PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and the New York Knicks are back in the Eastern Conference finals, tying the NBA postseason record with 25 3-pointers in front of a raucous crowd rooting for the road team and rolling past the Philadelphia 76ers 144-114 on Sunday to sweep the second-round series.

Deuce McBride started in place of the injured OG Anunoby and hit seven 3-pointers, going 4 for 4 in the first quarter when the Knicks had another record with 11, and scored 25 points. Brunson had 22 points and Hart and Karl-Anthony Towns each scored 17 in the Knicks’ latest lopsided playoff victory.

The Knicks’ 19.4 point-per-game margin of victory is the largest through two rounds since the playoffs went to 16 teams in 1984.

“It’s just us being very locked in to the moment,” Towns said.

The Knicks advanced to the East finals for the second straight season and will play the winner of the Cleveland-Detroit series. The Pistons lead 2-1.

The Knicks last season reached the conference finals for the first time in 25 years before losing to Indiana. The Knicks then fired coach Tom Thibodeau and replaced him with Mike Brown, who has guided them to seven straight playoff wins, starting with the last three games against Atlanta.

“Our guys tried to take it to another level with their focus on the details and their energy and effort level,” Brown said. “That’s a lot of the reason why we’re playing pretty good basketball.”

Knicks fans made a habit of scooping up tickets by the thousands at the Sixers’ arena for playoffs games over the years, and in Game 4, they may have made the loudest statement yet. They raised brooms outside the arena and waved “Always Knicks” towels once inside, all while noisily neutering the few Sixers fans that didn’t make a few extra bucks on the secondary market and stuck around.

The 76ers’ franchise failed to stop Knicks fans in their effort to buy tickets.

The 76ers were greater failures in trying to stop the Knicks on the floor.

Game 4 was a laugher from the tip, with the Knicks using the 3-point arc as a starting point for their personal pop-a-shot game.

With Knicks fans on their feet and exclaiming “Deuuuce,” McBride hit one, two, three, four — four! — 3-pointers in succession for a 20-6 lead and the Sixers were already on their heels. McBride became the first Knick (since play-by-play tracking began in 1997) to hit four 3s in the first quarter of a playoff game.

New York’s 3-point records were just heating up.

Brunson added two in the period (six total) to help make the Knicks 11 of 13, which tied the NBA mark for most makes in a quarter.

The Knicks totaled 18 3s in the first half to score 54 points off the long ball, compared to 57 total for the 76ers. Overall, that was an 81-57 lead and helped power the Knicks toward their first best-of-seven series sweep since the 1999 East semis against Atlanta.

The Knicks scored 80-plus points in the first half twice in five road playoff games this season.

The second half was a mere formality, and the Sixers are headed home after a gutsy 3-1 series comeback to beat Boston in the first round.

“The energy was a big gap between their energy and our energy, I thought,” Sixers coach Nick Nurse said.

Joel Embiid ended another injury-riddled season with 24 points, Tyrese Maxey had 17 and the Sixers still have not advanced out of the second round since 2001.

“I came into this year not knowing where I was going to be (with health), how long I was going to play, if I was even going to play based on how the knee was the last few years,” Embiid said. “I came in just hoping for the best and I feel like we’re in a position where we figured out the knee. It hasn’t been an issue.”

Towns had 10 assists. Hart hit four 3-pointers and celebrated by stripping off his jersey and tossing it to a woman in Sixers gear.

“My right hand remembered that the goal was to make 3s,” Hart said. “Happy to have her back.”

If the sweep and the Knicks’ fan takeover didn’t saddle the Sixers with enough bad news, there was one final cutting blow to the ego — Philadelphia’s two first-round 2018 draft picks are still playing: Mikal Bridges and Landry Shamet, of course, for the Knicks.

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

The incident took place overnight at The Footballers Bar at Crook Town AFC on Friday (May 8), where intruders forced entry, stealing cash and alcohol and leaving behind extensive damage.

As well as gaining access to the building, those responsible caused “severe damage to the interior of the clubhouse and till.”

In a statement shared online on Saturday, the club said: “Last night, The Footballers Bar was broken into with cash and alcohol being stolen, as well as damage caused by entry and severe damage to the interior of the clubhouse and till.”

Crook Town AFC (Image: CROOK TOWN AFC)

CCTV images of the suspected intruders have been captured and passed to police, who are now investigating.

The club has urged anyone with information, “however small”, to come forward to assist officers with their enquiries.

Crook Town AFC highlighted the vital role the clubhouse plays within the local area, describing it as a hub not just for football, but for life’s most important moments.

