Forced to assess the 2017 season far sooner than anticipated
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He will not, however, shuffle the coaching staff.
Harbaugh will fill the void left by the retirement of defensive coordinator Dean Pees, but said Thursday he will bring back offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg and attempt to keep the rest of the staff intact unless ”guys get opportunities to go somewhere and do some different things.”
Pees announced his retirement Monday, less than 24 hours after the Ravens (9-7) were bounced from the playoff chase with a 31-27 loss to Cincinnati.
The in-house contender for the coordinator job is Ravens linebackers coach Don Martindale. Chuck Pagano, fired as head coach of the Indianapolis Colts on Monday and Baltimore’s defensive coordinator in 2011, is also among those being considered.
Asked to describe what he’s looking for from Pees’ successor, Harbaugh replied: ”Definitely continuity. I’m a believer in this system. I think this system has been something that’s been developed over a long period of time, and we have worked really hard every single year to make it better. We’ve evolved it and grown it, and I think you see the results.”
The Ravens have long been known for their defense, and this year that unit was the strength of the team. Baltimore recorded three shutouts, led the NFL with 34 takeaways and ranked 12th in yardage allowed.
The offense, on the other hand, needs help. Harbaugh lauded the performance of quarterback Joe Flacco , who rebounded from a back injury to come on strong during the Ravens’ late-season playoff push.
But the coach was unrelenting in his assessment of the wide receivers, noting that there were too many dropped passes and far too few big plays from a unit built around veterans Mike Wallace and Jeremy Maclin and featuring 2015 draft pick Breshad Perriman, who is thus far a first-round bust. Baltimore ranked 29th in net yards passing per game (189.4).
”That’s an area we’ve got to look at really hard
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Tight end Benjamin Watson led the team with 61 catches and six touchdowns. Wallace and Maclin combined for only seven scores, and Baltimore had only five catches of at least 40 yards.
”We want to get playmakers. That’s something that we need,” Harbaugh said. ”We’re going to add players. It’s not to say that we can’t add some players through free agency. That’s the way that the salary cap works. The draft will be the major part of it.”
Covering a variety of topics in a session that lasted nearly 40 minutes, Harbaugh said he and owner Steve Bisciotti, along with general manager Ozzie Newsome, are looking forward to improving upon a three-year stretch in which the team has gone 5-11, 8-8 and 9-7.
”Our focus is on, can we be better tomorrow than we were today? And that’s just the truth of it,” Harbaugh said. ”To me, that’s our focus. It’s not looking back and saying, `Hey, we didn’t do this or we didn’t do that.’ Everybody is full speed ahead to be the best we can be, and has been for the last three years.”
Had Cincinnati’s Andy Dalton not thrown a 49-yard touchdown pass on a fourth-down play with 44 seconds left, the Ravens would have spent this week preparing for the playoffs amid a city bathed in purple. Instead, Harbaugh was left trying to appease a fan-base that responded to mediocrity and the team’s take-a-knee stance during the national anthem on Sept. 24 by staying away in record numbers on Sundays.
”We understand our fans. We understand what they respect,” Harbaugh said. ”And we want nothing more than to get it there
Kareem Martin Color Rush Jersey , so we can have that moment, we can complete that pass and we can have the whole city going crazy and dancing in the streets. That’s what we’re fighting for.
”I wanted it to happen this year. I wanted it to be the miracle year this year. Maybe we could have done it, and then all of a sudden, it’s not to be. OK, are we going to lament it and look back and beat ourselves up, find reasons that aren’t there and point fingers? That’s not what I’m going to do. That’s not what leaders do. Let’s go to work.”
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Ben Simmons topped LeBron James in a triple-double battle to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to their 13th straight win in their biggest game in six years, 132-130 over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday night.
With a buzz in the city over the Sixers that hasn’t been felt since the pre-Process days, they romped toward a 30-point lead over the Cavs in the first half and scored 78 points at the break.
Simmons had 27 points, 15 rebounds and 13 assists. James had 44 points (17-of-29 shooting), 11 assists and 11 rebounds, bringing the Cavaliers to the brink of an epic comeback.
The Sixers (49-30) moved into third place in the Eastern Conference over the Cavaliers (49-31).
RAPTORS 92, PACERS 73
TORONTO (AP) – Serge Ibaka scored a season-high 25 points, DeMar DeRozan had 12 and Toronto beat Indiana, clinching first place in the Eastern Conference for the first time in team history.
