fabiochiu/medium-articles huggingface dataset:
Townsend Shine Down
By: Monty Burns Kate Crubs
Tags: San Francisco, Mood

Townsend Shine Down

Thick sweater in a 73 fahrenheit room

No one is around

One is inflamed

Feels like an ordinary afternoon

Music in AirPods

Call in Bedroom

Good vibrations are setting the frame

One Hundred Seventy Eight, countdown

How much longer till I am gone

Take a polish with me

My forehead got flooded with emotions

Take a polish with me

Bright daylights dim down

Take a polish with me

Leave my toes crystal clean in town

Take a polish with me

Fill the blank pages with tea leaves

Fill the cracks with euphoria

Tell me you’ll write my name on it

when the Townsend Shines Down
Where to Order To-Go English High Tea Service in the Bay Area
By: Elaine Wu
Tags: Dining, San Francisco, Food, High Tea, Friday Five

Where to Order To-Go English High Tea Service in the Bay Area

Holiday Tea in a Box ($33/person) from Malaya Tea Room. Photo: Malaya Tea Room via Instagram

Enjoying an English afternoon high tea service is definitely an experience. There’s something whimsical about sipping from dainty little teacups and nibbling on crustless cucumber and cream cheese finger sandwiches to put you in a festive mood. Enjoying scones with clotted cream and petit fours on tiered trays lined with doilies is like having a childhood tea party realized.

During a pandemic, however, gathering at a teahouse for this kind of experience is not realistic. Fortunately, many places in the Bay Area have started boxing up their tea parties so you can enjoy one at a local park or in the comfort of your own home. So, sit up straight and raise your pinkies for these high tea experiences to go.

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Note: These options must be ordered in advance, and given the ever-changing restrictions, this information is subject to change.
Street-Photo Spotlight: Traffic Victims Will Never Walk in These Shoes Again
By: Emily Huston
Tags: Street Photography, Safety, San Francisco, Traffic, Planning

Back in mid-November, 100 people gathered at San Francisco’s sixth annual World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims to grieve those who have been killed in traffic collisions. Along the steps of City Hall, attendees left flowers amid rows of empty shoes symbolizing those who died in the city since the start of Vision Zero in 2014.

Walk San Francisco and San Francisco Bay Area Families for Safe Streets (part of the Families for Safe Streets national movement) organized the event, gathering donated shoes from the public for the memorial. Pedestrian advocates insist that car crashes and collisions are not random “accidents,” but instead the result of dangerous street design and traffic behavior throughout the city.

The advocates are calling on leaders and officials to help prevent future traffic deaths by lowering speed limits on high-injury streets like Geary, Bush, and 19th Avenue; launching a data-driven speed management program to pinpoint dangerous spots and corridors; and by expanding “left-turn calming,” rubber bumpers strategically placed in certain intersections to slow traffic.
San Francisco Bans Smoking Tobacco in Apartments, Allows Cannabis
By: Clara Hogan
Tags: San Francisco, Cannabis, Smoking, Public Health

San Francisco Bans Smoking Tobacco in Apartments, Allows Cannabis

Exempting weed from the ordinance comes after the measure received criticism Clara Hogan ·Dec 2, 2020

Photo: Axel Heimken/picture alliance via Getty Images

We recently wrote that the San Francisco Board of Supervisors was considering banning smoking both cannabis and tobacco in SF apartments.

But in the end, the board decided to exempt weed from the law.

Now under the measure, residents living in buildings with three or more units can’t smoke cigarettes; many buildings have already put those rules into their leases. But cannabis users: Smoke on.

Read more in the San Francisco Chronicle.
Seeking Nominations for The Bold Italic’s 2020 Awards: Celebrating the Bay Area’s Hustle and Creativity
By: The Bold Italic Editors
Tags: San Francisco, local masks that stun, Small Business, Oakland, Bay Area

As 2020 comes to an end, we can all be heard collectively shouting, “Boy, bye.” Truly, if one word had to summarize this year, it would be “anxiety.” We’ve been anxious about everything: the election, social unrest, a president refusing to concede, and—oh, yeah—a global pandemic that’s disrupted everything.

When March hit, life in the Bay Area changed overnight when we were the first in the country to be thrown into shelter in place. Since those early days of pandemic living, as we’ve come in and out of different levels of restrictions, one thing has been clear: the devastating effects on our local small businesses that have had to close, pivot, open, and pivot again to make ends meet. Some haven’t made it. Others are barely hanging on.

That brings us to our main point: Despite everything shitty about 2020 and how much has changed in the Bay Area, there has also been a ton that deserves to be celebrated. The way local residents and businesses have made it work, shown up, given back, and lifted up our community has been nothing short of amazing to see. San Francisco’s hustle and creativity have been on full display, from beautiful parklets to outdoor workouts to local masks that stun.

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That’s why we are launching The Bold Italic’s 2020 awards: to recognize the local people and businesses that have made this year suck less. We see you. We appreciate you. And we want to celebrate you.

To do that, we need your help. We are seeking nominations for many categories, from “Most Creative Outdoor Dining Experience” to “Best Corner Bodega.”

