It was not that unusual considering the Hawks bench cut down a 20-point deficit in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 101 before Pierce’s game-winning shot. What is unusual is that starting forward DeMarre Carroll was supposed to be on the floor. MORE: Wiz, Grizz take 2-1 leads | Pierce ‘I Called Game’ shirts on sale | Must-see playoff photos Carroll said after the game “Coach (Mike Budenholzer) did put me in, but I didn’t feel comfortable at the time....

The 20-year-old France winger moves to Barca for an initial €105 million, under a deal that will make him the second most expensive player in history once add-ons are accounted for. Barca 13/2 to win the Champions League Dembele arrived in Barcelona on Sunday and completed a medical earlier on Monday before arriving at Camp Nou for the signing ceremony. He then took the field for his official presentation before an estimated crowd of 12,000 fans, who he addressed in a short interview....

The €105 million August arrival from Borussia Dortmund, bought as a replacement for Neymar, made his return from a torn hamstring as a substitute in Thursday’s first leg of his side’s last-16 Copa del Rey tie at Celta Vigo. Barca head coach Ernesto Valverde indicated after Dembele played 20 minutes of that 1-1 draw that the 20-year-old was not yet fit enough to start a game. But Valverde sprung a surprise by naming Dembele in his side for Sunday’s La Liga game at home to Levante, which Barcelona won 3-0 to move nine points clear of Atletico Madrid at the top of the table....

It’s a big decision and a lot of outside factors are steering you in different directions. 2017 RECRUITING: QB | RB | WR | TE | DT | DE On Sunday — just short of three months since National Signing Day — one of the nation’s top players from the 2016 class picked his school. Demetris Robertson is going to Cal. He chose the Bears over Georgia, Georgia Tech and Notre Dame....

NEWSWEEK: Politics have proven very dangerous for you. What drove you to run again? Mahendra Chaudhry: We have an electorate that put its faith in us. Not to continue with the battle would be to surrender to terrorists and thugs and racists. Will the election bring stability to Fiji? The results have been very encouraging for the Labor Party. In fact, we are looking at 32-33 seats, quite close to an absolute majority, and will be the single largest party in Parliament....

Tissues for crying breaks were set out on a conference room table for aides of Democratic Representative Eric Swalwell of California as they took numerous calls from people pleading for help to evacuate loved ones and friends from Afghanistan. The offices of lawmakers across the country are becoming inundated with similar requests after the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan and following an attack in Kabul on Thursday that killed 13 U....

“It has been brought to my attention that my prior tweet to [the U.S. ambassador to Israel] raises dual loyalty allegations that have historically caused harm to the Jewish community,” Representative Ted Lieu wrote in a tweet. “That is a legitimate concern. I am therefore deleting the tweet.” The California lawmaker’s claim that Friedman, a Jew, had dual loyalty came as controversy swirled around Israel’s decision to bar two Muslim members of Congress—Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota—from entering Israel next week as part of a planned trip to parts of the Middle East region, including to the occupied West Bank....

Lieu on Thursday quote-tweeted a post by NBC News anchor Alison Morris stating that he established three elements of obstruction of justice but that Mueller said he did not subscribe to what the congressman was attempting to prove. “Analogy: Mueller gives us a slice of bread, puts ham on it, and then another slice of bread,” Lieu tweeted, using three food items as placeholders for the three obstruction elements. “We say that’s a ham sandwich....

Montana’s GOP Senator Steve Daines currently trails Democratic contender Governor Steve Bullock by 7 points, a lead within the Montana State University (MSU) poll’s margin of error. Meanwhile, North Carolina’s Republican incumbent Senator Thom Tillis trails Democratic challenger Cal Cunningham by 9 points, polling by Civiqs has shown. In Montana, Daines is currently backed by just 39 percent of voters while Bullock is supported by just over 46 percent. However, 7 percent of voters said they were still undecided while 6 percent said they’d vote for a different candidate....

