Trae Young's game-winning heave at the buzzer caps a series of huge plays in Hawks' win over Jazz

ENT

Trae Young's game-winning heave at the buzzer caps a series of huge plays in Hawks' win over Jazz

2025-01-08 14:10 Last Updated At：14:41

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — After imposing his will on offense for four quarters, Atlanta's Trae Young still had one play left in him with the final seconds ticking off the clock.

Young heaved a buzzer-beating 49-foot 3-pointer from just behind the halfcourt line to give the Hawks a 124-121 victory over the Utah Jazz on Tuesday night. The dramatic shot capped a game in which Young had 24 points and 20 assists while committing only two turnovers.

His game-winner followed of a tying 3-pointer by Utah's Collin Sexton with four seconds left.

“When there’s time left, I always feel like we can score,” Young said.

Young, the Hawks’ franchise leader in assists and made 3-pointers, put on a clinic on how to control a game. He dished out seven assists before scoring his first basket in the second quarter. Behind his sure hand, Atlanta built a 16-point first-half lead before Utah rallied and forced a tight finish.

“This is part of what I do,” Young said. “I always get guys involved, always been able to find people. I feel like I’m the kind of guy who can pass you open. You don’t just have to be open for me to get you the ball. I can see things and get you into a good spot.”

Young’s winner was the highlight of a series of big plays he made down the stretch.

After the Jazz took a 114-113 lead on the second of back-to-back dunks by Walker Kessler, Young scored a step-back 3-pointer to reclaim the lead and then fed De’Andre Hunter for another go-ahead 3 a minute later. Then, Young hit a pair of free throws with 8.8 seconds left.

“He has taken a lot of pride in being efficient and knowing when it is time to give the ball up and when it’s time to impress himself on the game from a scoring standpoint,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said.

Young needed only a couple of dribbles and a halfcourt heave to make that impression a lasting one. He felt confident the shot would be right on target from the moment he took the inbounds pass and up to when he released the ball.

“I knew we had three seconds,” Young said. “I could take a couple of dribbles and be closer to halfcourt and then I made sure I used my legs and put some air into the ball and that was important.”

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba

Middle East latest: Israeli hostage found dead in Gaza, military says

2025-01-09 02:36 Last Updated At：02:41

Israeli forces have recovered the body of a hostage held in Gaza, the military said Wednesday, adding that it was identifying additional remains that could belong to another captive. The recovery of Yosef AlZayadni, 53, from an underground tunnel comes as Israel and Hamas are considering a ceasefire and hostage release deal.

The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and abducting around 250. A third of the 100 hostages still in Gaza are believed to be dead.

Israeli airstrikes on Wednesday killed at least five people in the Gaza Strip, including two infants and a woman, Palestinian medics said. Israel’s military says it only targets militants, accusing them of hiding among civilians.

Israel’s air and ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza has killed over 45,800 Palestinians, according to the Health Ministry. It does not say how many were fighters, but says women and children make up over half the fatalities. The military says it killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.

And in Yemen, the U.S. military says it carried out a wave of strikes against underground arms facilities of the Houthi rebels. The Iran-backed Houthis have targeted shipping for more than a year and recently ramped up missile attacks on Israel, saying they seek to force an end to Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.

Here's the latest:

PARIS — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is again saying that a ceasefire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas is “very close” and he hopes “we can get it over the line” before handing over U.S diplomacy to the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump.

“In area after area, we’re handing off, in some cases, things that we haven’t been able to complete but that create real opportunities to move things forward in a better way,” he said Wednesday on a stop in Paris for meetings.

Blinken said that even if the Biden administration's plans for a ceasefire and hostage deal don’t come to fruition before Trump’s inauguration, he thinks they’ll be put into practice afterward.

“I believe that when we get that deal – and we’ll get that deal – it will be on the basis of the plans that President Biden put before the world,” he said.