Please fill out this Google Form below to submit your nominations. Any information you can give on why you are nominating a certain person or business is helpful — and make sure to share with others! The deadline to nominate is this Friday, December 4.
SF Mayor London Breed Had a Group Dinner at the French Laundry, Too
By: Clara Hogan
Tags: Covid 19, San Francisco Politics, San Francisco, Cities, Politics

SF Mayor London Breed Had a Group Dinner at the French Laundry, Too

Smuin Contemporary Ballet dancer Cassidy Isaacson (center) and Brandon Alexander (right) chatswith Mayor London Breed outside John’s Grill Oasis after performing a sold-out show on Ellis Street on October 11, 2020, in San Francisco. Photo: Gabrielle Lurie/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images

You likely remember the recent scandal involving California Gov. Gavin Newsom going to a fancy indoor birthday dinner for a prominent lobbyist at the French Laundry, violating his own Covid-19 rules and pissing off everyone in doing so. Well, apparently San Francisco Mayor London Breed is about to face her own scandal for doing the exact same thing.

Yep.

The San Francisco Chronicle’s Heather Knight reports that Breed dined with a group of seven others on November 7 at the iconic three-Michelin starred restaurant in Napa — just one night after Newsom’s own little soiree. According to the Chronicle, the dinner was in honor of socialite Gorretti Lo Lui’s 60th birthday and took place in a partially private room inside similar to the one Newsom dined in.

Breed’s spokesman, Jeff Cretan, told the Chronicle it was a “small family birthday dinner” but would not disclose who else attended. He emphasized that Napa allowed indoor dining at the time.

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While true, the state and Breed’s directives throughout the pandemic have “strongly discouraged” social gatherings inside among multiple households that are not in a pod. And the meal would have violated her own rules in San Francisco, where she’s directed restaurants not to seat groups larger than six unless everyone lives together. Just three days after that dinner, Breed completely banned indoor dining in San Francisco, tweeting this:

Stories about politicians saying one thing but doing another around Covid-19 regulations keep pouring in. In Newsom’s case, he attended the French Laundry dinner with 11 others for lobbyist Jason Kinney’s 50th birthday. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi went to a hair salon in San Francisco while salons were shut down, and San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo attended a Thanksgiving gathering with five other households after telling residents not to.

Cretan did tell the Chronicle that Breed wanted to dine at restaurants during lower-rate cases to support them and that now that cases are up, “she is once again limiting her actions and is encouraging all San Franciscans to do the same.”

Listen, we get it. People make mistakes. People take various rules and safety into consideration during this pandemic and make decisions that feel best for them at that moment. If this were an average person, they’d deserve more slack. But public officials cannot be so cavalier about their choices when so many of their constituents are giving up so much in listening to their orders and trying to do their part.
Feel the burn: The Peninsula gets a new Nashville hot chicken joint
By: Elena Kadvany
Tags: Nashville, San Francisco, Foodies, Bay Area, Silicon Valley

The Love Burn spice blend includes Chinese five spice, allspice, thyme, sage, garlic, paprika, Chile de árbol, guajillo chilis and habanero peppers (this is all Angeles would disclose, not wanting to reveal too much in case a competing hot chicken entrepreneur reads this article). The flour dredge has even more spices in it. There’s also a hot oil blend they dial in depending on how hot you want your hot chicken, from level zero to “leave-you-on-the-floor” level four. Angeles has tried and failed to finish a level four sandwich.

“We built this spice blend that’s very unique. We like to have it where you can actually taste the flavor of the sandwich and then the heat builds … before the burn starts to kick in,” he said. “We want to pay homage to Nashville hot, but this is really something different.”

The Love Burn menu is succinct. You can order the fried chicken as a sandwich, an enormous thigh jutting out of a potato bun with creamy coleslaw and pickles, or as a fried leg quarter perched atop a slice of potato bread. Sides include coleslaw, macaroni salad and French fries. Sauces include hot and cool ranch, hot honey and hot sauce. For dessert, there are churros with hot honey.

“It’s the crispiest hot chicken sandwich that you’re going to find. It’s the largest hot chicken sandwich you’re going to find. If you go level four, it is the hottest chicken sandwich,” Angeles said. “It’s a bold statement that we’re really confident [to stand] behind.”

(Image via Yelp)

Love Burn is open for takeout and delivery only at the moment, though it has space for both outdoor and indoor seating at Hometown Bowl.

The space also happens to be a ghost kitchen out of which the owners can run several different menus. In two weeks they’re opening a burger concept called Me So Hungry, which currently operates as a food truck, and later plan to add pizza. From now on, whenever the owners open a new location, it will house at least two concepts, Angeles said.

“With the pandemic and how the whole restaurant landscape has been changing, being in this industry you have to make the most out of your square footage. We can’t rely on the fact that we’re going to have indoor dining so you have to be even more smart about how you utilize the space,” he said.
San Francisco May Ban Smoking Weed and Cigarettes in Apartments
By: Clara Hogan
Tags: San Francisco, Laws, Cities, Justice, Cannabis

San Francisco May Ban Smoking Weed and Cigarettes in Apartments

Photo: Blaine Harrington III/The Image Bank/Getty Images

Renters in San Francisco may soon be unable to legally smoke any sort of substance —including tobacco and cannabis— in their own apartments.

