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Al Horford, who entered the NBA’s COVID-19 Health and Safety Protocols ahead of Game 1, has been cleared to return to action ahead of Game 2. Through 11 games in the 2022 NBA Playoffs, Horford has posted averages of 13.0 points, 9.4 rebounds and 3.4 assists, including a vintage 30-point performance in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. In Horford’s absence, the Celtics lost to the Heat by 11 points in Game 1....

ESPN.com reports that Jefferson’s agent, Jeff Schwartz, said he will notify the team by Monday’s deadline to declare free agency that the 6-10 Jefferson will return to the Hornets for the 2015-16 season. MORE: Cavs owner tweaks Warriors | Benched Bogut is OK | Unleashing Anthony Davis The 30-year-old Jefferson will earn $13.5 million in the final season of his three-year deal with Charlotte. While he could almost certainly land a more lucrative deal in free agency, the market will be even better a year from now....

Chelsea target Morata move in the summer Goal understands Madrid are happy with the current squad, with quality in all areas and a healthy mix of youth and experience. In the meantime, there are also a number of talented young players out on loan who could return and boost the overall quality at the disposal of Zinedine Zidane in time for next season. Nevertheless, Madrid are almost always active when it comes to signing players and, if the club can improve the team in any area, new names will no doubt arrive in the summer....

The 25-page report, compiled over a year through a series of Freedom of Information Act requests and released Wednesday, asserts that Christian coaches are illegally inviting chaplains to work with their teams in an attempt to spread religious beliefs among players. To varying degrees, chaplains at the schools are provided office space at team facilities, travel with the team on road trips and occasionally baptize players on campus, the report claims....

Suspended running back Tyren Jones became the third Alabama player to be arrested in four days Tuesday morning when he was charged with second-degree possession of marijuana, AL.com reported. Alabama dismissed Jones on Tuesday evening. HAYES: What Saban could have — should have — done | MORE: SN Top 50 players “Tyren Jones was indefinitely suspended from the football program early in the semester,” Alabama coach Nick Saban released in a statement....

Alabama fell just short of its fifth national title under Saban in a 35-31 loss to Clemson in the College Football Playoff National Championship game. The Crimson Tide have sent another loaded class to the NFL Draft, so there are some changes to be made in 2017. MORE: Alabama’s recruiting streak isn’t stopping anytime soon Alabama, however, is still ranked No. 1 in our Way-Too-Early Top 25 heading into spring practice, and will be favored to claim a fourth consecutive SEC championship....

Machado, a 6-0, 195-pound prospect, has also received verbal offers from Iowa State, Michigan State, N.C. State and West Virginia, his high school coach, Dennis Marroquin, told ESPN. MORE: Recruiting: SEC gets defensive Machado is not the first eighth-grader to receive a scholarship offer recently. Miami (Fla.) coach Mark Richt extended quarterback Harrison Bailey an offer to play for the Hurricanes in February, and LSU offered QB Zadock Dinkelmann in 2014....

The Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook installed the Tide as a 7-point favorite over Clemson with a total of 53.5. CG Technology was lower at -4.5. MORE: Bama rolls | No more doubting Clemson In early November, oddsmakers slated Alabama as a 3-point favorite in this hypothetical matchup. Now that it’s here, and with the way the Tide have rolled in the last few months, that number is even higher....

It’s nothing new, really. Heavy rain fronts come and go, and the city in the fishbowl floods. This New Year will mark 10 years since the lad from the Seventh Ward was forced from his home, since many areas of this iconic gulf city were destroyed by the worst natural disaster in U.S. history. Ten years since April Justin told her then 10-year-old son Landon Collins that she had a bad feeling about this particular storm, a sense that this wasn’t one they could ride out like all those before....

Saban suffered a scratch on his left cheek that bled throughout the second quarter and second half of the Crimson Tide’s 49-27 triumph. CBS reporter Jenny Dell said that Saban suffered the scratch after being hit in the face by a player’s shoulder pads: MORE: What Ohio State’s loss to Michigan means for Alabama, LSU, USC and more The scratch was still visible during a postgame interview: Apparently, enough people brought up the scratch that Saban immediately addressed it in his postgame news conference....

One of the retweets that the groups identified in their letter as problematic included a video clip of a hooded Black man punching a white man, which the groups said did not show the full interaction between the individuals involved. Above the video was a caption that read: “#BlackLivesMatter’s war on whites continues on camera.” Another retweet the groups pointed to read: “When patriots decide it’s time to fight back it’s gonna be ugly....

Alabama brings in the nation’s second-highest scoring offense at 51 points per game, and Heisman contender Tua Tagovailoa (27 touchdowns, one interception) continues to shine in offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian’s offense. Nick Saban is a perfect 12-0 against Tennessee since taking over in 2007. Tennessee (3-3) scored a confidence-building 20-10 victory against Mississippi State in Week 7, and the Vols are showing signs of improvement under second-year coach Jeremy Pruitt, who was the former defensive coordinator at Alabama....

The victim, Ruthie Mae Brown, was 36 years old and a resident of Jasper, Walker County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson T.J. Armstrong told local media. Brown was walking along Jagger Road in Nauvoo when the dogs set upon her. The Associated Press reported that the circumstances of the incident were unclear, but at least five animals were involved in the attack. The woman was declared dead at the scene, while two of the animals were claimed by their owners following the incident and three others have since been captured by the authorities....

“I had respect for him before the game, but after the game I have no respect for him anymore,” Brown said, via the Dallas Morning News. “He’s a real character, and I actually saw it for myself (Sunday). I don’t got nothing to say about Steve Smith.” Brown continued: “Coming into the game they already told me what kind of player he was. But until you see it for yourself, then you’re just, ‘calm down,’ but it’s hard because he keeps yapping after every play....

Staying with the team is fine with him, so as long as he is a member of the Nets, Lopez will give the team his best. In a commanding and surprising 102-80 victory over the Wizards, Lopez showed his old magic. His second half produced 25 points; his first, one. If nothing else, Lopez upped his trade value should the Nets decide to continue pursuing offers. The secret to his success: Been there, done that....

NEW YORK (Reuters) - After two marathons, Roger Federer had the after-burners on, sprinting past Spaniard Feliciano Lopez 6-3 6-3 7-5 and into the fourth round of the U.S. Open on Saturday. Chasing a sixth U.S. Open title, Federer needed just one hour and 46 minutes under a closed roof at Arthur Ashe Stadium to put away the 31st seed Lopez, leaving plenty in the tank after being forced to go the distance in his opening two matches....

The pair had swum across the Krasheninnikov Bay off Vilyuchinsk, Kamchatka, before boarding the vessel, a statement from the press service of the Eastern Military District for the Pacific Fleet said, according to state media. “A female bear with a bear cub entered the pier zone on the deck of one of the nuclear submarines,” the statement said. The bears were believed to pose a risk to people and that as a result, an expert instructor “using specialized hunting weapons” shot both bears dead....

The woman—who has not been identified—was walking on Tennessee Beach in the Marin Headlands, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, on Tuesday when the animal bit her on the leg. In her account of the incident, told to park rangers, the animal was acting aggressively before it bit her, the East Bay Times reported on Friday. After being bitten, the woman walked nearly two miles to her car, before driving herself to a hospital where medical staff treated her minor injuries....