underrated with “unknown” but my pick for an Irish whiskey that will surprise a whiskey drinker is Green Spot. It is one of the last bonded Irish whiskeys and is, dollar for dollar, the best you can find. Their next tier, Yellow Spot, is even more impressive.

We hope you’re ready for a ton of movies and TV shows and limited series and maybe even Quibis about the one life experience all of us have in common this year: suffering through the pandemic. But one may beat them all: As per Deadline, Anne Hathaway is in final talks to star in Lockdown, a heist thriller and rom-com set amidst the near-worldwide quarantine. And they’re not waiting for this mess to end (probably because it’s not going anywhere). Instead, they’ll be shooting end of September.

Deadline’s source describes Lockdown as a modest, $10 million production which will be shot in London, where things aren’t…quite as apocalyptic as they are in Hathaway’s native United States. Hathaway’s main co-star hasn’t been finalized, though one name bandied about is reportedly Cillian Murphy. The movie will be directed by Doug Liman, he of Swingers, Edge of Tomorrow, and the forthcoming Tom Cruise space movie — the one actually to be shot in space — and it’s written by Steven Knight, of Easter Promises, Locke, and, far less flatteringly, the instantly notorious Serenity, which also featured Hathaway.

Though much of the film industry remains closed, and for good reason, some have found outside-the-box ways to keep film alive. You can expect the marital saga Malcolm & Marie, shot in secret and starring Zendaya and John David Washington, at some point down the line.

(Via Deadline)

After an extremely successful 2019, Griselda hoped to continue their hot streak by adding their first female rap artist, Armani Caesar. The Buffalo native quickly got to work on her Griselda debut, The Liz, due on September 18. Ahead of its release, Armani dropped the video for the single “Simply Done,” in which she teams with fellow labelmate Benny The Butcher. The song lives up to its name, with the duo keeping things simple, the video mostly taking place in an alleyway. From Armani’s confident bars to Benny’s money-flexing, the two rappers make it clear that they won’t be easily moved from their hip-hop pedestal.

Griselda first signed Caesar back in April, which prompted Westside Gunn took to his Instagram to welcome his fans to the label’s newest signee. “It was All about timing this was over a decade in the making she’s a hustler,” he said in the post. “She comes from the same streets as US and actually started with us Were about to get busy So I want EVERYBODY to follow her and Support her.” Following the announcement, Armani would release the “Simply Done” single and reveal The Liz would arrive on August 21. However, following the death of Griselda’s DJ Shay, she would delay the project to honor his passing.

The Liz is out 09/18 via Griselda.

Twitter is best known as a place to get breaking news, the president’s daily rants, and read a lot of terrible sports takes. It’s a take-no-prisoners platform where saying the wrong thing can get you canceled.

It’s a place of never-ending human interaction but very few users are looking to find romance on the platform.

That’s why hundreds of thousands of Twitter users are applauding @TBrown_80 and @KatieKatCubs. They managed to do what for many seems impossible, they found true love on, of all places, Twitter.

Our story begins three years ago when a gal named Katie living in Iowa posted some terrible advice she received from her married coworkers about where to find single men.

Terry Brown of Kentucky had recently started following Katie on Twitter because he thought she was “cute” and saw her tweet “as an opening.” He boldly, and in the opinion of many, incorrectly, suggested that Twitter was a good place for Katie to meet single men.

Katie thought Terry’s idea was horrible.

Terry responded with a funny list of more places that would be terrible for Katie to meet a single man.

Katie agreed but thought Terry was still egregiously wrong with his initial assumption.

The conversation turned to how Katie can find a relationship like women do in Hallmark channel movies or romantic comedies.

At that point, Terry made his move by taking things to the next level on Twitter and sending her a private, direct message.

“I slid into the DMs (as the kids say) as we were going back and forth and the timeline,” Terry told Upworthy. “And we just kept messaging each other, eventually exchanging phone numbers.”

The new friends talked for a while through Facetime and text message before Terry took the big drive from Kentucky to Iowa for the first in-person meeting. “It was amazing,” Terry said of their first date. “I pretty much knew she was The One after that first meeting.”

After dating for three years, Terry planned on proposing to Katie at the Chicago Cubs home opener in April, but those plans got squashed by COVID-19. So he settled for a more “subdued” proposal in Iowa.

On September 6, Katie said yes and it only made sense to share the news on Twitter.

But when Terry shared the news on his timeline, the tweet blew up, with over 500,000 likes. If anyone knows how unlikely a Twitter romance is, it’s Twitter users, so they shared the tweet like crazy.

“Since we were Twitter folks, I knew I had to post something,” Terry told Upworthy. “The initial ‘She said YES!’ tweet got about 1500 likes, but the SpongeBob meme tweet is at over 560K likes. It’s been surreal, to say the least.”

While the story of how a couple found love on Twitter is heartwarming, there’s a lot of people out there that want to know Terry’s technique for picking up his future wife on the platform.

You gotta have some serious Twitter game to pull off this impossible move.

