Spurs vs. Warriors is the best NBA regular-season game ever

Stephen Curry"s Jaw-Dropping Shots | Spurs vs Warriors | January 25, 2016 | NBA 2015-16 Season

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Here"s why we"ve never seen an NBA regular-season game quite like Monday"s Spurs-Warriors tilt.

Finally, the game has arrived. The 38-6 Spurs travel to the Bay Area to take on the 40-4 Warriors on Monday (10:30 p.m. ET, NBA TV). Half the season has elapsed, and yet this is the first time the league"s two best teams will match up.

The Spurs and Warriors have dominated the rest of the NBA in historic fashion this season. San Antonio is outscoring opponents by 15.3 points per 100 possessions and has the NBA"s best defensive rating in over a decade. Golden State is outscoring opponents by 13.7 points per 100 possession, powered by an unstoppable offense and crunch-time lineup that runs circles around the league.

These two superpowers have not played each other in nearly 10 months. They missed each other in last year"s playoffs when the Spurs lost in the first round to the Clippers, which was no doubt a relief to Golden State. Two of the Warriors" 15 regular season losses last season came to the Spurs. Golden State looks even more formidable this year, but then again, so does San Antonio.

This makes Monday night"s matchup the best regular season game in NBA history. Here"s why.

There are never two teams playing this well at the same time

The Warriors enter Monday night"s tilt with a 90.9 winning percentage this season. The Spurs have merely won 86.4 percent of their games. We"ve never seen two teams this dominant in a regular-season game.

In fact, the Warriors and Spurs have two of the six best records in league history through 44 games.

The only regular-season game between two teams this good was between the 39-3Lakers and 35-8Bucks in 1972. On that night, Milwaukee, behind 39 points from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and 17 from Oscar Robertson, ended the Lakers" record 33-game winning streak.

Aaron Barzilai, a statistician that has worked for several NBA teams, compiled a list of regular-season matchups that might compare to Spurs-Warriors. Monday"s game is still far ahead of the pack.

Steph vs. Kawhi

Kawhi Leonard vs.Stephen Curry is the matchup we all want to see. There"s no point in devoting any more words to Curry"s offensive brilliance. He"s the game"s best shooter, scorer and ball handler, and seems like an MVP shoo-in.

But if Curry is the likely MVP, Leonardis the clear No. 2 in the race. He"s the NBA"s best defender, but is also second in the league in three-point shooting and hasmorphed into one of the game"s top offensive players. Leonard might be the only person in the world with the size, athleticism, skill set, limbs and smarts to actually bother Curry in a one-on-one matchup.

It"s unlikely Gregg Popovich,who views the regular season as one giant warmup for the playoffs, slots Leonard onto Curry for extended periods of time, especially becausethe absence of Tim Duncan due to a knee injury also takes away the Spurs" top interior defender. That said, any glimpse of Leonard on Curry will be basketball p**n, and seeing Leonard attack the Warriors" array of top defensive wings on the other end should be interesting, too.

Curry has played at this level for a couple years, but this is the first time Leonard is joining the MVP conversation. These two stars will be spending the next half decade battling for supremacy out West. Last time they met,Leonard and the Spurs routed the Warriors. Chances are Monday night"s game will be much closer.

The Spurs trying to stop the Warriors" Lineup of Death

Chris Paul"s magic in the first round of last year"s playoffs prevented us from seeing if San Antonio could put together an answer for Golden State"scheat code small lineup of Curry, Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala, Harrison Barnes and Draymond Green. Hopefully that doesn"t happen again this year. While Popovich won"t give away any major secrets on Monday, this game could still provide a glimpse of how he plans on dealing with that Warriors death lineup,which is outscoring opponents by 56.6 points per 100 possessions this season, perNBA.com.

Nobody has been able to stop that unit, but nobody else has the brilliant mind of Popovich on the sidelines or a player like Leonard on the court. Leonard in particular could end up being the Spurs" answer to Green, whohas become the Warriors" co-MVP because of his ability to mesh big man and guard skills. Green can space the floor and create on offense while guarding every position on defense, which empowers the Warriors" small unit.

Leonard, however, could be the answer to slowing him down. He hasn"t played a lot of power forward during his Spurs career, but that doesn"t mean he can"t. He could lock up Green on the outside and guard him down low, and he can put pressure on him on the other end of the floor. Boris Diaw, assuming he puts downthe espressos for a minute, is another mobile big man that could have a bigger role against the Warriors. The Spurs will also need LaMarcus Aldridge"s versatility, particularly if he"s the center alongside Leonard up front.