At least, that’s a proposal the SF Board of Supervisors is considering for buildings of three or more units. But the pot part, at least, is likely to not going to go over too well in a city full of cannabis fans.

Board President and District 7 Supervisor Norman Yee, who is termed-out and leaving office in January, was the one to propose it. The board’s Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee voted to bring it to a full board vote on December 1. His reason: protecting people from second-hand smoke.

“We are discussing the right of our residents to breathe clean air,” Yee told the SF Examiner.

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Many apartments already ban smoking tobacco, but banning smoking weed would be a whole different issue in this city.

After criticism, Yee allowed an exemption for those using cannabis for medicinal purposes with proof of a doctor’s recommendation. But cannabis advocates are still furious with the proposal and called for the board to reject it.

The San Francisco Cannabis Oversight Committee, in its letter arguing against the ordinance, called the measure classist. They argue that people who have enough money to buy a home would be unaffected; they also criticized the ordinance’s call for $1,000 per day in penalties for repeat violators of the ban.

“San Franciscans who can afford to buy free-standing homes would be unaffected and could still smoke in peace,” the letter said. “The $1,000/day penalty adds insult to injury, since only wealthy people can pay such fines, but wealthy people are already exempted by virtue of owning their own free-standing homes.”

The vote happens tomorrow — and we’ll be watching and updating you here. If you want to let you supervisors know how you feel in SF, email them here.
Explore San Francisco via Alaska Airlines Reservations
Tags: San Francisco, Alaska Airlines

San Francisco is the excitement, cultural and economic center of Northern California. Founded by Spanish settlers in 1776, the city is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The city became famous in 1849 as the home of the California Gold Rush and was then the largest city on the west coast. A popular city for tourists, San Francisco is known for its cool summers, fog, steep rolling hills, eclectic architecture and landmarks. Discover the beauty of this unique city on a budget, book your tickets through Alaska Airlines Reservations and take advantage of exciting offers at the time of booking.

Golden Gate Bridge

The world-famous Golden Gate Bridge is the symbol of this city. This wonderful 1.7-mile building connects San Francisco with Marin County and points further north. The bridge opens just before dawn and closes every night. The bridge was originally completed in 1937 and its gates are opened every day for the public to appreciate its beauty. After walking, don’t forget to visit the small museum on the southern side of San Francisco. In the museum, you can learn more about the bridge, including some interesting facts and history. You will also find a gift shop, snack bar and small restaurant on the same side.

San Francisco’s Chinatown

One of the oldest Chinatowns outside of Asia. is San Francisco Chinatown,Many of the Chinese who founded here the trader or migrant workers who work in the transcontinental railroad or as miners during the gold hunter. This scenic part of the city is located mainly on Grant Avenue, from Bush to Broadway. This place is suitable for dining, shopping, entertainment and more.

Alcatraz Island

One of the most famous attractions in Alcatraz Island. This old prison complex originally opened as a US military fort in the mid-1850s. It became a military prison in early 1900 and a safer federal prison in 1934. Visitors can easily recognize many of the prisoners who spent their time at The Rock. Most notable are Al Capone, Robert Stroud and Machine Gun Kelly. However, the prison closed the door in 1963. It reopened in 1973 for a public tour. Tickets to visit Alcatraz include a round-trip ferry to the island, a self-guided audio tour, and the opportunity to explore several other buildings.
Hikes to Burn Off Thanksgiving Calories in the Bay Area
By: Clara Hogan
Tags: San Francisco, Bay Area, Outdoors, Hiking

1. An urban stroll

You don’t have to get into nature to get your heart rate up. Check out these five urban hikes throughout the city.

2. A walk with the pup

Head to the East Bay with the doggo at these pup-friendly spots.

3. Head into the unknown at Ocean Beach

Ever wonder what it would be like to walk south of Ocean Beach into the vastness? This writer did. Check out his story and try it yourself.

4. Hike + beach

The best combo. Here are our favorites.

5. Head to the South Bay

Explore the peninsula by foot.

Other options

1. This tried-and-true classic Bay Area hike…

…will never let you down.

2. Take an outdoor workout class

Some local studios offering them here:
San Francisco Nights
By: Kylie Walters
Tags: San Francisco, Bay Area, Personal Essay, Photo Essay, Photography

Now when I look at these photos, they are among the most evocative I’ve ever taken. The shake of the above photo reproduces the exact feeling of walking toward my apartment above the lit store.

Sometimes you are just walking home, wondering whether to get anything at the store on your way. Along those walks you will come to realizations about yourself and the world. You might decide to go to a concert or make carbonara. You might realize you want to leave your job. You might age two years or ten doing the same walk.