“Twitter is a tool, just like anything else,” he shared. “It’s how you use it. I think that if you’re interacting with someone, you can get a pretty good idea of who they are. If you look at our interactions on the timeline, there’s nothing that would be considered flirty, but I just knew.”

“Always, always be respectful,” he says.

For Terry, meeting Katie was a reminder that you never know what lies around the corner or in your DMs.

“I was married for 13 years, got divorced and was in a dark place,” he admits. “My advice to folks is to not get too down. Literally, you just never know where you’ll find your person!”

Two summers ago, the world watched with aching empathy as an orca mother, whose baby had died about 30 minutes after it was born, grieved. A group of female orcas surrounded her in a circle for at least two hours after the birth and death—a seemingly clear symbol of sympathy and solidarity. The mother had a hard time letting go, though, as she kept the dead calf afloat for 17 consecutive days. Even through rough waters, when the calf would slip and fall, she’d dive deep to push it back to the surface again.

Expressions of grief are common among marine mammals, but this orca—tagged by researchers as “J35” but known colloquially as Talequah—seemed to show an extreme reaction to the loss. And her grief moved us all, perhaps due to our tendency to anthropomorphize animals or perhaps as a reflection of our own individual losses. Real or attributed, we felt her pain.

But now we can rejoice with her as she has given birth to a healthy calf, and so far, all appears to be well. Ken Balcomb, founder for the Center for Whale Research, said the calf (known as J57) looked “very robust and lively” according to the New York Times.

That’s not only good news for Talequah, but for the entire Southern Resident orca population. Orcas, who are also known as “killer whales” live in pods of up to 40 members and help one another hunt and care for young. Southern Resident orcas, who make their home in the Salish Sea off the coasts of Washington and British Columbia, have seen their numbers dwindle in recent decades. As of January 2020, there were just 73 Southern Resident orcas counted—the lowest population since 1976.

“With such a small population … every successful birth is hugely important for recovery,” wrote Sealife Response, Rehabilitation and Research in a July press release,

Recovering the Southern Resident Killer Whale with Research and Conservation

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These endangered, majestic mammals are threatened by human activity in the ocean as well as pollution that runs to the ocean from land. The Center for Whale Research has a list of specific things we can do to help conserve orca habitats and improve their chances of survival, including watching what we pour down our drains, practicing natural yard care, keeping waterways clean, and more. All of those little things add up when enough people do them, which can make all the difference for animals who rely on us to keep their homes safe enough for them to thrive.

Welcome to the planet, J57. And congratulations on your “rainbow baby,” Mama Talequah. We know you’re going to take great care of your new family member.

Ronald Bell, the co-founder of the famed ’70s and ’80s band Kool & the Gang, has passed away at the age of 68. Born Khalis Bayyan, he died suddenly on Tuesday morning at his Virgin Island home with his wife Tia Sinclair Bell, according to uDiscover Music. A thriving soul group, Kool & the Gang was formed by Bell along with his brother Robert “Kool” Bell, Dennis “D.T.” Thomas, Robert “Spike” Mickens, Charles Smith, George Brown, and Ricky West back in 1964. The group would become one of the most successful groups in the last five decades. Bell’s contribution to the group was a large one, as he composed, arranged, produced, and performed a large number of the group’s records.

Over the group’s long-running career, Kool & The Gang released a total of 24 albums with their most recent being their 2013 Christmas album, Kool For The Holidays. Some of the group’s most successful albums arrived during a three-year stretch from 1979 to 1981, with Ladies’ Night, Celebrate!, and Something Special each reaching Platinum certification. However, the group’s best-selling album came in 1984 with Emergency. Kool & The Gang also scored two Grammy Awards, seven American Music Awards, a Soul Train Legend Award, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Ronald Bell would also be inducted to the Songwriters Hall Of Fame in 2018 alongside his brother Robert Bell, George Brown, and James “J.T.” Taylor, who joined the group in 1974.

How do you improve upon perfection? You don’t, which is why all attempts to recapture the glory of 1987’s futuristic thriller RoboCop have ranged from so-so (its 1990 sequel) to inexplicably uninspired (the 2014 reboot that wasn’t even rated R). But maybe the 10th or so time is the charm: According to /Film, MGM is working on a prequel series — and since RoboCop was an origin story, that means it’ll be the first RoboCop content sans RoboCop himself.

The news came from Ed Neumeier, who wrote the original as well as Starship Troopers, another proudly satirical blockbuster from RoboCop director Paul Verhoeven. Neumeier’s been teasing a new sequel, RoboCop Returns — which would do the fashionable thing and be a direct sequel to the first one, ignoring all others — for a couple years now, but he said a prequel show is also in the works. Mind you, it won’t focus on Peter Wellers’ Alex Murphy, the everyday Detroit cop killed by a gang with corporate ties. Instead it will zero in on Dick Jones, the crooked big wig played by Ronny Cox who funded said gang, and effectively became our android hero’s final boss.

