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Archives for January 8, 2026

Al Michaels to Return for NFL ’26

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LOS ANGELES – (Wire Service Report) – Broadcast legend Al Michaels will call NFL games for Amazon Prime Video again in 2026.

Amazon confirmed the news to The Athletic, which reported the news among multiple media outlets.

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Michaels, 81, has been the voice of “Thursday Night Football” since Amazon took over the franchise in 2022. His contract was set to expire after this season.

He will join broadcast partner Kirk Herbstreit on the call of the wild-card game between the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field on Saturday night.

“I love what I do. I work with great people. … The Amazon thing has worked out extremely well,” he said recently on the “Mad Dog Unleashed” show on SiriusXM.

Perhaps best remembered for his “Do you believe in miracles?” call when the United States shocked the Soviet Union during the men’s ice hockey competition at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, Michaels’ voice has been heard across a variety of sports.

In 2021, he was honored by the National Baseball Hall of Fame with the Ford C. Frick Award for broadcasting excellence. He also earned the Pete Rozelle Radio & Television Award from the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He has won multiple Emmy Awards and National Sportscaster of the Year honors and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

He began his career on network television in 1971.

–Field Level Media

Nuggets Tough on the Road

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Nuggets 114, Celtics 110

BOSTON – (staff and Wire Service Report) – Wrong Peyton.

Denver’s Peyton Watson scored 30 points and Jamal Murray added 22 points, eight rebounds and a career-high 17 assists to lead visiting Nuggets over the Boston Celtics for the Nuggets’ NBA-best 15th road victory.

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Watson made six of his seven 3-point attempts, including a 3-pointer that put Denver up 106-93 with 2:24 to play. Watson has scored at least 20 points in each of his last five games. Denver’s Nikola Jokic missed his fifth straight game with a knee injury. The Nuggets have a 3-2 record without him.

Boston received a game-high 33 points along with seven rebounds and four assists from Jaylen Brown, who also committed seven turnovers. Neemias Queta had six points and a career-high 20 rebounds for the Celtics. Ten of Queta’s 20 rebounds came at the offensive end.

“Traed” Young

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ATLANTA – (Wire Service Report) – The Atlanta Hawks traded four-time All-Star point guard Trae Young to the Washington Wizards, multiple outlets reported Wednesday night. The return package from Washington included veteran guard CJ McCollum and forward Corey Kispert.

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Young, 27, has spent his entire career in Atlanta since he was acquired via from Dallas immediately after the Mavericks selected with the fifth overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft. He led the Hawks to the Eastern Conference Finals in the 2020-21 season, but they followed with first-round exits the following two seasons and have been eliminated in the play-in the last two seasons.

Young, the franchise’s all-time leader in assists (4,837) and 3-pointers made (1,295), has averaged 25.2 points, 9.8 assists, 3.5 rebounds and one steal per contest over 493 games (all starts) with the Hawks.

However, he’s played just 10 of the team’s 39 games this season, missing an extended stretch with a sprained MCL and sitting out currently due to a right quad contusion.

The Hawks (18-21) were 2-8 in the 10 games Young played this season and are currently positioned for the play-in for the third straight year as the No. 9 seed in the Eastern Conference.

McCollum, 34, is in his first season with the Wizards after spending much of his career in Portland (2013-22) and the last three-plus seasons in New Orleans (2022-25).

The 2015-16 Most Improved Player, McCollum is averaging 18.8 points (his fewest since 2014-15) and 3.6 assists over 35 games this season.

Kispert, 26, was selected 15th overall in the 2021 NBA Draft by Washington. He’s averaged 10.9 points and shot 38.3% from outside the arc in 311 games (105 starts) spanning five seasons with the Wizards.

He’s averaging 9.2 points and shooting 39.5% from 3-point range this season.

–Field Level Media