I’m generally distressed by the inability to anticipate how long I will spend in one place. I wish I could know what will stick and for how long.
Why Does the Bay Have So Many Wild Turkeys?
By: Clara Hogan
Tags: San Francisco, Bay Area, Animals, Outdoors

Why Does the Bay Have So Many Wild Turkeys?

Wild turkeys wander through the parking lot of the Oakland Zoo. Photo: Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

If you’ve lived in the Bay Area for more than one minute, you’ve likely seen a flock of turkeys wandering around. Since it’s officially Turkey Day, we thought hit was a good idea to look into why these wild creatures are so plentiful in our region.

A couple years ago, our former editor-in-chief Keith Spencer looked into this question and found out that turkeys are actually relative newcomers—at least it’s new just how common they are to spot.

Alan Krakauer, a UC Davis biology professor who specializes in the behavioral ecology of birds, told TBI that the turkeys were brought back to California in the mid-20th century.

Originally, these turkeys were brought for hunting at private hunting clubs and on state-managed lands… it’s been sort of a continued population growth from that time, from the 1950s to the 1980s, when these releases were happening.

Apparently, wild turkeys “love all the open space in the Bay Area”:

Native Bay Area residents might wonder whether the turkeys are technically transplants. “It’s a contentious issue: whether to call turkeys in California ‘native’ or ‘introduced,’” said Dr. Krakauer. Turkeys have certainly been in California before. Wild turkeys are one of the most common fossils found in the La Brea tar pits and were present in Southern California in the Pleistocene. But “most of the introduced ones here were brought from the Texas or Oklahoma area,” said Krakauer. “The landscape here is similar, so the turkeys adapted easily to California.”

And just to get to the question you may be wondering (it’s Turkey Day, after all): Could a resident kill and eat one?

The answer: You would need a permit, and hunting season is only open for a month each year.

“You’d need to check with the city or county,” said Krakauer, laughing. “I don’t think you can just go into Tilden and shoot.”

Read the full story:
On Thinking Critically
By: Jms Editorial
Tags: San Francisco, Art, Marketing, Community, Palestine

On Thinking Critically

Tell me a little bit about your background and how it relates to your art.

I’m Palestinian American by roots, born in San Francisco. I use art as a method to educate and to spread awareness about the world in general, but in particular Palestinian human rights and how it relates to our situation here in the United States.

C. Gazaleh

You have a pretty powerful mural in a very central location. What’s the role that work plays in shaping the community it’s in?

My mural on upper Market [is] kind of between four different neighborhoods. It’s titled Humanity is the Key. It’s situated in the heart of the city, in an area that’s changing very rapidly. While we have this tech boom in the Bay Area, and there’s so many people coming from outside in, the mural itself is about community, because it’s about history, it’s about occupation and how people are affected by occupation.

The mural is in front of everyone’s face. That’s one thing that I try to do with my art: promoting critical thinking and making people more curious to ask questions about why things are the way they are.

I believe that critical thinking is probably the least valued job.

What does the word ‘community’ mean to you?

For me, ‘community’ means the people who I’m around when I walk out my door — people walking by in the street. And another sense, community to me refers to the people who I associate with. My circle.

The work I do is literally about community. It’s about raising awareness of my community’s history and also to help educate and to prepare people from other groups who are from other ethnic groups, to understand and to be able to think critically about other places.

C. Gazaleh

Speaking of jobs, what’s the ‘job’ this mural does?

In particular, I want to raise the consciousness of my own community, my own people who I’m related to, to literally raise their consciousness to be more critical, thinking critically and to challenge their assimilated beliefs, the beliefs that they learn from their their family, who thought a certain way because they adopted it from the norm.

I still think about a very simple concept [I learned from] one of my mentors. She said ‘identity is a work in progress.’ Our identities are forever changing, growing, shifting.

How do you protect and sustain communities through art?

I think [art is] one of the most effective platforms, and it’s very much tied in with education. I worked in education for like nine years in the SF Unified School District. But [with my mural] I can be in the sight of 100,000 people a day. I can do something a little bit different, less traditional, but very influential.

We have to protect our communities by educating our communities and also by educating the masses so that we understand we’re all in this together.
San Jose and San Francisco made it into the Top 25 of the world’s best 100 cities for 2020 as…
By: Sksarfaraz Khan
Tags: San Francisco, Is A Place, Dreams Can Be Fulfilled, Where Your

San Jose and San Francisco made it into the Top 25 of the world’s best 100 cities for 2020 as determined by a tourism, real estate and economic development advisory group, Resonance Consultancy.

The company uses specially developed programs that rank cities based on dozens of characteristics and qualities, taking into account things that would appeal to visitors as well as locals. Resonance says it takes a more “holistic approach” in the rankings, using a wide range of factors that include a city’s ability to attract employment, investment and visitors. It also takes into account culinary experiences, museums, sights, landmarks, the number of Global 500 corporations, direct flight connections, the education levels of residents, and mentions each city has on Instagram.

Topping the list of best cities were London, New York, Paris, Tokyo, Moscow, Dubai, Singapore, Barcelona, Los Angeles and Rome.

