Margaret Barnes Byrd

General Daily Insight for December 13, 2024 It’s easy to enjoy ourselves today — as long as we’re honest about our intentions. Mercury is sextiling Venus at 2:45 am EST, which would normally inspire a lovely atmosphere, but with Mercury still retrograde, misunderstandings and miscommunications are all too likely. Meanwhile, the Moon will conjoin change-maker Uranus in Taurus before entering Gemini, where it will oppose Mercury.

MIAMI — Observations and other notes of interest from Thursday night’s 114-104 victory over the Toronto Raptors: — The Nikola Jovic takeover in the second period was about more than Nikola Jovic. — It was about more than his 11 points in the quarter. — It was about a Heat second unit still in search of identity. — Part of that identity was lost with the ankle sprain that has sidelined Pelle Larsson. — Part of it is Terry Rozier still attempting to find his way as a reserve for the first time in years. — Part of it is second-year Jaime Jaquez Jr.

MIAMI — Jimmy Butler made sure this wouldn’t be hair-raising, sporting tightly woven orange braids. So the Miami Heat settled for a bit of four-play, extending their winning streak to four with a 114-104 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Thursday night at Kaseya Center. Avenging a loss the previous time the teams met, the Heat rode the 21 points and 16 rebounds from center Bam Adebayo and the 23 points of guard Tyler Herro and strong supporting contributions to close out a perfect four-game homestand. “We dug into doing the tough things,” coach Erik Spoelstra said of extending the win streak. While it wasn’t always artistic, at least beyond Butler’s hair (more on that later), the Heat overcame an early 16-point deficit to take advantage of Toronto being without Scottie Barnes and Immanuel Quickley, among others. The previous time the teams met, the Raptors took a 119-116 decision Dec.

Hurricanes star Cam Ward earned another major honor Thursday night, becoming the third Miami player to win the Davey O’Brien Award. Vinny Testaverde and Gino Toretta are the two UM players who also have won the award, which is given to the top quarterback in college football. It is far from the only award the Miami signal-caller can win this week.

GAINESVILLE — ‘Tis the season for roster chaos and player movement in college football. Florida coach Billy Napier isn’t immune to the head-spinning uncertainty, upheaval and surprises. Consider edge rusher Jack Pyburn’s decision to enter the transfer portal after a breakout, tone-setting junior season for the Gators’ defense. The Jacksonville native isn’t gone, yet.

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