Medical Weight Loss in Brooklyn, NJ

NBA players don’t like to get injured.

Fans don’t like paying for tickets when star players are injured.

But the franchise can sometimes benefit in the long term when the team on the court isn’t the most competitive in the short term.

And so it is that the injury to Brooklyn Nets’ star guard Cam Thomas has inadvertently helped the team sink in the standings while rising in the Tankathon standings.

The Nets (11-18) are 3-8 without Thomas and have moved to No. 7 in the Tankathon standings where they are currently projected to get Texas freshman guard Tre Johnson in next summer’s NBA Draft.

Duke freshman Cooper Flagg is the ultimate prize as the projected No. 1 pick, with Rutgers stars Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey projected as Nos. 2 and 3.

Thomas is averaging 24.7 points per game, and the Nets -- who visit the Milwaukee Bucks Thursday night -- have struggled while he’s been out with a left hamstring strain since late last month.

“It’ll be nice when we get Cam Thomas back just to have some … a real half-court bucket, half-court scorer,” center Nic Claxton said, per the New York Post. “That’ll be good. We’re missing him right now a lot.”

The Nets are just half a game behind the Philadelphia 76ers (11-17) in the Atlantic Division standings, but while the Sixers are hoping to challenge for an NBA championship with their “Big 3″ of Joel Embiid, Paul George and Tyrese Maxey, the Nets were expected “to get in the bag for Cooper Flagg.”

“We don’t use some of those words [like ‘tanking’], so it’s go compete, go compete and let the chips fall where they may,” Nets GM Sean Marks told NJ.com in an exclusive interview last month.

He added: “I think you navigate the season as it goes, and you don’t go into a season saying this is where we’re going to be, this is how it’s going to end. There’s a lot of unforeseen things.”

He continued: “You’ve gotta give credit to these players, they’re playing with a chip on their shoulder, the coaches are doing a helluva job, so that’s exciting to see. It’s exciting to see an identity being formed and a culture being driven. So who am I to push back on that?”

Since those comments, the Nets traded veteran point guard Dennis Schroder to the L.A. Lakers in exchange for guard De’Anthony Melton, guard Reece Beekman and three second-round draft picks.

Nets’ forwards Cam Johnson, the team’s second-leading scorer at 19.1 points per game, and Dorian Finney-Smith (10.8 ppg, are both contenders to be traded before the Feb. 6 trade deadline. Johnson is making $22.5 million this season and will earn $20.5 million next year. Finney-Smith makes almost $15. million this year and has a player option for nearly that much next season.

The Nets have four first-round picks in the 2025 Draft and have been heavily scouting Flagg, Harper, Bailey and other top prospects.

“This year specifically, with all the picks that we have, we have to be scouting a very wide range,” Marks said. “And that’s fine, that’s exciting, we’ve never had that opportunity before.”

Of course, the more games Thomas misses, the more likely the Nets are to lose and the higher they will rise in the Tankathon ratings. They Nets are also about to be without forward Ziaire Williams (left knee sprain) for a ninth game. He’s averaging 8.6 points.

“Cam’s doing great,” Nets coach Jordi Fernandez told reporters, per the Post. “As well as Ziaire. They played five-on-five and did a great job. So we’ll see how they feel after. That’s part of the process that they’re in right now. It seems like they’re getting close.”

Of course, it may be in the Nets’ long-term interest to keep them out a while longer.

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Adam Zagoria is a freelance reporter and Basketball Insider for NJ Advance Media. You may follow him on Twitter @AdamZagoria and check out his Website at ZAGSBLOG.com.

New York City awoke Saturday to the acrid smell of smoke that left a haze hanging over the skyline as several wildfires burned in the region, including a new blaze sparked in the early morning hours near the northern New York-New Jersey border.

The New Jersey Forest Fire Service battled the latest outbreak in Pompton Lakes, Passaic County, which as of midday Saturday had burned 100 acres and threatened 55 structures, the agency posted on social media.

No part of the fire was contained and efforts to halt its spread by state and local crews were hampered by strong, gusty winds. Chilly temperatures trapped smoke near to the ground and caused poor air quality in the region, leading state officials to issue a warning that going outside could be unhealthy for people sensitive to air pollution.