Of San Jose, Resonance said “Talent, smarts and money are a potent mix that’s given San Jose — the largest city in Northern California in terms of area and population — a No. 3 ranking for per capita GDP in the world, behind only Abu Dhabi and Doha.”

The city scored high in the Resonance rankings for number of people with at least a post-secondary education, and ranked No. 2 in quality of universities with Stanford leading the list. Google, Facebook, Cisco Systems, eBay and PayPal made San Jose No. 15 for Global Fortune 500 headquarters and No. 11 for foreign-born population, up from 14th last year.

“While immigration is ever more contentious elsewhere,” researchers noted, “the city continues to draw some of the best and brightest tech talent and entrepreneurs on the planet.”

San Francisco was lauded for embracing seekers since the Gold Rush days, when people from all over the world showed up in the city looking for their chance at the California dream.

“Along the way,” the report notes, “these immigrants have sowed the seeds for the city’s open-minded attitude toward, well, everything. The result is a city that doesn’t just welcome differences, but encourages and celebrates them. No wonder it ranks No. 8 in our People category, including No. 6 for residents with at least a post secondary education.
The Light at the End of the Tunnel
By: Scott Wiener
Tags: Thanksgiving, California, Covid 19, San Francisco, Politics

As Thanksgiving approaches, I’m reflecting on what I’m thankful for during this very unusual and difficult year.



I am thankful for all of our essential workers who keep our communities running during this time.



I’m also thankful for all of you — the members of our community — for hanging in there through the very challenging events of the past 8 months. Thank you for social distancing, for postponing weddings and birthdays, for staying home, for cancelling plans, and for everything else you’ve done to slow the spread of COVID-19. All of your efforts matter — you’ve helped protect our community.



We have challenges ahead; there is no denying that. As Thanksgiving approaches, we all want to gather with people outside our household. We also all know that gathering with people outside of our own households — especially indoors — could put ourselves and others at risk of infection and contribute to the spread of COVID-19.



You’ve heard this many times, but I want to encourage everyone, if you can: stay home and celebrate Thanksgiving with people in your own household. If you decide to see others for the holiday, please be careful about testing, quarantining, masking, and social distancing, in addition to maximizing time outside. There is no 100% safe way to see others, but there are ways to reduce risk.



To be clear, this isn’t about judging others or casting aspersions on those who choose to gather. No one is perfect, myself included. All of us want to see our friends and loved ones. All of us are hurting this year, some much more than others. We all want this to be over. And we all make choices about the risks we are willing to tolerate. But, please do everything you can to reduce that risk so that we can protect our healthcare system and save lives.



I know that this is incredibly painful — it certainly is for me. I haven’t seen my elderly parents, my sister, or my nephews in person since the beginning of COVID-19. It’s a struggle, and FaceTime and Zoom just aren’t the same. I’m also bummed out not to be spending Thanksgiving with my close friends, as we do almost every year.



But I also know that hope lies just ahead of us and that there’s a light — one that becomes brighter and brighter — at the end of the tunnel. We have an incoming President and Vice President who take the virus incredibly seriously. And we have what appear to be three highly effective vaccine candidates moving through the FDA’s emergency authorization process. Frontline healthcare workers could begin receiving the vaccine as soon as mid-December, just a few weeks from now.



We’re moving toward a better future, where we can hug our family and friends, share many meals together, meet our friends for a drink, dance until the next morning, and explore the beauty of life without fear. We’re not quite there yet, but I have faith that we will hang on just a little longer until it’s safe again. We will get through this pandemic together. We’ve already made it this far. Let’s keep up the fight.



We got this.



Happy Thanksgiving,
We Asked San Franciscans: How Are You Celebrating Thanksgiving?
By: Clara Hogan
Tags: San Francisco, Weasked, Thanksgiving

We Asked San Franciscans: How Are You Celebrating Thanksgiving?

Takeout. Zoom. Repeat. Photo: Scott Heins/Getty Images

Here we are in November. Pandemic holiday season is upon us. We knew it would come, but actually being here feels strange.

This Thanksgiving, many San Franciscans find themselves holed up in their apartments, away from relatives, trying to figure out how to make a Thanksgiving meal for two on their own or what takeout to get and bracing themselves for awkward family games on Zoom.

But while it may not be traditional, it doesn’t mean this Thanksgiving can’t be special. After all, maybe it’s time to think about redefining this holiday—what it means and how we honor it.

We asked our fellow neighbors: How are you celebrating? Read on for inspiration.
Shai Gilgeous Alexander made a jumper with 1.4 seconds left on the clock to give the Thunder their first victory this season
By: Stelios K.
Tags: NBA, Charlotte Hornets, Sports, Oklahoma City Thunder, Basketball

Shai Gilgeous Alexander made a jumper with 1.4 seconds left on the clock to give the Thunder their first victory this season Stelios K. Dec 27, 2020·2 min read

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander knocked down a tiebreaking jumper with 1.4 seconds left and finished with 24 points, seven rebounds and nine assists, helping the Oklahoma City Thunder hold off a furious rally by the Charlotte Hornets to win their season opener 109–107 Saturday night.