... And many more reasons

• It"s possible -- again, POSSIBLE -- there are seven Hall of Famers on the floor for this game:Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, Leonard, Aldridge, Curry, Green and Thompson. (If Duncan were playing, he"d make it eight).
• It will feature one of the best offenses of this generation (the Warriors) against one of the best defenses of this generation (the Spurs). Contrasting styles make for good fights.
• The game might set a record for passes thrown. The Spurs rank No. 3 in the league in passes made per game, while the Warriors are No. 5, perNBA.com. All that ball movement should make the game a visual delight.

How to Watch

When: 10:30 p.m., ET

Where: Oracle Arena

TV: NBA TV

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SB Nation presents: East Coasters" solution to watching late Warriors games

Source: http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2016/1/25/10826138/warriors-spurs-time-tv-schedule-preview-regular-season-best-ever

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Here We Go Again IRS Destroys Another Hard Drive

Former IRS Agents Tell All

The Internal Revenue Service appears to have violated a court order once again requiring the preservation of evidence needed by investigators looking into questionable practices at the agency. In a case sure to stir up memories of the Lois Lerner investigation, which saw IRS Commissioner John Koskinen dragged before Congress for multiple hearings, the agency destroyed a computer hard drive belonging to an IRS official connected to the subject of a Congressional query.

Earlier this year, the IRS was ordered by a federal judge to preserve documents including electronic documents that were possibly related to an ongoing dispute between the agency and Microsoft.

Related: New Lerner Emails Mean IRS Targeting Scandal Creeps Closer to DC

The disagreement between the IRS and the software giant centered on compliance with the federal tax code, specifically, the agency was looking into the companys transfer pricing practices. A major concern in establishing the tax liability of multinational corporations, transfer pricing refers to the sale of goods and services between entities that are part of the same corporate structure.

Some companies have been known to illegally reduce their tax liabilities by mispricing the goods and services exchanged between their subsidiaries.

The computer hard drive the IRS destroyed belonged to Samuel Maruca, who oversaw the transfer pricing section at the agencys Large Business and International division.

In the Microsoft case, the software giants attorneys became curious when they were directed to meet with, and in some cases have their clients give depositions before non-IRS attorneys as part of the case.

Related: 32,774 Found IRS Emails Prompt Criminal Probe

The company filed a Freedom of Information Act request, and discovered that the IRS had spent more than $2.5 million on outside legal assistance, often to trial lawyers charging the government $1,000 per hour or more.

The revelation led Microsoft to protest that senior executives from the company ought not to be forced to comply with demands to testify, on the grounds that the private attorneys do not have the legal standing to conduct interviews related to an IRS audit.

A federal judge disagreed, and though he said that the involvement of the outside attorneys was troubling, told the company to comply.

However, while the courts might have sided with the IRS, the Senate Finance Committee and the House Oversight and Investigations Committee were not pleased to learn that the agency, which employs thousands of tax attorneys, spent millions of dollars on outside legal help.

Related: Treasury IG Finds IRS Destroyed More Lerner Emails

Sen. Orrin Hatch, the Utah Republican who chairs the Senate Finance Committee, wrote to Koskinen in May, noting, The IRS has over 40,000 employees dedicated to enforcement efforts, including more than 36,000 tasked specifically with exams and collections. If none of these employees, nor IRS Office of Chief Counsel or Department of Justice tax attorneys, have sufficient expertise to undertake the examination at hand, we should have a broader conversation about your agencys hiring practices and recruitment needs.

Hatch also challenged the idea that it was acceptable to allow non-government attorneys to participate in the audit of a private firm.

Unlike private contractors, Treasury Department officials are required to swear an oath to the Constitution and are subject to rules of conduct and federal law regulating their interactions with taxpayers. Turning over inherently government functions such as the conduct of an examination to private contractors not only jeopardizes the rights of taxpayers, but also confuses the examination process and changes the well-regulated relationship between revenue examiners and private taxpayers.

The revelation that the agency had destroyed a hard drive that Congressional investigators viewed as central to an ongoing inquiry infuriated House Oversight and Investigations Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah).

Related: IRS Stirs Up New Crisis With Non-Profits Over Social Security Numbers

In a letter to Koskinen last week, co-signed by Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, he wrote, It is stunning to see that the IRS still does not take reasonable care to preserve documents that it is legally required to protect, and demanded information related to the agencys document retention policies.

