Paolo Banchero collected 26 points and 13 rebounds as the Orlando Magic rallied to a 118-111 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Thursday in the NBA’s first regular-season game in Berlin.
Banchero made 9 of 16 shots from the floor for the Magic, who overcame a 20-point deficit due in large part to outscoring the Grizzlies by a 26-12 margin in the third quarter. The 12 points represented the fewest Orlando has allowed in a quarter this season.
The pronounced push provided a happy homecoming for German-born players Franz Wagner, Moe Wagner and Tristan da Silva. Franz Wagner recorded 18 points and nine rebounds in his return from a 16-game absence due to an ankle injury, Moe Wagner had seven points in his second game back from a torn ACL and da Silva added eight points.
Anthony Black matched Banchero with four 3-pointers and finished with 21 points. Desmond Bane added 13 points in his first game against his former team since being traded from the Grizzlies on July 1.
Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 30 points for the Grizzlies, who have lost seven of their last nine games heading into the rematch versus the Magic on Sunday in London.
Santi Aldama contributed 18 points and Cedric Coward added 17 for Memphis, which played without Ja Morant (right calf contusion) for the sixth straight game.
Aldama sank two free throws to bring the Grizzlies to within two points at 111-109 with 1:46 remaining in the fourth quarter. Franz Wagner responded with three free throws of his own and a floating jumper to essentially seal the win.
Vince Williams Jr. sank two free throws, a pull-up jumper and two 3-pointers in a 150-second stretch to stake Memphis to a 103-102 lead with 4:29 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Coward drained a 3-pointer and Jackson sank a short jumper to push Memphis’ advantage to 52-32 early in the second quarter before Orlando went to work. The Magic trimmed the deficit to nine (67-58) at halftime and claimed a 71-70 lead after Black made a 3-pointer early in the third quarter.
The visiting Orlando Magic will look to prolong the Indiana Pacers’ dreadful season on Wednesday afternoon as the teams close out 2025 at Indianapolis.
Just six months removed from being a win away from an NBA championship, the Pacers have the league’s worst record at 6-27 as the close of a roller-coaster year approaches.
Crushing injuries — including Tyrese Haliburton’s torn Achilles in the NBA Finals and Obi Toppin’s foot fracture — have forced Indiana to use 24 players this season.
The Pacers have lost nine consecutive games and a loss on Wednesday would match the franchise’s fifth-longest losing streak over a single season. That mark of futility was set across the final 10 games of the 2021-22 season.
In its most recent game Monday, head coach Rick Carlisle’s group trailed by as many as 28 points before outscoring the Houston Rockets 41-21 in the fourth quarter of a 126-119 road loss. In a woeful campaign, the veteran head coach is looking for small victories.
‘There are some things that are positives throughout games. The problem that we’ve got to tackle is the inconsistency,’ Carlisle said. ‘The middle part of the game (Monday) we were very poor. The fourth quarter was the only quarter we won in the game.
‘As good as it felt to fight back, you’re not going to win games having to fight back every night. It’s a difficult league. A lot of very good teams. Another one on Wednesday.’
Pascal Siakam, who has missed just one game this season, leads the team with 23.4 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. Bennedict Mathurin adds 18.3 points and Andrew Nembhard chips in 17.1 with 6.7 assists.
The Magic, who will host the Pacers in a rematch Sunday, is another team searching for consistency as 2026 draws near. Orlando has alternated wins and losses across their last six games and blew a 21-point lead on Monday in a 107-106 road setback against the Toronto Raptors.
Although his team is in the Eastern Conference playoff picture as the regular season’s halfway point nears, Orlando head coach Jamahl Mosley wants to see his group fix a pair of problems ahead of Wednesday’s meeting.
‘It’s been the same thing that’s been kicking our butt for the last five games: offensive rebounds and transition points,’ said Mosley, whose team allowed 21 Toronto offensive boards and was outscored 30-6 in fast break points on Monday.
‘Those are the small details of the game that get you beat in a one-point game.’
Orlando has tried to weather the storm without leading scorer Franz Wagner (22.7 points), who went down with a high-ankle sprain on Dec.7. Jalen Suggs (15.4 points) has missed seven straight games with a left hip contusion.
The Magic are relying on third-year guard Anthony Black, who is averaging career-highs of 15.5 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.5 assists.
‘Good game or bad game, you’ve got to hop on the plane, go to the next city and flush it,’ Black said. ‘You’ve got to get ready for the next game. It’s a long season.’
A proposed mega-development in downtown Los Angeles, which would replace a cold storage facility with a $2-billion residential and commercial complex, cleared a major hurdle last week when the city Planning Commission backed it.
Commissioners unanimously recommended the construction of Fourth & Central in the Skid Row neighborhood.
The 7.6-acre compound along Central Avenue that would contain apartments, offices, shops and restaurants in 10 distinct buildings of various sizes that would change the city skyline. The City Council will consider final approval later this year.