“The greats do it,” he said. “It’s a role I’m blessed to have. But I work extremely hard and I want to take full advantage of it. I have a couple moves I like to go to in iso. And then it’s just read and react. That’s a shot I practice a lot. And it went in.”

“He understood how much time he had and got to his spot,” said Mark Daigneault, who won in his debut as Oklahoma City’s coach.

George Hill finished the game with 21 points, Darius Bazley and Luguentz Dort added 15 points for the Thunder who won their first game after the game against the Rockets got postponed earlier this week due to multiple players testing positive to COVID-19.

“This season is a going to have a lot of ups and downs, some wins and losses, but the more we can stay together and be resilient, we will be fine,” Hill said.

The Thunder struggled with putting the game away in the final 2 minutes, missing free throws and turning the ball over. Daigneault said that will be an area the team must improve upon.

“We could have handled it better,” Daigneault said. “Hopefully we learn from it and handle it better next time.”

Terry Rozier had only 19 points, PJ Washington added 18 points and rookie LaMelo Ball put 13 points coming off the bench.

“I thought LaMelo played extremely well tonight,” Hornets coach James Borrego said. “There may be more minutes for him. Tonight was a good step for him.”

Ball seems to adjust well next to the other young players and soon he will earn some more playing time if he has performances like this one.

Charlotte Hornets vs OKC Thunder Full Game Highlights

NEXT GAMES

The Thunder will host the Utah Jazz on Monday, while Hornets will take on the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday.

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Hawks absconded with the victory with Trae Young having another 35+point performance
By: Stelios K.
Tags: NBA, Sports, Basketball, Atlanta Hawks, Memphis Grizzlies

Trae Young led Hawks to their second consecutive victory by scoring eight of his total 36 points down the stretch and they handed Memphis Grizzlies their second loss at home.

Kevin Huerter added 21 points, De’Andre Hunter had 15 points and rookie Nathan Knight had a great performance with 14 points, going 4 of 5 from the field and 2-for-3 shooting from 3-point range.

Ja Morant led Memphis with 28 points and seven assists, and Kyle Anderson finished with 20 points and 14 rebounds.

“For the most part, I think we did a pretty good job at that. We tried to turn a lot of them into shooters,” Huerter elaborated on what they were trying to do throughout the game to not give away easy baskets in transition, and later adding: “Trying to keep them out of the paint, and we did our thing offensively.”

Ja Morant and Trae Young started the season with significant performances: Morant had a career-high 44 points in a home loss to the San Antonio Spurs, while Young notched up 37 points against the Chicago Bulls.

Young had a difficult time knocking down shots in the first half, but in the first two minutes of the second half he scored 10 points.

“I think shots just went down,” Young said of the second half. “I was getting some really good looks in that first half. Shots just weren’t going in. For all of us. … I think we got the rust off (in the first half) and played really well as far as scoring throughout the rest of the game.”

“We’re both young talents trying to be the face of the league,” Morant said. “We’ve played against each other many times. … The sky’s the limit for (Young).”

NEXT GAMES

Hawks will host the Detroit Pistons on Monday, while Grizzlies will travel to Brooklyn to face the formidable duo Irving-Durant.

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This is my Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/NBA-Western-Conference-644047762388472/

And you can hit the follow button on this platform if you want.
1 Takeaway From Each Christmas Day Game
By: Adi Bhatta
Tags: Los Angeles Lakers, NBA, Christmas, Sports, Basketball

Los Angeles v Denver: Clippers are ready to prove people wrong

Credit: Sky Sports

With 6 minutes to go in the fourth and holding onto an 11 point lead, the Clippers looked poised to take a well earned Christmas Day win over the team that came back from 3–1 on them. However, Kawhi Leonard was then hit by an accidental elbow and was forced to sit out the remainder of the game. It would seem fitting that the Denver, being the comeback oriented team they are, would find a way to steal this from Los Angeles, but unfortunately for them that was not the case. Led by a resurgent Paul George, the Clippers held firm and managed to win by 13, something this Los Angeles team would probably not been able to do last season.

Much like their cross town rivals win, the Clippers proved that their new acquisitions can also hold their own. Nic Batum put up 13 points and 10 rebounds and gave the Clippers an extra ball handler they desperately need, especially without Leonard on the floor. Ibaka scored 15 points of his own, and though he was the one to deliver the finishing blow to Leonard, proved exactly why the Clippers signed him, with gritty interior defense that Montrezl Harrell just could not provide last season in the playoffs. Finally, though not having a great game filling up the stat sheet, Luke Kennard gives the Clippers more of a threat from the outside that keeps defenders honest and gave Paul George more space to operate late in games.

At the end of the day it’s important to remember the season is only 2 games in and there is plenty of basketball to be played. Everything seen so far should be taken with a grain of salt, but for now it’s at least important to look at what has been displayed, to get a better indication of what is to come later on down the road.
2020–21 NBA Season Previews: Part 1
By: Kevin Sprague
Tags: NBA, Nba Predictions, Nba Preview

Los Angeles Clippers v. Denver Nuggets, Staples Center, circa 2015.

