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The Brooklyn Nets won Game 1 of their first round series against the Bucks thanks in large part to the efforts of Mike James and Blake Griffin, who combined for 30 points in the opener to help fill the significant hole left behind by James Harden leaving the game a minute in after aggravating the hamstring injury that caused him to miss time late in the regular season.

Harden came up limping after his first drive of the game and never returned, but with the efforts of Griffin and James, alongside strong nights from Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, they still got the win. That said, the margin for error against a good Milwaukee team is much slimmer without Harden, and the team confirmed on Sunday that the star point guard would not play in Game 2 with what is officially being deemed right hamstring tightness.

That will put a premium once again on the Nets to find not just scoring from others beyond Durant and Irving, but most importantly more playmaking to keep their offense humming. Kyrie Irving will play more of that point guard role and he facilitated well in the opener with eight assists. James figures to get ample opportunity to continue his strong play from Game 1, and if there is a positive it’s that the Nets injury issues all season have given Steve Nash plenty of time to try different lineups and he knows what bench players play best with his starters and vice versa.

As for when Harden could return, Nash said Harden hopes to be back soon but that the team will protect his health first and foremost.

As president, Donald J. Trump wasn’t just evil and he wasn’t just stupid. He was also weird. Every day, it seemed, he gifted the world with something uniquely bizarre. You probably forget about some of them. Remember the orb? Him telling a seven-year-old Santa isn’t real? Kim Jong-un’s giant letter? The hidden Coke bottle? The weirdness, it piled up. We don’t get that every day, like we used to. But perhaps one can take comfort in this: On Saturday, he gave a speech while appearing to have his pants on backwards. He’s still got it!

The president-turned-failed blogger made a now-rare public appearance at a to-do for North Carolina’s Republican party. It was a greatest hits show. He bashed Biden. He spread 2020 election lies. He tried to take credit for the COVID-19 vaccine. He slurred words. In other words, he gave the people what they wanted. And he did it all while appearing to wear pants that didn’t have a zipper, at least in the front, where it’s supposed to be.

This was probably not true. The professional debunkers at Snopes declared the claim that he had backwards or elastic dress pants false, saying there was other footage from the same speech where he clearly had pants.

But the damage was already done.

Some remarked on how far he’s fallen. Sort of.

Others made Kris Kross jokes.

And other comparisons.

Some said Trump was making his successor look even better.

Others made jokes about Hope Hicks, his former political advisor, who he reportedly once chastised for not steaming his pants.

And there were other jokes.

True or not, it left some people outraged that they had to once more think about Donald Trump’s crotch.

Prior to Game 1 of the Hawks-Sixers series, the injury update from both teams seemed to indicate good news for Philadelphia. The 76ers announced Joel Embiid would start and play after missing a game with a small tear in his right meniscus, while the Hawks would be without De’Andre Hunter due to right knee soreness.

The scene in Philadelphia was lively as expected, with Joel Embiid emerging pregame with Triple H to throw crotch chops at the crowd and ring the bell, but the excitement for the Sixers faithful quickly turned to despair after one quarter of play as the Hawks jumped out to a 42-27 lead thanks to the continued sensational play from Trae Young. The Hawks superstar had 25 points and eight assists in the first half, carving up the Philly defense, who started the game with Danny Green on him who simply could not keep Young in front of him.

Around Young, the Hawks role players were doing there job, which is to hit the open threes that Young creates when he collapses the defense. Bogdan Bogdanovic, John Collins, Lou Williams, Kevin Huerter, and Solomon Hill all hit two or more threes on the night to help Young, as Atlanta went 20-for-47 from deep on the afternoon, doing what was needed to keep the Sixers at arms length for most of the day.

The Hawks led by 20 at the half and extended that further at points in the third, but in general, the second half was much better from the Sixers, who steadily chipped away at the Atlanta lead with a much improved two-way effort, headlined by this sequence in the third quarter from Ben Simmons.

But in impressive fashion, the Hawks were able to answer most of the Sixers’ second half runs with a timely bucket of their own.

However, things got very dicey late as Philly cut the Hawks lead to as few as three on a pair of occasions as Atlanta melted down with five second calls, turnovers, and other mistakes that showed their youth and inexperience in the worst possible situations, as Philly finally got going from deep and Embiid had some big baskets.