“Our clubhouse is well used on match days but also for our town’s birthdays, christenings and wakes, as well as local companies to aid our community’s learning,” the club said.

The venue also serves as a crucial support space during the winter months, offering warmth and companionship to elderly residents.

Crook Town AFC has included CCTV images in its post below:

“We also use it as a warm space in the winter to help the local elderly,” the statement added.

“So to have someone undo all our brilliant work, all done by volunteers, is utterly heartbreaking.”

The club says it works tirelessly to provide facilities the town can be proud of, making the incident all the more painful.

“We work hard to give you all a ground and its facilities, to be proud of,” the statement continued.

“For this to happen just breaks the soul and uses cash to remedy that could be used elsewhere when money is so tight for us all already.”

Despite the setback, Crook Town AFC has been buoyed by messages of support and is now focusing on helping police identify those responsible.

“Anyone who may have information, however small, that you think can help us, please come forward,” the club said.

Police enquiries remain ongoing.

Writing for Belfast Live, Professor Stephen Farry explains the implications of Stormont having no agreed budget

Setting a budget is the most fundamental duty of any government. We are now over a month into the current financial year, and we continue to await Executive agreement on a budget.

It remains unclear if and when Northern Ireland will see a budget, and further if that budget will be multi-year or single-year. The legal backstop measure of the Permanent Secretary in the Department of Finance authorising expenditure at 95 per cent of last year’s allocations has already been put in place.

The backdrop to this budget impasse is deep financial crisis. Public services in NI are not sustainable under their current guise and configuration, bearing considerable opportunity costs.

The pattern of recurring overspends over the past four financial years, which have been addressed by short-term interventions, such as better than expected Barnett Consequentials or the reserve claim from Treasury, are testament to this situation. Further overspends are already projected for the current financial year.

Indeed, there is a danger that not agreeing a budget becomes a politically easier outcome than the difficult decisions and compromises in reaching formal agreement on allocations over one or more years.

Continued delay or even failure to agree entails negative consequences for Departments, alongside Arms-Length Bodies and the community and voluntary sectors, which deliver crucial services for government.

The outcome of the multi-year UK Spending Review has been in place since June 2025. This provides the Executive with the opportunity to put in place NI’s first multi-year budget since the 2011-2014 period. Prior opportunities for such a multi-year budget were hampered by the absence of working institutions.

There is, of course, a process for the Department of Finance to undertake with the NI Departments to shape local draft proposals. Further, the relatively late UK Budget last autumn, with the potential to alter allocations on the margins, created further uncertainty.

However, both Scotland and Wales did announce their budgets for 2026-2027 in January this year. In one respect, it is easier for NI to introduce and sustain a multi-year budget, notwithstanding the missed opportunities in the recent past. Whilst Scotland and Wales are engaged in elections with uncertainty as to the make-up of the incoming administrations, given our particular system of government, there is a considerable consistency of parties in power.

For reference, in early 2011, the outgoing Executive agreed the 2011-2014 multi-year budget even though all of those relevant financial years would fall into the subsequent mandate.

Whilst a multi-year budget doesn’t in itself place more resources on the table, it would allow a more strategic approach to spending, enable renewed investment and reform, address market failures, and safeguard future outcomes.

However, merely agreement of a multi-year budget that is just a set of numbers does not in itself equate to a strategic outcome. That comes from a clear focus upon transformation and alignment of resources in line with a Programme for Government.

Further, it is worth noting that there is an ongoing misalignment between the timing of opportunities for multi-year budgets and the agreement of Programmes for Government.

This could be improved if the Executive returned to an outcomes-based framework and put in place a rolling and evolving programme, which on paper could be much easier to maintain given the consistency of parties in power.

Yet the delay regarding agreement on any budget brings many immediate challenges. When Departments and Arms Length Bodies cannot adequately plan ahead, this brings uncertainty on workforce plans and service delivery, and even entails some staff being placed on protective notice in the community and voluntary sector.

Where savings and efficiencies do need to be made by Departments to remain within budget allocations, it is challenging enough to make and implement those measures over a 12- month horizon, never mind a reduced 11-month window or less.

Without agreement on a budget or agreement on a budget where it is commonly recognised that the budget would be broken by significant overspends by many departments, NI would limp to the next Assembly Election with greater chaos and distance from a strategic approach that is ultimately required for financial sustainability and better outcomes.

The hope may be for a further Treasury response. Notwithstanding the moral hazard, this is unlikely in the current UK fiscal context. This begs the question as to what the UK Government would do in response to overspends and the scale of negative impact from this short-termism.