The body of an Israeli hostage held in Gaza, 53-year-old Yosef AlZayadni, was recovered in an underground tunnel in southern Gaza, the military said Wednesday. It said it was examining whether a second body was that of another hostage.

Defense Minister Israel Katz said earlier a second hostage's body had been recovered: AlZayadni’s son Hamzah.

The men were taken captive during Hamas’ attack on Oct. 7, 2023. The return of the body comes as Israel and Hamas are considering a ceasefire and hostage release deal.

Israel believes a third of the remaining 100 hostages are dead. However, AlZayadni was believed to still be alive before Wednesday’s announcement.

AlZayadni, who had 19 children, had worked at a dairy in southern Israel’s Kibbutz Holit for 17 years, said the Hostages Family Forum, a group representing the families of captives. AlZayadni was kidnapped with three of his children. His teenage kids, Bilal and Aisha, were released in a weeklong ceasefire deal in November.

The family are members of the Bedouin community, part of Israel’s Palestinian minority who have Israeli citizenship.

TEL AVIV, Israel — An Israeli group representing some families of hostages held in Gaza displayed an image of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on a huge electronic billboard in Tel Aviv with a reference to his threat to unleash “hell” if the captives aren't freed before he takes office later this month.

The group behind the billboard, Tikva Forum, has called for Israel to use increased force against Hamas to secure the release of their loved ones.

The billboard shows a photo of Trump raising his fist moments after his assassination attempt, and threatens in English “the fire of hell will open” if the hostages aren't released.

Many in Israel have been energized by Trump's warning, hoping it could exert more pressure on Israeli and Hamas leaders to reach a deal to free hostages in exchange for a ceasefire in Gaza.

A third of the 100 hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza are believed to be dead.

DAMASCUS, Syria — Syria's de facto leader Ahmad al-Sharaa received a delegation from Bahrain on Wednesday and met with the Bahraini foreign minister, state media reported.

The visit was the latest in a flurry of diplomatic overtures by Arab countries to Syria’s new leaders after they overthrew former President Bashar Assad in a lightning rebel offensive.

Like other Gulf countries, Bahrain had cut off diplomatic ties with Syria under Assad’s rule during the Syrian civil war, but it reopened its embassy in Damascus in 2018 and gradually restored ties with the Assad government.

Bahrain is the current head of the Arab summit, and days after Assad’s ouster it had sent a message to al-Sharaa offering its cooperation with the new authorities and saying, “We look forward to Syria regaining its authentic role in the Arab League.”

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The U.S. military says it carried out a wave of strikes against what it said were underground arms facilities of Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

U.S. Central Command said in a statement that Wednesday’s strikes targeted weapons used by the rebels to attack ships in the Red Sea.

The Houthis said seven strikes targeted sites in the rebel-held capital, Sanaa, and the northern Amran province, without providing further details. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

The United States and its allies have carried out repeated strikes on the Houthis, who have continued to target shipping.

The rebels say they target ships linked to Israel, the U.S. or the U.K. to force an end to Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. However, many of the ships attacked have little or no connection to the conflict, including some bound for Iran.

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israeli airstrikes killed at least five people in the Gaza Strip, including two infants and a woman, Palestinian medics said Wednesday.

One strike hit a home in the central city of Deir al-Balah, killing two men and a woman, according to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, which received the casualties. It also received a 4-month-old boy who was killed in a strike on his family house in the nearby built-up Bureij refugee camp.

An Associated Press journalist saw the four bodies in the hospital morgue.

In Gaza City, an airstrike hit a home in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, killing a 3-week-old baby, according to the Health Ministry’s emergency service.

Israel’s military says it only targets militants, accusing them of hiding among civilians.

Israel’s air and ground offensive has killed over 45,800 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. It does not say how many were fighters, but says women and children make up over half the fatalities. The military says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.

Israel has destroyed vast areas of the impoverished territory and displaced some 90% of its population of 2.3 million, often multiple times.