Welcome to the first installment of what is sure to become an annual tradition — Kevin’s NBA Season Previews!

I have been wanting to do a project like this for years but, until now, have never managed to get around to it. I’m delighted to say that changes now.

Allow me to address a few items before we dive in…

Aren’t these a little late? Yes, I am well aware the NBA season is already underway. Ideally, I would have published these previews before the start of the season — and that’s exactly what I am planning to do in future years — but if 2020 has taught us anything it’s that even the best laid plans are often subject to change, and this project has been no exception. Rest assured that neither my research nor my predictions have been changed from the results we have already seen. (When you see where I have some of the teams finishing the season, that should become clear — gulp.) What makes these previews unique? As you will see in just a moment, my take on the NBA season preview format is a little different than what others do. I wanted my first go-round to be something more of a cross between a detailed guide on each of the 30 teams — including snapshots of what they did in the previous season, what moves they made in the offseason, and how their lineups could look — and my own thoughts on what will ultimately define them throughout the upcoming season. I also try to infuse a little humor to lighten things up (namely the ‘Over/Under’ sections). Part 1… of how many? I will publish these season previews in a total of 3 parts, along the lines of the league’s divisions. Each part will focus on two divisions — one from the Eastern Conference and one from the West.

Finally, a note of the ‘Prediction’ sections. I consulted two sources as I was deciding how I would predict each team’s win/loss totals: FiveThirtyEight’s annual team projections and VegasInsider.com’s 2020–21 NBA Win Totals Odds. For easier use, and so you won’t have to comb through all three parts and reverse engineer my regular season predictions on your own, here’s how I see the regular season playing out:

East: 1. Milwaukee Bucks, 2. Boston Celtics, 3. Miami Heat, 4. Philadelphia 76ers, 5. Brooklyn Nets, 6. Toronto Raptors, 7. Indiana Pacers, 8. Atlanta Hawks, 9. Washington Wizards, 10. Orlando Magic, 11. Chicago Bulls, 12. Charlotte Hornets, 13. Cleveland Cavaliers, 14. Detroit Pistons, 15. New York Knicks.

West: 1. Los Angeles Lakers, 2. Denver Nuggets, 3. Los Angeles Clippers, 4. Dallas Mavericks, 5. Portland Trail Blazers, 6. Utah Jazz, 7. Phoenix Suns, 8. Memphis Grizzlies, 9. Golden State Warriors, 10. New Orleans Pelicans, 11. San Antonio Spurs, 12. Houston Rockets, 13. Sacramento Kings, 14. Minnesota Timberwolves, 15. Oklahoma City Thunder.

Now, without further ado, let’s dive into part 1 — the Atlantic and Pacific Divisions.
Haha a Christmas miracle!
By: Brandon Anderson
Tags: NBA, Future, Culture, Sports

Haha a Christmas miracle! Thanks for reading as always. Fultz is still young and just an upside play. Point guards take time.
Opening Night NBA
By: James O'Dowda
Tags: NBA, Betting, Sports, Betting Tips, Sports Betting

My entire life I have been a fan of anything competitive. From playing house league hockey as a kid to beating my friends in NBA2K online, anything that could be competitive I was interested in.

Last year I took this passion to another step, I started betting on NBA games, seeing as that was my second favourite sport and refuse to ruin my true love, hockey, over money. Within the year I made 500 dollars from gambling with little to no knowledge on what I was doing, so I decided to change that.

Since the start of COVID-19, I have been working on a sports betting model for the NBA and decided to hold myself accountable and share with you my picks for each game, how much I wager, and my overall record. This is a litmus test on if I am smart enough to make a career out of projections.

With Day 1 of the NBA season only an hour away from tip off, I will not be going into detail of what my model does or why I am picking the games, because I am still trying to figure that out as well, but this is a gambling blog so I have to make some picks.

Day 1 of the NBA season has the Brooklyn Nets vs Golden State Warriors (+7.5) and the Los Angeles Lakers vs Los Angeles Clippers (+2.5), my picks for these games are the Brooklyn Nets (-7.5) and the Los Angeles Clippers (+2.5). 10 dollars placed on each bet, so in total I am wagering 20 bucks on two bets.

Best of luck to everyone, and in the coming days I will be going more in depth as to why I am betting games, and how sports betting actually works.

James
MY HEART, A.K.A. MARK CUBAN’S YACHT” & “UDONIS HASLEM IN FRANCE”
By: P. Scott Cunningham
Tags: NBA, Culture, Basketball, Poetry, Miami

“UDONIS HASLEM IN FRANCE”

A Compact Poem

The moon is always out and in the wrong part

of the sky, which takes up not half the view

but nine-tenths of it. The clouds are like herds. The stars

are like field stones. Sometimes a handful of birds

get tossed across the cosmos like a set of dice.

I sleep all day to stay on the time it is

on the street where I was born. If I never see

the sun in France, it means I never left Miami.

It means my skin is frozen until Florida

thaws me out like a grove of orange trees.

Did you know the freeze can save the harvest too?

I never ate an orange until I left Miami.