Stephen Farry is a Professor of Strategic Policy in Practice at Ulster University.

For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our daily newsletter here.

“Pudsey has stood alongside children for over 40 years, and now, for the first time ever, he’s finding his voice. Pudsey is finding his voice because too many children feel they can’t share what they’re going through, and too many adults aren’t sure how to start that conversation.

The Switch 2 may now be being sold at a loss, as Nintendo insists that the upcoming price hike doesn’t completely compensate for the rising cost of manufacturing.

There are always several mysteries revolving around Nintendo at any given time but the most perplexing at the moment is why they haven’t had a first party Nintendo Direct, to lay out all the games coming out for the rest of the year.

Sony and Xbox have both had their equivalents and usually Nintendo has an event in January or February. But despite six separate Directs so far, all of them have been minor affairs and no major new games have been announced so far this year.

One could go mad speculating as to why, but the most important question is whether this is all according to plan, from Nintendo’s point of view, or if they view it as a mistake. We don’t know the answer to that, but they have now promised to do better in the future.

We still don’t know how what the new UK price of the Switch 2 will be, when it comes into effect in September – because Nintendo has only announced it for Japan, the US, and Europe – but it’s likely to be roughly a £30 increase, to around £430.

Nintendo is following in the footsteps of Sony and Microsoft, who have both increased the cost of their consoles multiple times, with everyone being at the mercy of the current memory crisis, where RAM chips are being bought up in bulk to power AI data centres.

The Switch 2 is already unusually expensive for a Nintendo console, and it seem clear the company is not happy at having its hand forced in this way. In fact, president Shuntaro Furukawa has issued an open apology to fans:

‘We sincerely apologise to our customers for the considerable inconvenience and trouble this will cause. While we wanted to prioritise a wide adoption, it was challenging to bear the rising costs over a long period. The [new] pricing does not fully account for all cost increases.’

That last sentence implies that Nintendo is still making less money on the console than they were, even with the price increase, and they may now even be selling it at a loss. The comment could also hint at more price increases to come, which is what happened with Sony and Microsoft as well.

Furukawa didn’t offer any detail on the Switch 2’s upcoming line-up, or a future Nintendo Direct, but he did say the following:

‘We will prepare a robust software lineup to enhance the Switch 2 ownership value. We will work diligently to overcome this barrier.’

Although you can never tell with Nintendo – especially considering the Star Fox annoucement last week came out of nowhere, with just 10 minutes warning – it’s now very likely they won’t have a major Direct until their usual not-E3 time slot of mid-June.

We’d normally say there’s no way of knowing what they’ll announce but unusually there have been quite a few Nintendo rumours lately, including Star Fox. The most believable at the moment is of a Zelda: Ocarina Of Time remake, which many reliable sources claim will be out this year.

Nintendo hates leaks, and often changes their plans as much as possible to prove them wrong (the Star Fox rumour originally claimed a slightly earlier reveal), but they have to announce something for this Christmas and Zelda: Ocarina Of Time would certainly be welcomed by many.

Furukawa may have been purposefully vague in his comments but he’s clearly hinting at multiple games, and currently the only major first party titles confirmed for this year are Star Fox, Splatoon Raiders, and Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave. There’s also The Duskbloods, but that’s by FromSoftware and, slightly worryingly, hasn’t been seen since last year.

In terms of other rumours, leaker malo932, who is relatively unknown but the first to correctly predict the new Star Fox game, has corroborated existing rumours of not only Ocarina Of Time, but also a new Wii Sports related title.

He also claims there’s another, non-remake, Star Fox coming next year, alongside a 3D Mario game. Finally, he suggests a Super Metroid remake is relatively imminent and that a new Wario Land is in development, possibly for release in 2027.

There’s no guarantee that all of that will be shown this summer, even if it is all true, but if Ocarina Of Time is being positioned as the big Christmas game you would expected to see that.

After all, the first thing any company, in gaming and beyond, turns to in a tight spot is nostalgia and on that account it doesn’t get much bigger for Nintendo than the N64’s first, groundbreaking The Legend Of Zelda entry.

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The crash saw a Peugeot, a Mercedes and a BMW collide at the junction of Elgin Street and Wordsworth Street.

The Peugeot was flipped on its roof, and images show substantial damage to the Mercedes and BMW as well.

(Image: Phil Taylor)

Paramedics were on scene, as well as police officers.

Greater Manchester Police warned drivers via a post on social media that the road had been closed while they dealt with the incident.

Crash in Halliwell (Image: PHIL TAYLOR)

The force also warned people to find alternative routes.