Is it weird to have a RoboCop without RoboCop? Sure. But the RoboCop world is a rich one, with its thinly veiled attacks on late capitalism run amok via a giant corporation, OCP, that steps into “save” an ailing city (by building luxury apartments and kicking out the poor with ramped-up local police, which they also own). And Neumeier — who’s also overseen numerous Starship Troopers sequels, which took that franchise in fresh directions — thinks it’s a sharp idea.

“It has all the cool stuff about RoboCop except no RoboCop,” Neumeier said. “I’m working with these two writers, Dave Parkin and Rob Gibbs, who bought this idea to a TV producer friend of mine, who then brought it to me. The first time I heard it I knew it was a cool idea because I could see a lot of things you could do with it. It’s such an interesting character.”

Neumeier adds that “nobody necessarily starts out being the bad guy,” implying that Dick Jones will be an antihero along the lines of a Walter White or even a Michael Corleone, eroding over the long haul. Indeed, he says it will “be about the evolution of Richard Jones to Dick Jones, the story of OCP and how the world moves into the future, how the corporate world behaves.”

Actually, losing RoboCop but gaining a no doubt savage look at corporate culture at this time in history doesn’t sound like the worst idea in the world.

(Via /Film)

Legendary ESPN analyst Doris Burke will serve as will serve as a game analyst during this year’s NBA Conference Finals and Finals on ESPN Radio, becoming the first woman to serve as a game analyst for the NBA Finals on any platform, ESPN PR announced Wednesday. Burke will provide radio commentary alongside play-by-play voice Marc Kestecher and analyst Jon Barry for the NBA Finals and both Conference Finals series on site in the NBA Bubble.

The Hall of Fame broadcaster is one of the most knowledgeable voices in the sport, having spent nearly three decades covering the NBA, the WNBA, and women’s and men’s college basketball for ESPN. Burke has broken barriers in the sports broadcasting world many times in her illustrious career, becoming the first woman to serve as a full-time NBA television game analyst on ESPN and ABC in 2017 – a role she continues to hold. She typically shifts her role to sideline reporter during the conference finals and NBA Finals broadcasts, but this year will join the radio crew to bring her expert analysis to the radio booth.

In her place, Rachel Nichols will take over sideline reporting duty for the Finals and Eastern Conference Finals, as she returns to the Bubble after some time back in Los Angeles. Nichols noted on Wednesday that getting to be there to help hand out the Larry O’Brien trophy will be a “dream come true.”

Nichols will continue to host The Jump from Orlando throughout the playoffs as well, while NBA Countdown will serve as the pregame and halftime show on ABC for the NBA Finals, including new addition Stephen A. Smith alongside Maria Taylor, Jay Williams, Jalen Rose, Paul Pierce, and Adrian Wojnarowski.

Whenever fall comes around, our beer writers get me all hyped on stouts and porters that they analogize to milkshakes. Which leads me to buy and not really drink a whole lot of stouts and porters. Because as much as I get the “milkshake in a can” tasting note, I find that it’s calibrated to beer drinkers. For me, someone who likes milkshakes way more than beer, nothing has ever been “milkshake-y” enough.

Until today. Coolhaus, the hipster-beloved ice cream brand, has collaborated with LA’s Common Space Brewery to make something they dub “dessert beer.” The official name is the overly wordy “Vanilla Ice Cream Sandwich Dessert Beer” but the image on the can is enough to give you an idea of what we’re talking about. This is a 7% ABV flavor bomb — un-session-able both because of the alcohol content and the sweet notes.

But does that mean it’s bad? Absolutely not. In fact, I liked it a lot.

TASTING NOTES:

I drank my first one of these nice and frosty. I’m drinking one right now as a refresher course and it’s room temp. In both cases, you get a lot of malts on the nose. Remember “malts” the milkshake term? You’ll hear it a lot in old-timey movies. In ice cream parlors of the ’50s, a “chocolate malted” was far more common than a “chocolate shake.” That meant the addition of malted milk powder, a substance which I buy in bulk for my own milkshakes. That malt flavor is exactly how this beer hits on the nose.

The palate is rich vanilla. It’s beer and you get a little more hops and malt than you did on the sniff, but the ice cream and vanilla notes are strong with this one. It’s like that creamy root beer left in the root beer float after you eat the ice cream (without the sarsparilla flavors). The nice perk here is that whatever hops snuck past all the vanilla do it at the middle palate, right when the whole beer could veer off the rails into being too sweet. It’s a good catch and the only time I’ve ever really thought, “Thank god for that note of hops!”

The finish is sweet with a little fizz. The beer itself is pretty low on bubbles, but that last little kick is a nice touch. Fizz, malt, a teensy bit of hops, and vanilla sweetness — that’s what you’re left with. If you like those things and like it when they err on the sweeter side of the spectrum (as I do), this beer is for you.

BOTTOM LINE:

Get one if you like milkshakes more than you like beer (and you live in California). If you want to call it a stunt beer, fine — but it’s a prtty delectable stunt.

WHY SHOULD ANYONE CARE?

Consumer product goods — foods, beers, etc. — are all becoming calibrated to the “style drop” and “brand collab” cycles. Some work. Some fail. Some are clout chasing. All in all, for a beer newbie who likes sweetness, this one is pretty fun.