Stabenow appeared on NBC’s Meet the Press and spoke about Biden’s situation involving the documents. When asked if Biden has to “eat his words” after he previously said former President Donald Trump was “careless” with the way he handled his own classified documents when he left office in 2021, Stabenow responded, “Well it’s certainly embarrassing, right?” “It’s embarrassing that you would find a small number of documents certainly not on purpose; they don’t think it’s the right thing....

This family’s story is far from the exception and is becoming the new norm in housing markets across the country. Millennials who tried to buy a house in 2021 found that it took multiple offers to finally get accepted. Homeowners looking to take advantage of the market quickly find themselves overcome with buyer fatigue and are dropping out of the process early and often, choosing to stay where they are or continue renting, despite the rise in rent prices....

The $1.9 trillion relief package has support from President Joe Biden, who met with a group of Republican senators on Monday in an attempt to negotiate the gap between the Democratic aid proposal and the one backed by Republicans, which has a price tag of about $600 billion. Biden has a long history of working across the aisle, but he entered the White House last month at a time when the country was deeply divided....

Who are the real racists? These two questions will play a big role in the 2020 election. The left is desperate to turn any traditional patriotic appeal into an act of racism. The left is desperate to smear Republicans and moderate Democrats as racists. This past week, between Sunday and Tuesday, CNN and MSNBC reportedly used the word “racist” more than 1,100 times. Part of this desperation is in the left’s inability to debate the facts and their hope that strong smears can shame their opponents out of broaching the argument....

The high court used its ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization on Friday to overturn the 1973 decision that had guaranteed abortion rights nationwide, sparking protests and criticism from Democrats and other abortion rights supporters. “I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of lawmakers trying to cover their backsides when the Supreme Court justices they voted to confirm turn out as bad as the rest of us thought,” wrote Reich, a former secretary of labor under President Bill Clinton, in a Substack post on Saturday....

Of the 11 Cup drivers participating, Dale Earnhardt Jr. (7/2) in the No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet figures to give Hamlin the most competition. Double-duty regulars such as Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski will not be participating this week. Hamlin has raced in the Xfinity Series six times at Las Vegas with a best of second place in 2010. Earnhardt Jr. had a top-10 finish at Daytona in the season opener and has five Xfinity Series starts at Las Vegas with a 6....

However, businesses that prove at least 95 percent of their employees and customers are fully vaccinated will not have to require masks. The order announced by Denver Mayor Michael Hancock mirrors similar orders announced by counties that cover Denver’s suburbs recently. Colorado Governor Jared Polis said at a news conference Tuesday that a statewide mask mandate is not currently under consideration, but he supports city and county health departments making the decisions to enact the mandates....

After Sports Authority filed for bankruptcy in March and was sold earlier this month, the Broncos filed a motion to sever ties with the sports retailer. That means the team could be looking for a new naming rights sponsor for the stadium, and Colorado marijuana companies want in. MORE: Ranking the NFL’s stadiums At least two Denver pot-related businesses — Native Roots and O.penVAPE — have offered to pay $6 million per year for the naming rights, according to the Denver Business Journal....

Denver was a little late to the professional sports party. Its basketball team started in the ABA, not the NBA. Its football team started in the AFL, not the NFL. Major League Baseball didn’t arrive until 1993 and the NHL didn’t permanently call Colorado home until 1995. But the four players on Denver’s professional sports Mount Rushmore, well, their legacies are etched in stone in one of the country’s most scenic and dynamic communities....

The 25-year-old Raiders quarterback on Tuesday was driving in Dublin, Calif., a Bay Area suburb, when he noticed a man whose car was pulled to the side of the road. The man, Ron Reeser, had run out of gas. Carr, who in January was credited with a Twitter assist in finding a missing Oakland child, pulled over to make sure Reeser was OK. Carr of course offered Reeser a ride to the gas station....

The enigmatic Englishman was drafted in as backup when a short-notice attempt to finally get Fury in the same ring with Anthony Joshua came to nothing. Chisora has also suffered two one-sided losses to Fury, and nothing has happened in the interim to suggest he can prevail this time. However, while most fans and experts predict a painful evening for the challenger, he’s approaching this fight with the same joviality and thirst for combat that have made him a cult icon in British boxing circles....