The road was closed for several hours, and recovery trucks attended the scene to clear the scene.

(Image: Phil Taylor)

Images from the scene showed debris from the car bodies as well as items from the Peugeot strewn across the road.

The Bolton News contacted Greater Manchester Polices for comment.

North West Ambulance Service was also contacted for comment.

Joe Cole has included Chelsea star Cole Palmer in the England team he believes can ‘win the World Cup’.

The Three Lions underwhelmed in the final international break before heading to the World Cup this summer, drawing 1-1 with Uruguay and then losing 1-0 to Japan.

Despite those poor results, Thomas Tuchel’s side are still one of the favourites going into the tournament, having reached back-to-back European Championship finals under previous boss Sir Gareth Southgate.

England also went deep in two World Cups under Southgate, losing in the semi-finals in 2018 and the quarter-finals in Qatar four years later.

Cole believes the Three Lions can end their 60-year wait for a World Cup trophy this summer but only if Tuchel, who took charge last year, picks the right team.

Ex-Chelsea manager Tuchel has selection dilemmas in a number of positions, including at centre-back, central midfield and on both wings, with the preliminary squad needing to be submitted by May 11 and the final 26-man squad by May 30.

Cole thinks he has the solution to one of England’s selection debates, however, insisting Palmer should start on the right-wing ahead of Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka.

Saka has been England’s first-choice in that position for several years but has endured a poor season for Arsenal by his standards, although his form has picked up somewhat in recent weeks.

While Cole has backed Palmer to start for England at the World Cup, he also wants Tuchel to put faith in Newcastle United’s Anthony Gordon on the other flank.

Cole believes Tuchel should overlook Saka but says his Arsenal teammate Declan Rice could be the most important member of England’s squad.

‘Right, this is my England team for the World Cup,’ Cole, who earned 56 international caps, said on The Dressing Room podcast.

‘I’m going Jordan Pickford in goal. Reece James, Marc Guehi, John Stones – I would have liked him to have played more games of football this season but you need experience at the World Cup and he’s massively experienced.

‘You always have that fear of him breaking down but maybe it will work because he’s fresh, knows what he’s doing and brings experience.

‘At left-back I do like Lewis Hall but I’m going with Nico O’Reilly because he gives that penetration going forward.

‘Declan Rice starts in midfield and I’m going to go Elliot Anderson next to him. I would have Declan a bit deeper than where he plays for Arsenal – there’s a big push for him to play further forward but we’ve got so much already going forward.

‘I would tell Declan that he’s the most crucial player on the pitch and he needs to marshal that midfield. If England are going to win the World Cup we’re going to have to be really good off the ball.

‘I would have Jude Bellingham as the No. 10 but if he isn’t performing, you can quite easily make a change there.

‘I would have Cole Palmer coming in from the right like he’s been doing at Chelsea, releasing him up, and almost playing two number tens. A midfield of Rice, Anderson, Bellingham, Palmer has power, ability and goals.

‘On the left I would start with Anthony Gordon over Marcus Rashford because he scores goals, he’s a warrior and he presses really well and has legs to run in behind and that will help Harry Kane if he’s dropping off sometimes.

‘I think with that team we can control possession and win the World Cup.’

England were drawn in Group L for this summer’s World Cup and kick-start their campaign against Croatia on June 17.

Group games against Ghana and Panama follow as Tuchel’s side look to advance to the knockout stages and ultimately win the World Cup for the first time since 1966.

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The new flats could be built near a Cambridgeshire train station

A building could be demolished to make way for over 20 new flats in a Cambridgeshire village. GCR Camprop Fifteen Ltd has proposed to knock down a building at 29 Station Road in Shepreth to make way for 25 new flats.

If approved, the flats will be a mix of studio and one-bedded flats. The building which could be demolished is two storeys high and is used as an employment space.

The site is also close to Shepreth Railway station, and has easy access to Cambridge and Royston via the A10. On the flats design, the applicant said the designs are “appropriate”.

They added: “It represents an enhancement on the existing building. It would address Station Road in a positive manner.”

There are several mature trees to the front of the building, as well as mature hedging. The applicant said this will keep the flats “well-shielded and enclosed”.

The proposals are not believed to have any detrimental effect on local highways, and there is no risk of the site flooding. The applicant has also recently submitted plans to build 32 flats at the same site.

However, instead of demolishing a building, it is for a change of use of an office building to make way for the flats. If approved, these flats will also be a mix of studios and one-bedded flats.

In that application, the flats were described to be a “highly suitable location”, with the site being so close to a railway station.

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