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Cole Anthony played a good all-around game as Orlando challenged the reigning Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics in the Magic’s home opener. However, it came apart in the final minutes as Boston moved to 3–0 and Orlando fell to 0–3 after the Celtics’ 126–120 victory Saturday night.
Cole Anthony missed Orlando’s opener on Wednesday because he felt sick but to say that he was doing fine on Friday night would be an understatement. He matched Atlanta star Trae Young’s scoring output with 25 points in the Magic’s 108–98 Friday road loss to the Hawks, but they had contrasting games. Anthony came off the bench hot with 17 points in 12 first-half minutes while Young went scoreless in the first half.
Season one as an NBA starter began well for Cameron Johnson after missing most of the preseason with a right thumb injury. It was going fine with 15 points and three 3-pointers in the Phoenix Suns’ 107–105 come-from-behind home victory Wednesday over the Dallas Mavericks before he left the game with nearly 10 minutes remaining in the game because of cramping and didn’t return.
That noise that Coach Hubert Davis wants his team to ignore just keeps getting louder. One day after Carolina was voted No. 1 in the AP Top 25 preseason poll, the media picked the Tar Heels to win the ACC in a landslide vote, with junior center Armando Bacot nearly the unanimous ACC Preseason Player of the Year and junior guard Caleb Love joining him on the Preseason All-ACC first team.
Nassir Little and Cameron Johnson start their fourth NBA seasons Wednesday night and sought extensions of their rookie contracts, but only Little was able to strike a deal. Little agreed to a four-year $28-million contract extension with Portland on Monday. Given that Little hasn’t had many chances to show what he could do, he could have declined and hoped for a bigger deal if he had a breakout season. He opted for financial security.
Coach Hubert Davis said that he wants his players to avoid the outside noise just like last year, but the difference is that this year’s noise tells them how good they are. That noise just got louder. Carolina is ranked No. 1 in the preseason AP Top 25 men’s basketball poll, the 10th time the Tar Heels have been top-ranked entering a season. It marks the 111th week in AP poll history that UNC has been No. 1.
Justin Jackson, who is apparently in a battle with Jake Layman for the final Boston roster spot, hit a couple of big buckets in the Celtics’ 137–134 overtime loss to Toronto on Friday in Montreal. Jackson had only five points in eight minutes but hit an 11-foot jumper with 36.8 seconds left in regulation to give Boston a one-point lead after assisting on a Sam Hauser 3-pointer. In overtime, Jackson sank a 26-foot 3-point attempt with three minutes left and assisted on a Noah Vonleh bucket with 8.6 seconds remaining.
CHARLOTTE — Continuity in the Carolina backcourt has been rare since Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington started three consecutive seasons, culminating with the 2009 national championship. There have been productive combinations, such as the duo of Marcus Paige and Joel Berry II that led Carolina to the 2016 Final Four or the pairing of Berry and Theo Pinson during the Tar Heels’ 2017 national championship season. But personnel changed from year to year.
CHARLOTTE — Coach Hubert Davis will demand intensity and attention to detail in every game and practice to get Carolina back to the Final Four. When the effort doesn’t meet his standards, the Tar Heels will hear about it. UNC is a team with that championship mentality because its stars welcome that accountability, knowing it will make them better.
CHARLOTTE — It’s ACC Tipoff week, and you can stream all press conferences on ACC Network Extra (ESPN3). The event is being held at The Westin Charlotte, with the women’s players and coaches talking with the media on Tuesday and the men’s players and coaches taking their turn on Wednesday.
CHAPEL HILL — Ever since Carolina came up short in the national championship game against Kansas, RJ Davis has been motivated to get back to that point and take that next step to a title. He’s ensured that the memory of that April evening at the Superdome in New Orleans stays fresh. He’s given himself numerous reminders by frequently rewatching the game.
By R.L. Bynum After Coby White already faced an uncertain situation with the Chicago Bulls heading into the season, he … More
CHAPEL HILL — Excitement was in the air in the Smith Center on Friday night, with the most combined anticipation for Carolina’s men’s and women’s teams in years. It was a fun night for all involved at Live Action With Carolina Basketball, although starts on both teams didn’t play in the scrimmages.
It’s the week to show how highly ESPN regards UNC’s men’s and women’s basketball teams. Earlier this week, ESPN gave both high seeds in its early NCAA tournament bracket projection, and on Thursday, both were high in its preseason Top 25 list.
As basketball season gets closer, the anticipation grows for Tar Heels fans, with the expectations high for Carolina’s men’s and women’s basketball teams. Bracket projections in October are, of course, ridiculous, but ESPN’s projections that came out Tuesday confirm that national observers think highly of both teams.
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