In a line that seems to presage further uncomfortable Congressional hearings for Koskinen, they also wrote, The destruction of evidence subject to preservation orders and subpoenas has been an ongoing problem under your leadership at the IRS.

Source: http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/2016/01/25/Here-We-Go-Again-IRS-Destroys-Another-Hard-Drive

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Beethoven Google Doodle tests your knowledge of composer"s melodies with interactive challenge

who invented the mechanical television? (John Logie Baird)

This was despite him losing his hearing in his 30s. By the end of his life aged 56 in 1827, Beethoven was totally deaf.

"It happens that our story isnt much of a stretch in the broader context of Ludwig van Beethovens life, which saw more than its share of rotten luck," said Google"s artists.

"He lost two siblings prematurely, had to assume full responsibility for his family as a teenager, fell madly for unrequiting lovers twice, and, most famously, began losing his hearing at the peak of his career. Despite all of this, Beethovens music prevailed."

December 17 is not actually Beethoven"s birthday, which is unknown, but marks the anniversary of his baptism in 1770.

Most scholars accept December 16 as his date of birth, which is actually a notoriously bad birthday to have. According to research from Interflora, the cold weather and interference from Christmas reduces the likelihood of gifts, or of people turning up to your birthday party.

One in six people born in December (16 per cent) said they were "unhappy" with their birth date followed by January (15 per cent) and November (11 per cent).

Today"s Doodle is one of Google"s more innovative ones, and follows a long line of interactive art that replaces the traditional Google logo. Since then more than 2,000 have been created.

Some of the more memorable examples include Robert Moog"s 78th birthday and an interactive penalty shoot-out to mark the 2012 Olympics.

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/google/google-doodle/12054422/How-well-do-you-know-Beethovens-most-famous-melodies-Google-Doodle-challenge-marks-genius-composers-245th-anniversary.html

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"X-Files" offers fans a chance to unravel the mystery before the revival"s debut

THE X-FILES | Official Trailer | FOX BROADCASTING

Theyre baaaaack!

After 13 years, the X-Files revival series will debut this Sunday, January 24, on FOX 61right after the NFC Championship game. Part 2 of the premiere episode will air Monday, January 25 at 9 p.m.

The premiere shows former FBI special agents Dana Katherine Scully and Agent Fox Mulder reuniting after years apartScully is now a surgeonto get to the bottom of a government conspiracy theory.

But do they want their old jobs back?

While you wait for the debut, we have a sneak peek at Scullys new life to whet your appetite:

While you bide your time before the much-anticipated revival airs on Sunday, theres a chance for you to investigate your own paranormal case and get a taste of whats to come.

The series has opened a website,www.doyoustillbelieve.com, which features the first full minute of the premiere episode. Watch to learn how Mulder thinks the government is involved with the x-files, and then share your thoughts with the hashtag #TheXFiles

Source: http://fox61.com/2016/01/22/x-files-offers-fans-a-chance-to-unravel-the-mystery-before-the-revivals-debut/

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Partial LIRR Service Resumes After Frozen Tracks, Switches Snarl Start Time

LIRR Christmas Eve Morning Rush Hour at Mineola

MINEOLA, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) Partial service on the Long Island Rail Road resumed on some branches later than originally planned Monday after switches and tracks refroze overnight.

Service resumed around 6 a.m. on the Oyster Bay, Port Jefferson, Ronkonkoma, Huntington, Babylon and Greenport branches. Partial service was also offered on the Montauk branch as far as Speonk.

Its unclear when the Port Washington branch will be back up and running.

We had a lot of snow and a lot of ice and we just cant get service going on there yet, MTA spokesman Adam Lisberg told CBS2. We have three big pieces of snow clearing equipment working on that line trying to clear snow and ice from the rails and the third rails.

The railroad had initially planned to restore service starting at 5 a.m. Monday following Saturdays massive snowstorm that dumped more than two feet of snow in some areas of Long Island.

The railroad then pushed the start time to 7 a.m. Monday before announcing that service was starting to resume on some branches.

Lisberg said crews were working frantically to get service back after tracks and switches that were cleared Sunday refroze when the temperatures dropped.

We had lines that refroze overnight, Lisberg said. We also had problems with trying to position crews and trains in locations so that they can serve those outlying stations.

But many commuters waiting for trains early Monday morning were frustrated over the changing information.

Service is intermittent, they cant really tell us when the next train is coming through. They told us to wait, so were waiting, one man waiting at the Mineola station told CBS2s Jennifer McLogan. They really should be able to get us in and out of the city for what we pay.