I never saw the moon until I came to this place

where photography was invented. When I’m up

at night, alone, I think about the first time

a man saw his own image rising from the paper

his own face, but thinner, weightless, rising

like time itself remembering night’s loneliness,

like a man being invented by another’s waking.

There it is, the moon. I never saw it until I left.

Its light tastes like an orange painted on a wall.

The harvest freezes what we thought we’d lost

as the trees opens up their oranges.

Florida is my skin, how could I ever leave it

for another sun, another country, another continent.

Unborn until I return, I rewrite every street.

Time sleeps all day with me. I live in

a paradise obscured by the light of stars.

I pick up a handful of letters from home,

heavier than stones, and read nine-tenths of each

then let the sky read the remainder.

If the sun is out, the moon is wrong.
Davis and James sent Doncic home with a present
By: Stelios K.
Tags: Los Angeles Lakers, NBA, Sports, Basketball, Dallas Mavericks

Anthony Davis and LeBron James handed a hefty loss to Luka Doncic and his crew and became the second-leading Christmas scorer in NBA history during the Los Angeles Lakers’ 138–115 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Friday night.

Davis had 28 points, eight rebounds and five assists, James added 22 points, seven rebounds and 10 assists and Lakers got their first home victory for the season. Montrezl Harrell had 22 points, seven rebounds and two assists, while starter Dennis Schroder scored 18 points.

Dallas Mavericks vs LA Lakers 25/12/2020

“We have the ability to where we can have four, maybe even five guys that can score in the 20s any given night,” James said as the Lakers outrebounded Dallas 53–27. “As long as we defend and we’re efficient, it’s a beautiful thing to see.”

“The more we play with each other, the more we’re going to figure things out,” Davis said. “We prided ourselves on not losing two in a row last year, so we wanted to come out and make sure we do that.”

Doncic had 27 points and seven assists, Josh Richardson and Trey Burke had 17 points apiece as the Mavs started 0–2 with a late fade.

“You can’t win a game where the second-chance points are 35–0,” Doncic said. “It’s as simple as that. We box out, we win the game.”

NEXT GAMES

Mavericks will visit Clippers, while Lakers will host the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday.

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Kawhi Leonard Injured During Clippers Win Over The Nuggets On Christmas Day
By: Omotayo Hassan
Tags: Clippers, NBA, Injury, Nuggets, Kawhi Leonard

A win with a heavy price tag is what the Los Angeles Clippers would call their win over the Denver Nuggets, as their star player Leonard suffer injury with elbow to the mouth leaving him bloody on the court laying down after chasing a rebound behind his own teammate.

121–108 win over the nuggets improve the Clippers record to 2–0, but with a costly injury the fan’s seem to be a little worried after seeing their star player laid out on the court with a bloody mouth, teammate Serge Ibaka mistakenly elbowed him in the mouth trying to grab the rebound.

Although Leonard was able to stand on his own and walk off the court, officials still ruled him out of the game sending him to the locker room.

Leonard finished the game with 21 points 7 assist, 4 rebounds and 4 steals on 8 of 14 shooting, not sure if he will be playing in the next game against the Dallas Mavericks tomorrow.

The superstar received 8 stitches to close a mouth laceration, but will be fine.
Takeaways from the Christmas Day Games | NBA
By: Salil Kanade
Tags: NBA, LeBron James, Lakers, Christmas Day, ESPN

Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving late in the fourth quarter

MVPs and All-Stars matched up on Christmas Day as the Clippers closed out the Nuggets in a 121–108 victory (despite Kawhi Leonard exiting the game with a mouth injury in the fourth) to cap the night off in dramatic fashion.

Paul George and Kawhi Leonard led the way for the Clippers with 20+ points each as The Joker finished with a near triple double in a losing effort. The Clips were up 17 at the half and made sure to close Denver out this time around.

The Heat defeated the Pelicans in their home opener with guard Duncan Robinson leading the way with a team high 23 points and 7 of 13 from beyond the arc. Zion and Brandon Ingram combined to score 60 points but still fell short in spite of Jimmy Butler exiting the game in the first.

The Bucks and the Nets blew out the Warriors and the Celtics respectively as Kyrie, KD and Middleton went off. Kyrie made a statement with 37 points on 62% shooting in his return to Boston as Brooklyn outscored the Celtics by 31 in the second half. So are the Nets immediate title contenders? Hell yes! With KD having over 500 days to recover from his Achilles injury, he looks like his old self.

The Mavs and the Lakers debuted their new jerseys on Christmas Day in a superstar duel between Luka and LeBron. Despite a team high 27 and 6 players in double figures, Luka and the Mavs fell short as the Lakers went off for 138 points and 19 made 3-pointers (19/39). AD, LeBron, Shroeder and Harrell combined for 90 of the 138 total points. Los Angeles outrebounded Dallas by 26 and restricted them to 0 second-chance points as opposed to their 35 which made the key difference.

But if the Lakers want to repeat, they need to stay healthy throughout the season and make a run for their 18th title as LeBron aims to equal Kobe, Magic and Duncan with 5.