LAKE BUENA VISTA, Florida: The NBA playoff picture is getting a little clearer.
Brooklyn secured one of the last two playoff spots in the Eastern Conference on Friday, defeating Sacramento 119-106. That leaves Orlando and Washington as the last two teams contending for one spot in the East, with the Magic needing only one more win or one Wizards loss to clinch.
Orlando and Washington were both playing later Friday.
For the Nets, the clinching comes as something to savor in a topsy-turvy season.
Kevin Durant couldn’t play at all because of his recovery from Achilles surgery — yet still got a $1 million contract bonus because Brooklyn made the postseason. Kyrie Irving missed much of the year because of injury, the Nets had several regulars opt out of participating in the restart, changed coaches in March and have used 24 players so far this season.
“It’s great to punch our own ticket into the playoffs,” Nets coach Jacque Vaughn said. “I joked with the guys: I like my laundry being done, but nothing like doing your own laundry.”
The race for the last unclaimed playoff spot in the Western Conference remains close, with teams vying to grab the No. 8 spot and play the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round. If the eighth- and ninth-place teams are within four games of one another when the seeding game schedule ends next week, there will be a two-game series to determine who gets the last playoff spot.
Should that series take place, the ninth-place team would have to go 2-0 in a best-of-two series to advance.
Memphis remained alone in eighth, after the Grizzlies snapped a four-game bubble losing streak by beating Oklahoma City on Friday 121-92. The Grizzlies are one game ahead of Portland in the West standings.
“We channeled what we’ve done all season long,” Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins said. “We played Grizzlies basketball. Grizzlies basketball equals Grizzlies wins, more often than not. We hadn’t done that in the first four games.”
San Antonio leaped idle Phoenix into 10th in the West by beating Utah 119-111, with the Spurs improving to 3-2 in the bubble. The Spurs (30-38) are one game behind Portland in the standings.
“At the end of the day, we can’t control what they’re doing,” Spurs center Jakob Poeltl said. “We can only control what we’re doing. We’re going to take every game as it comes. We’re going to try to win every game.”
Phoenix, Sacramento and New Orleans remain in the mix for a play-in series spot. The Suns, who are 4-0 at Disney, play Miami on Saturday.
NBA playoff picture comes into a bit more focus
https://arab.news/bm6sv
NBA playoff picture comes into a bit more focus
- Orlando and Washington are last two teams contending for one spot in the East
- The race for the last unclaimed playoff spot in the Western Conference remains close
US invests in counter-drone tech to protect FIFA World Cup venues
The US will invest $115 million in counter-drone measures to bolster security around the FIFA World Cup and America’s 250th Anniversary celebrations, the Department of Homeland Security said on Monday, the latest sign of governments stepping up drone defenses.
The FIFA World Cup will be a major test of President Donald Trump’s pledge to keep the US secure, with over a million travelers expected to visit for the tournament and billions more watching matches from overseas.
The threat of drone attacks has become a growing concern since the war in Ukraine has demonstrated their lethal capabilities. And recent drone incidents have worried both European and US airports.
“We are entering a new era to defend our air superiority to protect our borders and the interior of the United States,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement. Defense companies are developing a range of technologies aimed at countering drones, including tracking software, lasers, microwaves and autonomous machine guns.
The DHS did not specify which technologies it would deploy to World Cup venues. The announcement comes weeks after the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which sits under DHS, said it granted $250 million to 11 states hosting World Cup matches to buy counter-drone technologies.
Last summer, New York Governor Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, called on Trump, a Republican, to bolster federal support for defending against drone attacks.