Despite going cold for much of the fourth, Bogdan Bogdanovic was the one able to hit the big three the Hawks needed after the Sixers got it down to three after Atlanta nearly turned it over once again at midcourt but Bogi got the three off in the scramble drill to push the lead back to six.

The Sixers would again cut it to three, but a clear path foul effectively ended the game, giving John Collins a pair of free throws and then he got an and-1 on this lob after Philly tried to steal/foul Young but didn’t get the whistle.

The Sixers somehow got it to all the way back down to two points with a late steal on an inbound, but Bogdanovic was able to convert both free throws with just inside 10 seconds to go and Tobias Harris’ late, leaning three went begging to give the Hawks a Game 1 win. It was a valiant comeback effort from the Sixers, but their early mistakes were just too much to overcome. Young was sensational, finishing the game with 35 points and 10 assists, with most of his damage coming in the first half. Bogdanovic and Collins each had 21 points and Huerter had 15 off the bench in a key performance.

Philly will be kicking themselves for their pitiful first quarter showing, and now has to regroup going into Game 2. If there were a silver lining for the Sixers it’s that Embiid looked like his usual self with 39 points, nine rebounds, four assists, and three blocks in his first game off of injury. The recipe for the Sixers disastrous afternoon was a combination of mediocre shooting (10-of-29 from three), far too many turnovers (19 including nine in the first quarter), and a dismal game-plan against the Trae Young pick-and-roll to start the game. There may be some confidence built off of what they did late, but the game was lost early, particularly with the bench unit to end the first quarter and open the second.

It’ll be interesting to see if Doc Rivers makes some major adjustments for Game 2 to his rotation, because the minutes without any of his Big 3 on the floor were dreadful. On the other side, the fourth quarter gave Atlanta plenty of film to watch themselves on how to better handle a lead and handle the pressure Philly is capable of turning up on defense, because in games where the shooting discrepancy isn’t as large, that’s going to be a deciding factor.

Nearly three years after Mac Miller’s tragic death, the individuals accused of selling him the drugs that led to his fatal overdose have received a new trial date. AllHipHop reports Cameron Pettit, Stephen Walter, and Ryan Reavis are all due in court on November 16 to face conspiracy and distribution of drugs resulting in death charges. The trio was arrested a year after Miller’s death following an investigation that revealed they were responsible for giving the rapper cocaine, oxycodone, and Xanax. Officers also noted that the pills Mac received were counterfeit and also contained fentanyl.

According to the charges, the rapper bought the pills from Petit after they were run to him by Reavis and supplied by Walter. US Attorney Nick Hanna’s case says the trio continued selling drugs following Miller’s death despite being aware of the fatal risk their supply posed against people. Petit was the first to be arrested and later on, Reavis’ Lake Havasu, Arizona home was raided by the DEA where they found prescription pills, guns, and ammunition. Walter was taken into custody in Los Angeles on the same day of the raid.

In addition to the aforementioned charges, Reavis also faces charges for fraudulent schemes and artifices, possession of marijuana, possession of prescription drugs, possession of drug paraphernalia, weapons misconduct by a prohibited possessor, and manufacture of a prohibited weapon. He requested to have his trial be separate from his co-defendants because he was only an “alleged runner and minor participant, who is only alleged to be involved in one transaction,” according to his lawyer Correen Ferrentino. This request, however, was denied by a judge.

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

After going almost four years without an album, St. Vincent returned this year with her seventh full-length work, Daddy’s Home. Prior to the project’s release, St. Vincent spoke about the album’s sound with The New Cue — a new newsletter from former Q Magazine editors Ted Kessler, Chris Catchpole, and Niall Doherty. “I would say it’s the sound of being down and out downtown in New York, 1973,” she said. “Glamour that hasn’t slept for three days.” Now, the singer will dive further into the 1970s period with her brand new radio show on Apple Music.

The show is titled WSTV Radio and it will find St. Vincent taking on the role of a 1970s New York City DJ. According to Rolling Stone, each episode follows a “day in the life” theme as Vincent plays hit songs from the ’70s and premieres “new” songs from soon-to-be music legends. The official description of the show gave more insight into what fans can expect.

“On WSTV Radio, the innovative art-rocker introduces her latest persona as she throws it back to the ’70s—tapping into the decade’s news, traffic, weather, and biggest hits by playing an NYC radio DJ,” it reads. “Clark takes a ‘day in the life’ approach on each episode, staying true to the day’s events as pulled from news archives. She’ll transport you back in time by playing the top three charting songs and new song ‘premieres’ from up-and-coming artists (who ended up making it big, of course) she took inspiration from while making her latest album Daddy’s Home.”