The project, which would be built near the neighborhood’s boundary with the Arts District, is being proposed by property owner Larry Rauch, president of Los Angeles Cold Storage. His family has operated food chilling facilities at Fourth Street and Central Avenue since the 1960s and plans to move the business to a new location.
In its place would be 1,589 rental apartments with 249 affordable units, along with 401,000 square feet of creative office space and 145,748 square feet of retail or restaurant space. The complex was conceived by Long Beach architect Studio One Eleven.
In response to changing market conditions and reactions from community members, a number of revisions have been made to Fourth & Central since the project was initially proposed in 2021.
Rendering of Fourth & Central, a $2-billion mixed-use development planned to replace a cold storage facility in downtown Los Angeles.
(Tomorrow Inc)
The tallest building, an apartment tower, has been reduced to 30 stories from 44. With housing more in demand than lodging, the hotel originally planned for the project has been replaced by additional residential units, including more affordable housing units.
The open space design has been changed to create better pedestrian connections to the Little Tokyo Galleria shopping center north of the complex. The 2 acres of open space in the project will be accessible to the public, Rauch said.
Denver real estate developer Continuum Partners, which initially launched the project with Rauch, is no longer involved, Rauch said.
“Continuum has chosen to focus its resources elsewhere at this time; the Fourth & Central Project will be moving forward with LA Cold Storage at the lead,” he said in a statement.
If approved, it would probably take a year to 18 months to complete final plans for the project before starting work. Fourth & Central is moving through its preliminary stages at a time when many other developers have put residential projects in Los Angeles on hold because it’s difficult to find viable construction financing at current interest rates.
Many equity investors, such as pension funds and insurance companies, are also reluctant to park money in L.A. because the rapidly changing rules make it impossible to predict profits.
Among investors’ concerns are public policies such as the United to House Los Angeles (Measure ULA) transfer tax on large real estate sales, and also temporary limits on evicting tenants that were enacted during the pandemic.
“We’ve spent years working on our plan to transform this industrial property into a mixed-use community, which made it so rewarding to hear city decision-makers agree with our vision,” Rauch said after the Planning Commission vote.
Among the organizations voicing support for the project were the Los Angeles/Orange Counties Building and Construction Trades Council, the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council, the Little Tokyo Business Assn. and the Central City Assn.
“This project represents a significant stride toward addressing the region’s housing challenges,” said Nella McOsker, president of the Central City Assn. “Plus, the new retail and restaurant space will attract business and people to downtown.”
Fourth & Central is not the only mega project being planned on the east side of downtown.
In July, the City Council approved 670 Mequit, a $1.4-billion complex intended to have apartments, offices, a hotel, a charter elementary school, shops and restaurants. It is to replace a cold storage facility on the west side of the Los Angeles River with the mixed-use complex designed by Danish architect Bjarke Ingels Group.
Alyssa Thomas had 23 points and 10 assists, Satou Sabally scored 21 points and the host Phoenix Mercury advanced to the WNBA Finals with an 86-81 comeback victory over the game but crippled Minnesota Lynx in Game 4 of their semifinal series Sunday night.
DeWanna Bonner had 11 of her 13 points and all three of her 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, when the Mercury outscored the Lynx 31-13 to overcome a 68-55 deficit and advance to the finals for the first time since falling to the Chicago Sky in 2021.
The Lynx played without star center Napheesa Collier, who suffered a left ankle injury in the final seconds of the Mercury’s 84-76 victory in Game 3 on Friday and watched the game from the bench in a walking boot.
Minnesota’s Kayla McBride had 14 of her playoff career-high 31 points when the Lynx took the upper hand in the third quarter but could not hold on. Courtney Williams had 20 points and Jessica Shepard had career playoff-high 14 points while starting for Collier.
The finals are to begin Friday, with the first two games at the site of the higher seed. The fourth-seeded Mercury knocked off the top-seeded Lynx in their best-of-five series. The second-seeded Las Vegas Aces and the sixth-seeded Indiana Fever meet in Game 5 of their series Tuesday.
The WNBA Finals will be a best-of-seven for the first time in league history. Phoenix last won a championship in 2014.
The Mercury scored 19 of the first 21 points in the fourth period, and the second of Bonner’s two 3-pointers gave them a 72-70 lead with 3:39 remaining.
McBride and Bonner traded 3-pointers as the Mercury stayed ahead 77-73. McBride’s sixth three made it 77-76 with 1:04 remaining but Bonner followed with two free throws for a 79-76 lead with 42 seconds left.
After a McBride miss, Thomas made a driving layup for an 81-76 lead with 27 seconds left. The Lynx later got within three on Natasha Hiedeman’s 3-pointer with 5.2 seconds remaining before Kahleah Copper closed the scoring with two free throws.
Associate head coach Eric Thibault coached the Lynx while head coach Cheryl Reeve served a one-game suspension for her conduct and comments toward the officials during and after Game 3.
Thomas was two rebounds short of her second playoff triple-double.
The Mercury had outscored 21-9 in the fourth quarter of the Game 3.