I wish that the LIRR website and signage was better at keeping updated about whats actually going on because when I checked their website at 6 a.m., it still had the information from last night and that wasnt very helpful.

One man told WCBS 880s Sophia Hall that he arrived at the Hicksville station at 4 a.m. thinking trains were going to begin operating an hour later, but he said they didnt starting running until 6:30 a.m.

They have 8 million people working for the railroad I think they could have had it ready by this morning, the man said.

Some commuters decided to get into their cars and drive into the city, while others took a sick day from work, Hall reported.

Early Monday morning, electronic updates appeared on one screen at Penn Station in New York City, but the big information board remained blank, 1010 WINS John Montone reported.

At least give the customers the acknowledgement of when theyre going to start, another commuter said.

Service remains suspended on the Far Rockaway, Hempstead, Long Beach and West Hempstead branches. There is also no service between Jamaica Station and Atlantic Terminal.

LIRR tickets are being cross-honored by New York City Transit on the 2 and 3 trains between Brooklyn and Penn Station.

Customers are being urged to stay at home and avoid travel if possible Monday as clean up efforts continue.

For more information, click here.

Source: http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2016/01/25/lirr-snowstorm-service/

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Chelsea Handler says Justin Bieber was her worst-ever interview

Chelsea Handler Smoked Pot with Willie Nelson for Her Netflix Series

Before Chelsea Handler puts herChelsea Lately days behind her and debuts a new talk show on Netflix in May, the comedian recently recalledthe worst celebrity interview she ever conducted on the E! series.

Justin Bieber maybe, because he was trying to flirt with me, Handler told Variety at the Sundance Film Festival this past weekend. It was so uncomfortable. Like thats his shtick, he would come on and flirt with you and you just feel like a child molester.

The 21-year-old singer appeared on Lately in 2011 to promote his Christmas album Under the Mistletoe, at which time Handler called Bieber out on his flirtation. Im so sick of you and your stuff, she told Bieber at the time. This is why youre dangerous, because youre like 11 and youre tricking me.

WANT MORE EW? Subscribe now to keep up with the latest in movies, television, and music.

Handlers four-part docuseries leading up to her new talk show dropped on Netflix Saturday, and she told EW thatChelsea Does serves as the perfect bridge to the forthcoming program, which will air three times a week.

I wanted to have proof that I could examine these topics, Handler says of drugs, marriage, racism, and technology. It really works well for me its well-rounded and I can talk to regular people and still have fun. I want to get information in a cool fun way.

Relive Handlers uncomfortable interview with Bieber below:

Source: http://www.ew.com/article/2016/01/25/chelsea-handler-justin-bieber

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Tina Fey Returns to SNL to Mock Sarah Palin -- Makes Joke About Her...b*****s

Tina Fey Sarah Palin Donald Trump SNL: Saturday Night Live Brings “Right-Winging, Bitter-Clinging”

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One of the biggest political stories of the past week was Sarah Palin throwing her support behind candidate Donald Trump.

Palins speech to announce her endorsement of Trump was a subject of derision in the media.

Now, Tina Fey has jumped aboard the satire train, returning to SNL in order to reprise her role as Sarah Palin.

It started with Darrell Hammond dusting off his Donald Trump impression, which he has been doing since the 1990s.

Image Credit: YouTube

He began with a dig against Jeb Bush, as the billionaire introduced Sarah Palin:

I havent seen a woman this impressive since Jeb Bush.

Fey took the stage, and was filled with jokes as to what Palin has been up to in recent months:

I wanted to take a break from my full-time career of writing things on Facebook to fly down here and lend my support to the next president of the United States, Donald J. Trump, she said.

However, it soon became obvious that Palin had ulterior motives for her endorsement.

She said she wanted a cabinet position once Trump is elected.

As part of her qualifications Fey as Palin mentions her b*****s:

Guess what, America? I dont really think this guy should be president.

Im just here cause he promised me a spot in his cabinet.

And I belong in a cabinet cause Im full of spice and I got a great rack!

The real Donald Trump and Sarah Palin have yet to comment on the skit.

Source: http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&ct2=us&usg=AFQjCNF1cYaOM0OXjfUrLGIbvkwQdsf69A&clid=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331&cid=52779035755255&ei=mz-mVqiHFZeX3QGC27LoCg&url=https://www.ijreview.com/2016/01/521963-tina-feys-sarah-palin-impression-returns-to-snl-this-time-appearing/

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