A Forest Fire Service helicopter capable of dropping 350 gallons of water was deployed to the area Saturday morning.

A second fire in Passaic County scorched 1,800 acres and threatened 10 structures – it was 0% contained. And a third, a 39-acre blaze near the Palisades Interstate Parkway in Englewood Cliffs, Bergen County, was 40% contained.

Elsewhere in the Garden State, fires that broke out Wednesday and Thursday in Jackson Township and Burlington and Camden Counties were both 90% contained. Crews remained on the scenes to address areas of concern until significant precipitation fell.

Smoke is expected to remain present until significant rain falls, according to the NJ Department of Environmental Protection.

The National Weather Service said the region could see up to a quarter inch of rainfall Sunday night, but that will do little to ease the situation. Parts of NJ have not had measurable rain in more than 40 days are experiencing extreme drought conditions.

New York City was placed under drought watch last week, after the driest October in recorded history. Drought watches are also in place for New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Less than an inch of rain fell in the Big Apple last month, compared to the historical average of about 4 inches.

More than 100 firefighters responded to a two-acre inferno that broke out Friday night in a densely wooded area of Brooklyn’s Prospect Park. It was snuffed out around 10 p.m.

The cause remains under investigation, FDNY said.

“It’s 70 degrees in November, and Prospect Park is burning,” Mayor Adams posted on X just after midnight on Saturday with photos from the scene of the brush fire.

“After the driest October on record, NYC is under a DROUGHT WATCH, which highly increases our risk of fires,” he added.

It’s been a firey week across the five boroughs.

Thursday, firefighters extinguished a brush fire that tore through a wooded area just blocks from Historic Richmondtown. It was the sixth such fire since Tuesday in the borough, including blazes that scorched a portion of Clove Lakes Park and another that swept through a large section of Brookfield Park in Great Kills, the Staten Island Advance reported.

On Monday, a brush fire broke out in Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx. The FDNY sent 12 units of 60 fire and EMS personnel to the scene near the Major Deegan Expressway, according to reports.

With the wind gusting up to 30 mph, the National Weather Service issued a Red Flag Warning the city, Long Island and the Lower Hudson Valley, until 6 p.m. Saturday stating, “Any fire that develops will catch and spread quickly.”

Crews also fought flames in upstate New York’s Ulster, Sullivan and Orange counties.

The Whitehouse Fire in Ulster and Sullivan counties, which is burning through approximately 300 to 400 acres, is expected to spread, according to a release from Gov. Hochul’s Office.

Park Forest Rangers and other personnel also responded to a 300-acre fire that began near the intersection of the Lake to Lake Trail and the West Valley Trail and extended into New Jersey.

State personnel were also assigned to fire watch and response duties on Long Island, officials said.

BROOKLYN (WABC) -- Firefighters have contained a wildfire that erupted in Brooklyn's Prospect Park on Friday evening.

Fire crews remained stationed in the park overnight if it re-ignites, officials said at a press conference.

#FDNY units are operating at a brush fire in Prospect Park in Brooklyn. Operations are ongoing. pic.twitter.com/15QclbBXov

— FDNY (@FDNY) November 9, 2024

A passerby reported the fire in Prospect Park at about 6:40 p.m., FDNY Commissioner Robert Tucker said.

The fire grew to about two acres in size in a "very inaccessible" and dense forested area of the park.

Fire Deputy Chief Joseph Duggan said that extremely dry vegetation and heavy winds contributed to the fire.

Over 120 firefighters responded to the fire, according to Chief Duggan.

Four engine companies remained on the scene overnight.

Some hot spots remained late Friday night, the fire commissioner said, but the fire is under control.

The fire was one of several reported brush fires in New York City, NYC Emergency Management Commissioner Zachary Iscol said.

Another brush fire along the Major Deegan in the Highbridge section of the Bronx late Friday and a Red Flag Warning remained in effect through Saturday.

Multiple wildfires in New Jersey were impacting air quality in the city, he added.

"This is the new normal of extreme weather," Iscol said. "It's all something we should be prepared for."

New York City Parks Commissioner Sue Donoghue said that the forest in Prospect Park is the oldest standing forest in Brooklyn.

"Our urban forest here is so critical," she said.

Fire officials are still investigating the cause of the fire, Tucker said.

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