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Raptors turn back 76ers for 4th straight win – CBC.ca

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Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet each had 23 points and the Toronto Raptors beat the Philadelphia 76ers 110-103 for their fourth straight victory Sunday night.

Chris Boucher scored all 17 of his points for the Raptors in the final 14 minutes, hitting five 3-pointers over six minutes in a 19-10 stretch that pulled the Raptors ahead for good.

“They got me open and I shot with confidence. Then when I made them I felt good about taking the next one,” said Boucher, who also had a big fourth-quarter block of Philadelphia centre Joel Embiid.

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Coming off a 50-point outburst against Chicago on Friday night, Embiid had 25 points and 17 rebounds for the 76ers, who lost their fourth consecutive road game. But he made only six of 20 shots from the field, and the Sixers went 5 for 21 in the fourth quarter.

WATCH | VanVleet scores 23 in Raptors win:

Fred VanVleet posted 23 points, 9 assists and 5 rebounds to help give Toronto a 110-103 win. 0:56

Toronto coach Nick Nurse gave much of the credit for the defence on Embiid to Aron Baynes.

“We kind of had to have him in there. When we didn’t, it wasn’t pretty,” Nurse said of his 6-foot-10, 260-pound centre. “I thought he put his body on him just enough. He got called for some, but that’s OK.”

Ben Simmons paced Philadelphia (20-11) with 28 points and nine rebounds.

The 76ers led 55-52 after an 18-point first half by Simmons, who had missed two games with a stomach virus after scoring 42 points in a loss at Utah.

WATCH | Who were the trailblazers of basketball in Canada?:

North Courts is back for another episode and this week we’re talking all about the trailblazers and icons of Canadian basketball. Vivek, Meghan, and Jevohn give their starting 5 rosters for their all-time Team Canadas, and discuss the latest Canadian basketball news. 10:59

Philadelphia shot 39 per cent for the game.

“I thought a lot of our guys had great looks tonight,” coach Doc Rivers said. “The problem was they weren’t going in, and then it started mounting up.”

The Raptors had erased an early 14-point deficit by hitting five 3-pointers — four by VanVleet — in a span of 2 1/2 minutes.

Boucher’s big shooting spurt late in the game was less expected.

“We started behind before both those barrages and obviously it was important in getting back in the game,” Nurse said.

VanVleet and Boucher hit five 3s each and the Raptors shot 14 for 34 from behind the arc.

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Vasilevskiy stops 23 as surging Lightning beat Bruins – Sportsnet.ca

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Shane Pinto has a goal, three assists as the Senators roll over the Sabres – Sportsnet.ca

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Here’s what we know about the allegations against Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara

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LOS ANGELES –

Only a week has passed since the Los Angeles Dodgers abruptly fired Ippei Mizuhara, the interpreter and constant companion of their new $700 million slugger, Shohei Ohtani.

But the biggest story of baseball’s spring is still murky — and shocking — as the regular season begins in earnest Thursday.

The scandal encompasses gambling, alleged theft, extensive deceit and the breakup of an enduring partnership between the majors’ biggest star and his right-hand man. Investigations are underway by the IRS and Major League Baseball, and Ohtani publicly laid out a version of events Monday that placed the responsibility entirely on Mizuhara.

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Here are the basics as Ohtani and the Dodgers prepare for their home opener against St. Louis on Thursday:

Why was Ippei Mizuhara fired by the Dodgers?

Ohtani claims his close friend repeatedly took money from his accounts to fund his illegal sports gambling habit. Ohtani also says he was completely unaware of the “massive theft,” as his lawyers termed it, until Mizuhara confessed to him and the Dodgers last week in South Korea, where the team opened its regular season against the San Diego Padres.

Mizuhara has given more than one version of his path to this trouble, which was catalyzed by the IRS’ investigation of Mathew Bowyer, an alleged illegal bookmaker. Mizuhara has consistently said he has a gambling addiction, and he abused his close friendship with the Dodgers superstar to feed it.

Did Shohei Ohtani ever bet on sports?

That’s the biggest question to be answered in Major League Baseball’s investigation, and the two-time AL MVP emphatically says he has never gambled on sports or asked anybody to bet on sports for him.

Further, Ohtani said Monday he has never knowingly paid a bookie to cover somebody else’s bets. Mizuhara also said Ohtani does not bet, and Bowyer’s attorney said the same.

Mizuhara told ESPN on March 19 that Ohtani paid his gambling debts at the interpreter’s request, saying the bets were on international soccer, the NBA, the NFL and college football. If that were true, Ohtani could face trouble even if he didn’t make the bets himself — but ESPN said Mizuhara dramatically changed his story the following day, claiming Ohtani had no knowledge of the gambling debts and had not transferred any money to bookmakers.

MLB rules prohibit players and team employees from wagering — even legally — on baseball. They also ban betting on other sports with illegal or offshore bookmakers.

What’s next for Ohtani?

Ohtani has played in every Dodgers game since the story broke, and he is expected to be their designated hitter in most regular-season games this season while baseball’s investigation continues.

Ohtani says his legal team has alerted authorities to the theft by Mizuhara, although his team has repeatedly declined to say which authorities have been told, according to ESPN.

Ohtani’s new interpreter is Will Ireton, a longtime Dodgers employee and fluent Japanese speaker who has filled several jobs with the team in everything from game preparation and analytics to recruiting free-agent pitches. But Ireton won’t be Ohtani’s constant companion, and manager Dave Roberts said Tuesday he’s optimistic that Ohtani will become closer to his teammates without the “buffer” provided for years by Mizuhara.

What don’t we know?

MLB’s investigation of Ohtani’s role in the events could last weeks or months, and it’s unlikely to be publicized until it’s complete. No one outside of Ohtani’s inner circle knows what it will find or how serious any repercussions could be, and nobody outside the circle is making informed speculation about the process.

One major question looms: How did Mizuhara have enough access to Ohtani’s bank accounts to get the alleged millions without Ohtani knowing? Is the slugger overly trusting, or is he wildly negligent in managing his vast fortune, which includes years of lavish endorsement deals in addition to his baseball salaries? Why didn’t the team around him, including his agent, do more to prevent the possibility of the theft he claims?

Finally, where is Mizuhara? Anybody who knows isn’t saying. He was fired in South Korea and apparently didn’t travel home with the Dodgers. Japanese media have visited his home in Southern California to look for him. Although he was born in Japan, Mizuhara’s life is in the U.S. — but his life will never be the same.

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