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SPORTS Wednesday 17 January 2024

At halftime of the NBA season, the Thunder and Wolves should be

feeling great

By TIM REYNOLDS entering the winter months.
AP Basketball Writer Thing is, the future might re-
Being good at the half- ally be starting now: Shai
way point of the NBA sea- Gilgeous-Alexander is a
son guarantees absolutely bona fide star, Chet Hol-
nothing. Take last year for mgren is a legitimate threat
example, when only three to Victor Wembanyama’s
of the top 11 teams at half- rookie of the year candi-
time of the season would dacy and Oklahoma City
go on to win a playoff series has a starting lineup where
and another three of those everybody is 25 or younger.
teams missed the postsea- There are 15 active play-
son entirely. Yes, a lot can ers in the league with more
and will change between points than the entire Thun-
now and April. der starting lineup does
That said, there are some combined. LeBron James is
surprises as this season hits about 24,000 points ahead
halftime, none bigger than of OKC’s first five. But here
the success stories being they are, and they look like
crafted in Minnesota and a problem.
Oklahoma City. They’ve I think there is an uncom-
basically been atop the mon maturity about them,”
Western Conference since Daigneault said. “And as
around Thanksgiving, with Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, left, looks to pass the ball next to I’ve said before, a lot of it
win totals on pace to smash Orlando Magic guard Jalen Suggs (4) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Saturday, is who they are as people,
the preseason expecta- Jan. 13, 2024, in Oklahoma City. and I think a lot of them
tions put forth by oddsmak- Associated Press had that walking through
ers. Many of the expected Thunder have clearly raised all the time and they take are ineligible which means the door. And then it gains
contenders indeed look some eyebrows. pride in that.” It’s pretty Denver’s Michael Malone momentum when there
like contenders: Boston “They take the challenge, safe to assume that either is assured of having that are like-minded people to-
has the best record in the and they like to guard, Finch or Oklahoma City’s weekend off. So is Boston’s gether and they bounce
NBA, defending champion particularly against these Mark Daigneault will be Joe Mazzulla, meaning it’s off each other in that way.”
Denver has been predict- heavyweight teams,” Min- spending All-Star weekend almost certain that either The Wolves had 66-1 odds
ably excellent, Milwaukee nesota coach Chris Finch in Indianapolis as coach Philadelphia’s Nick Nurse or to win an NBA title enter-
and Philadelphia are near said of his club. “A lot of our of the Western Confer- Milwaukee’s Adrian Griffin ing the season. The Thun-
the top of the East and the young guys are still prov- ence. That task goes to the will be heading to Indy to der, 100-1. The odds have
Los Angeles Clippers have ing that they can be just as coach with the best record coach the East. moved considerably since;
a better record than any- good in a lot of ways and two weeks before the All- The Thunder have been FanDuel Sportsbook had
body over the last six weeks win that battle. We talk Star Game (which makes building for their future for Minnesota at 21-1 on Mon-
or so. No surprises there. But about winning that battle this year’s cutoff date Feb. years, stockpiling draft picks day, Oklahoma City at 18q
the Timberwolves and the with the guy in front of you 4) and last year’s coaches like squirrels do with acorns

Dusty Baker returning to the San Francisco Giants as a special

assistant, AP source says

By JANIE McCAULEY SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — the San Francisco Giants for cial assistant to President 1,862 career manage-
AP Baseball Writer Dusty Baker is returning to a third stint with the team, of Baseball Operations Far- rial record with the Giants,
this time as a special assis- han Zaidi and CEO Larry Cubs, Reds, Nationals and
tant in the front office, ac- Baer. Baker managed the Astros.He left the Giants on
cording to a person with di- Giants from 1993-2002 be- difficult terms following their
rect knowledge of the hire. fore coming back to work World Series loss to the An-
The person spoke to The as an adviser to Baer dur- gels in 2002 and took over
Associated Press on con- ing a break from managing as skipper of the Cubs.
dition of anonymity Mon- in 2018-19. Still, this new job is a natu-
day night because Baker’s The 74-year-old Baker re- ral fit. Baker repaired his
new position with the club tired from the Houston relationships in San Fran-
hadn’t been formally an- Astros following the 2023 cisco over time the Giants
nounced. That is expected season his 26th year as a offered him flexibility to
to happen this week. major league manager. He watch son Darren’s college
Baker is still beloved in the said then he still had more games at the University of
Bay Area and this very well to offer a team and hoped California at Berkeley and
could be his final baseball to take on an advisory role. still owns a home in Granite
stop in what almost cer- Baker finally won a long- Bay outside Sacramento,
Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker, left, attends batting tainly will be a Hall of Fame awaited World Series title where he loves to garden
practice before Game 6 of the baseball AL Championship career.Back with the Gi- as a manager with Houston and grow grapes for his
Series against the Texas Rangers, Oct. 23, 2023, in Houston.
Associated Press ants, he will serve as a spe- in 2022. He owns a 2,183- own wine.q