Jakbo Poeltl scored 10 points as the Raptors set franchise records for wins in a season (57) and home wins (33).
Kyle Lowry had nine points and nine assists, and Jonas Valanciunas added 12 rebounds for Toronto, which never trailed in its ninth consecutive home victory over the Pacers. Indiana last won north of the border on March 1, 2013.
Glenn Robinson III scored 12 points and Trevor Booker had 11 for the Pacers. Indiana shot 26 for 87 (29.9 percent) and set season-lows in points
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CELTICS 111, BULLS 104
BOSTON (AP) – Greg Monroe came off the bench and had 19 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists, and Boston defeated Chicago.
It is Monroe’s second career triple-double. Jaylen Brown finished with a career-high 32 points and four rebounds.
With Al Horford and Jayson Tatum given the night off to rest, Boston went deep into its bench against a Chicago team that’s one of the worst in the NBA.
Chicago led by as many as 11 in the first half before Boston trimmed it to 58-55 at the half. But the Celtics outscored the Bulls 56-46 over the final two quarters.
Sean Kilpatrick led the Bulls with 24 points. Lauri Markkanen added 20 points and five rebounds.
TIMBERWOLVES 113, LAKERS 96
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Jimmy Butler scored 18 points in his return from right knee surgery, Jeff Teague had 25 points and eight assists, and Minnesota beat Los Angeles.
Butler played 22 minutes and was 7 for 10 from the field in his first game since getting hurt against Houston on Feb. 23. He had surgery two days later for a cartilage injury and missed 17 games.
Minnesota moved into sole possession of eighth place in the Western Conference.
Taj Gibson also scored 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, while Karl-Anthony Towns had 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who were on the second night of a back-to-back. They lost to the Denver Nuggets on Thursday.
Julius Randle scored 20 points and added 10 rebounds for the Lakers, who have lost nine of their last 13. Brook Lopez had 18 points and six rebounds, while Josh Hart tallied 20 points and 11 rebounds off the bench.
HAWKS 103 WIZARDS 97
WASHINGTON (AP) – Taurean Prince scored 23 points, including 10 in the fourth quarter, and Atlanta beat Washington.
Washington dropped its fourth straight game and fell into eighth place in the Eastern Conference.
Bradley Beal led the Wizards with 32 points.
Wizards point guard John Wall sat out what was the second of back-to-back games for Washington, and forward Markieff Morris left with 4:11 remaining in the first quarter when he picked up two quick technical fouls.
Six Hawks scored in double figures. Reserve Tyler Dorsey had 22 points, including 13 in the second half for the Hawks
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Kelly Oubre Jr. scored 13 points for the Wizards and Otto Porter Jr. had 10.
PELICANS 122, SUNS 103
PHOENIX (AP) – Nikola Mirotic scored a season-high 31 points and tied a season best with 16 rebounds, Anthony Davis had 33 points and 11 boards, and New Orleans beat Phoenix.
Jrue Holiday added 22 points and 10 assists to help the Pelicans move into a tie for the Western Conference’s fifth seed with idle San Antonio and Oklahoma City. New Orleans (45-34) won its second straight after losing four in a row.
The Pelicans led by double digits throughout the entire fourth quarter.
Marquese Chriss led Phoenix with 23 points and Josh Jackson added 22 points and 11 rebounds. The Suns have lost 16 of 17 and are closer to clinching the NBA’s worst record.
PISTONS 113, MAVERICKS 106, OT
DETROIT (AP) – Reggie Jackson scored 12 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter and overtime and Detroit beat Dallas.
Andre Drummond added 19 points and 16 rebounds for the Pistons, who had six scorers in double figures.
Johnathan Motley led the Mavericks with career highs of 26 points and 12 rebounds.
Detroit led 101-98 with a minute left in regulation, but Dallas coach Rick Carlisle kept starters Harrison Barnes, Dwight Powell and Dennis Smith Jr. on the bench.
Luke Kennard missed a clinching 3-pointer, and after Dallas turned the ball over, Jackson missed a shot that would have made it a five-point game with 30 seconds left.
Motley tied the score with a 3 with 10.1 seconds left, and Jackson’s buzzer-beater bounced off the front rim.
Detroit moved ahead 110-105 with 1:29 in overtime, and after a Dallas offensive foul, Jackson’s floater sealed the victory.
KINGS 94, GRIZZLIES 93
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) – Bogdan Bogdanovic connected on a 16-footer with a second left to help Sacramento escape with a victory over Memphis.
Bogdanovic’s jumper capped a close game between two .