The Mercury trailed by 14 in the first quarter, drew even at 38 at halftime and did not lead until Copper’s 3-pointer on their first possession of the second half.
The Lynx put together another spurt including two threes from McBride for 55-45 lead midway through the third.
Sabally had 24, 23 and 21 points in the final three games of the series, all Mercury wins.
Blazing heat and increased wildfire risk will grip Southern California through the Fourth of July weekend and into early next week, with temperatures peaking above 115 degrees in desert areas Friday and forecasters issuing heat warnings and advisories throughout the region.
Extreme temperatures and gusty winds will also combine with dry conditions to create a high risk of new wildfires throughout the state as the Thompson fire continues to burn across more than 3,500 acres north of Sacramento.
“Tomorrow is going to be an absolute scorcher,” Joe Sirard, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Oxnard, said Thursday morning. “It’s not your typical heat wave. This is a dangerous heat wave, this is a high-end heat wave. Very dangerous.”
Heat warnings were in place Thursday for much of L.A. County’s valleys and deserts as well as the Santa Monica Mountains.
Construction workers on a sidewalk improvement site toil as temperatures rose into the triple digits in Palmdale over the holiday.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
The predicted highs for July 4 hovered around 106 degrees in the valleys, 103 in the lower mountains and 111 in desert areas, according to the National Weather Service. On Friday, temperatures are expected to soar as high as 110 to 112 degrees in the county’s valleys and mountains, and between 112 and 118 in the desert. The only parts of the county that aren’t experiencing extreme heat conditions, Sirard said, are coastal communities.
Officials advised Southern California residents to take precautions against exposure to high temperatures, which can elevate the risk of heatstroke and heat exhaustion. The National Weather Service called on people to stay in air-conditioned spaces during the day and early evening, stay hydrated, check on neighbors and the elderly and avoid strenuous outdoor activities.
“It’s just too hot,” Sirard said. “Just use common sense. It’s a dangerous heat wave and that’s why we have the heat warnings.”
Jacque McDonald, 39, drove with her husband and their two young children from their home in Tarzana to Hermosa Beach on Thursday morning to beat the high heat in the San Fernando Valley.
“We came here just because we know it’s going to be hot. I’m not about it,” McDonald said as crowds of people in bathing suits and sunglasses strolled by on the Strand and gray clouds helped keep the temperature down. “We have a pool at our complex, but we figured it would be packed. So we planned to come down here to the beach.”
Annie Seawright celebrates while being carried by people after winning the Hermosa Beach Ironman competition on July 4.
(Michael Blackshire / Los Angeles Times)
Just before noon, dozens of visitors shuffled down the dirt path at Eaton Canyon Natural Area, a popular L.A. County park in Altadena with a stream and a waterfall.
At the trail’s first water crossing, Mercedes Monje, 29, of Los Angeles sat along the bank with her partner and 2-year-old son splashing in the water while the rest of her family sat nearby. Monje said her family usually hits a beach or river on the Fourth of July.
They originally planned Thursday to go to the East Fork of the San Gabriel River. But when they arrived about 8 a.m., they were told by authorities that it was full.
“We’re a little bit disappointed that we couldn’t be where we actually had planned to go, but we’re trying to make the best out of it,” Monje said.
Meanwhile, the risk of wildfires is high in inland areas, as is the chance that even small fires could quickly become larger conflagrations, given the extreme conditions.
“We’re expecting high heat today, which increases the chances for fire growth,” said David Acuna, a Cal Fire battalion chief. Fire departments across California urged people to resist the temptation to celebrate the Fourth of July by shooting off fireworks that could spark new blazes.
In Butte County, the Thompson fire remained just 7% contained as of Thursday morning, Acuna said, though it had remained steady at 3,568 acres overnight. He said 1,962 personnel, 20 helicopters, 214 engines, 46 dozers, 43 water tenders and 37 crews were fighting the fire. At its peak, about 12,000 structures were evacuated, affecting about 28,000 people.
“The firefighters on the line will continue to remain hydrated and ready in the event the fire acreage increases,” Acuna said, adding that though some have been downgraded, “a number of fire evacuations and warnings” remained in place near the blaze Thursday.
In Simi Valley, the Sharp fire was holding at 133 acres, and the containment was updated from 15% to 60% Thursday morning, according to Ventura County Fire Department spokesman Andy VanSciver.
Airn Barnes enjoys a cool fountain at Courson Park Pool as temperatures rose into the triple digits in Palmdale.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
No structures have been damaged by the fire, which at one point prompted an evacuation order for 60 nearby homes and an evacuation warning for an additional 340. The orders and warnings were lifted Wednesday evening, VanSciver said.
“The containment lines have been holding and they’re being reinforced,” he said, adding that he didn’t anticipate wind conditions to cause the blaze to spread. “We have enough resources on hand to handle it.”
Dear diary, today is the fourth day of this logging contract, I have 10 days to go until my first break, my skin is wind burned, the arthritis in my hands means I can barely hold a coffee cup and I think I’m starting to have paranoid delusions. The fae call to me.