The first episode of WSTV Radio aired on June 4 and was set on August 15, 1972. St. Vincent revisited Long Island’s Festival of Hope, which featured artists like Jefferson Airplane, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, and James Brown.

You can listen to the WSTV Radio show here.

It’s been three years since the Dallas Mavericks made the blockbuster trade with the Knicks to bring Kristaps Porzingis in to be Luka Doncic’s second star, but to this point the partnership has been far more one-sided than the Mavs had hoped when they maxed out Porzingis.

Health has remained an issue for the Latvian star, but even when he’s been on the court his production, particularly in key situations like this year’s first round series against the Clippers, has not matched up with the investment the Mavs made in him. Alternately, the other player the Mavs got in that trade, Tim Hardaway Jr., has been good for Dallas, particularly during this postseason. That has been what many consider to be a bonus since Hardaway was considered a bit of an afterthought in the Porzingis deal, but his father insists it was the other way around.

Tim Hardaway Sr. went on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas this weekend and made the claim that it was Porzingis who was the throw-in player for the Mavs, saying they initiated conversations with the Knicks about Hardaway first and then found out Porzingis was available.

“Y’all wrong, the conversation was they were trying to get Tim here,” Hardaway said. “I’m serious. I’m going to tell you the truth. Dallas wanted to get Tim. … I’m telling you the God’s honest truth, and they aren’t going to tell you that, (but) I know for a fact that they said, ‘(the Knicks) what you think about Porzingis?’ And they (the Mavs) were like, ‘Porzingis is available?’ And they (the Mavs) were like, ‘what you thinking?’ And they (the Knicks) were like, ‘hmm, okay, let’s put this together and we’ll call you back.’ They put something together and something happened.

“Now, everybody is saying that Tim Hardaway Jr. was a throw-in. No, Porzingis was a throw-in. Because they (the Mavs) called for Tim Hardaway Jr., and they were going to make a deal for Tim Hardaway Jr., and it so happened that the Knicks didn’t want Porzingis anymore because of what he demanded. So, when people say Tim Hardaway Jr. was a throw-in that pisses me off because nobody knows what really happened.”

Now, one has to consider the source in something like this, but it’s not unthinkable for the initial conversation to be about Hardaway Jr. and for Porzingis to then later come up and the two sides realizing they could work something out for both. The Mavs have pushed back on the idea that Hardaway Jr. was anything less than a significant part of the deal and that seems to be the point that Hardaway Sr. is making — although, saying Porzingis was “a throw-in” is certainly going to raise eyebrows.

Porzingis’ production in the regular season has been terrific, as has Hardaway’s, but it’s been in key moments in close games and in these playoffs where the frustration about Porzingis has been clear. His impact has simply not been where it needs to be for the Mavs and if it were, Dallas may very well be already on to the second round against Utah rather than facing a Game 7 in L.A. on Sunday afternoon.

James Holzhauer truly made a name for himself on Jeopardy! but he also has some history with the other game show he’s currently mastering, The Chase. And now that history is coming back to the present, he’s more than willing do a little trolling to help promote his current venture.

Holzhauer, who dominated Jeopardy! in 2019 and took part in the show’s Greatest Of All-Time Tournament, parlayed that success into starring in a revival of The Chase on ABC along with fellow GOATs Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter. But a new season of The Chase is coming soon with a twist: the show is adding the original chaser from its UK version. That man, Mark Labbett, is known as The Beast. And he and Holzhauer have a bit of history, which is why they’re playfully sparring on Twitter ahead of the show’s new season.

The story here is interesting, as The Chase was the first game show where Holzhauer won big money. The deal with the game show is that a team of contestants answer questions to acquire cash, then face off head-to-head with a “chaser” in order to bank that money safely to win it all. If the “chaser” gets more questions right and tracks you down, though, you’re out of the game.

Holzhauer faced off with The Beast during its run on Game Show Network from 2013 to 2015, and he did really well. Which is why he’s taken to gently trolling Labbett on Twitter, even mocking the show’s marketing materials in the process with a quote tweet where he contradicts the fact that “nobody beats The Beast.” Because, well, he did and set a then-record for most questions answered correctly by a contestant.

The back-and-forth here started when Labbett called himself a “titan” amid mortals in reply to a video previewing the new season, with an added smiley face at the end to perhaps deaden the snark a bit.

That was enough for Holzhauer to fire back. And he was more than willing to use some other marketing materials from the show’s first season to make his case for him.

This all admittedly seems in good fun, as the chasers were supportive of each other but also cracked wise about successes and failures while looking on during the first season. These four guys were all competitors at some point, it’s important to note, and old habits die hard. But if there’s any actual drama to be had, it will be from the competitors on Season 2. Because whether Holzhauer wants to admit it or not, the competition chasing them down just got much harder.

Josh Duhamel is officially going through the stages of grief about Jupiter’s Legacy. The Netflix adaptation of the comic series was abruptly canceled last week, even though it reportedly led the streaming services’ most watched list. That news came with a bit of a twist, though: the source material for the show would still be used in a Supercrooks spinoff, making it more of an anthology project than a multi-season Jupiter’s Legacy show.

The actor initially posted what amounted to a thirst trap for other streaming services in the wake of Jupiter’s Legacy getting canceled, the goal clearly being to attract enough attention from other streaming services that the show could be revived.

He also, however, posted a nice tribute to the show and explained his emotions about the cancelation, which came as a surprise to him to say the least.

“It’s never easy to hear that a project you cared about/ believed in/ put so much into is ending prematurely,” he wrote on Instagram. “It was a challenge and a privilege to dive into the character of Sheldon/ Utopian. I got to do things as an actor that took me to places I had never been.

Duhamel thanked Netflix for the opportunity to play the role, and to the fans who took to the show so quickly.

“You took us to the #1 spot around the world and we stayed there for almost 2 weeks,” he wrote. “Your support of the show means everything.”

Duhamel says the experience is “something I’ll never forget” and if things went well with that selfie, well, maybe it’s not over for him and the Jupiter’s Legacy crew just yet.

Sixers superstar Joel Embiid returned to the starting lineup on Sunday for Game 1 of Philly’s second round series with the Hawks after missing Game 5 of the first round with a small tear in his right meniscus. During that first round series, Embiid dominated prior to getting hurt in Game 4, and broke out his favorite crotch chop/thrusting celebration to the delight of many — including the WWE legends who inspired it, Triple H and Shawn Michaels.

Prior to Game 1, the Sixers had a surprise for the home crowd, as their nightly bell ringing was done by none other than Triple H, who came out with Embiid wearing DX shirts and crotch chopping at everything in sight.

The full intro was incredible as they came out to the DX theme, ran around doing crotch chops, and soaked up the crowd reaction before Triple H rang the bell with his sledgehammer.

The shirts they were wearing were custom “Thrust The Process” DX shirts with Joel alongside Triple H and Michaels that, if they ever go on sale, might become the most popular shirt in the city of Philadelphia.

Teams always try to dial up the energy and find ways to involve celebrities to get the crowd amped up a little extra before playoff games, and kudos to the Sixers for recognizing an natural opportunity to build off some first round social media chatter and make a DX intro a reality for Embiid.

Back in April, Megan Thee Stallion announced a hiatus — which appeared to be more of a social media break than a retreat from the public eye — in a post to Twitter. A digital readout that was posted to her social media pages read, “Megan Thee Stallion is recharging! Due to the demands of the Hot Girl lifestyle has now entered a period of regeneration to prepare for what’s next.” It added, “In her absence; mgmt will manage all social posting on behalf of Thee Hot Girl Coach. [[Thee Hotties]] lead a brave //RESISTANCE in anticipation for the return of their Fearless Captain!”

Well, after two months, it seems like the Houston rapper is ready to make her return.

In another cryptic post to social media, Megan shared a video with the caption, “TINA SNOW IS BACK [snowflake emoij].” Tina Snow is one of the rapper’s alter egos, a persona that sparked the Houston native’s mainstream breakout back in 2018 with her Tina Snow EP that housed highlight records like “Big Ol Freak” and “Freak Nasty.” The video itself shows Megan in a healing chamber of sorts with a display screen that shows attributes which include “body,” “mental health,” “bars,” “knees,” and “Tina Show” all at a level of 100%.

It’s good to see that Megan is ready to make her return, but we’ll have to wait and see what the Houston native will deliver first to fans. You can check out the Tina Snow post above.

Megan Thee Stallion is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.