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SAN FRANCISCO — Just ask Brock Purdy, what’s a quarterback without his weapons?
Actually, let’s pose the question to Chris Paul, who can safely say he’s in point guard paradise 15 games into his tenure with his once arch-nemeses.
“If you think about Peyton Manning, Tom Brady – those types of quarterbacks – who have got these elite receivers,” Paul said after turning in his second straight double-double in the Warriors’ win over the Rockets Monday night, “for me, it’s so fun to bring the ball up the court knowing you’ve got Klay, you’ve got Steph.
“Some of the passes I’m throwing to them, you’re throwing it before they even get there. They catch it, they shoot it and they make it, you know what I mean?”
Ahead of Paul’s return Wednesday to Phoenix, where he spent the previous three seasons, he appears to be finding his groove with the team he spent much of his career trying to dethrone from the top of the Western Conference. Turns out, the Point God and the 3-point king make a pretty good pairing.
Since returning to the starting lineup with Draymond Green’s suspension, Paul has only improved on his gaudy assist-to-turnover numbers. With his 15-point, 12-assist, one-turnover effort Monday night, Paul has 115 assists to only 18 turnovers through 15 games this season.
The Warriors were plus-12 in his 34 minutes, a team-high.
“Tells you everything about the game tonight and how he controlled tempo and just the action,” Curry said. “The best version of CP is a game like tonight, where he’s aggressive to shoot when he’s open but every possession he’s just trying to move it to the open person.”
Paul was responsible for setting up Curry’s 4-point play that put the Warriors up 10 going into halftime.
“It wasn’t planned or anything from the bench. He saw a clear side and got me and Loon in the right action,” Curry said. “Just kind of a masterclass of reading the flow.”
It’s probably only a coincidence that Thompson’s breakout performance, cracking 20 points for the first time this season, came the night after he flipped on the Netflix “Redeem Team” documentary, watching a 23-year-old Paul help the U.S. win gold at the 2008 Olympics.
“The guy’s been through it all,” Thompson said. “It was cool to see young Chris get rookie hazed by his teammates. For him to still be here just balling, it’s insane.”
It’s less of a coincidence that Paul assisted on five of Thompson’s seven buckets.
Just a quarterback and a receiver with a budding connection.
“It makes your job as a shooting guard so much easier when you have one of the greatest passers to ever play orchestrating you out there,” Thompson said. “It’s important that we lean on Chris for all his experience and continue to play off him and let him quarterback.”
As the holiday season brings families together, health experts are expecting cases of COVID-19 to rise.
In the week following Thanksgiving 2022, hospitalizations from the virus increased significantly despite a lull in the early fall, just as health experts have seen this year, CNN reported.
Emergency room visits for COVID-19 have increased 7% from late September until Nov. 11, suggesting a case spike is on the horizon, according to data published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In preparation, the Department of Health and Human Services announced it would again offer free COVID-19 testing kits delivered to your door beginning on Nov. 20.
Here’s what you need to know.
Is it COVID-19? The flu? RSV?
COVID-19 is just one pillar of the “tripledemic” making its way across the United States. The increase in cases aligns with both the annual flu season and the rise of RSV infections.
Many of the symptoms of all three respiratory illnesses overlap, so here’s how to tell the difference, according to the CDC.
Runny or stuffy nose, fever, cough, fatigue, sore throat, muscle pain, headache and vomiting are all symptoms of both COVID-19 and the flu.
However, diarrhea and other gastrointestinal symptoms are more frequent in the flu than with COVID-19.
Both illnesses can cause changes to taste and smell, but a total loss of one or the other is more likely with COVID-19 than the flu.
RSV symptoms also include a congested nose, cough, fever and sore throat, but the cough is more likely to be very dry and fevers are less severe, according to the Mayo Clinic.
RSV infections are more common in young children and older adults, including those with preexisting respiratory or immune conditions.
When to test for COVID
Symptoms can begin anywhere from two to five days after you’ve been exposed to the virus, the CDC says. In some cases, it may take as many as 14 days after exposure to show symptoms.
Anyone who knows they have been exposed to the virus should take a COVID-19 test between four and five days after they have been exposed to see if they have been infected. You should take the test even if you aren’t experiencing any symptoms.
If you don’t know whether you have been exposed to COVID-19 but start experiencing symptoms similar to the illness, take a test.
If you are experiencing any symptoms, you should also test before going to a family gathering or group get-together to prevent the spread of the virus.
How to get free testing kits
While you may have leftover COVID testing kits at home, the tests do have expiration dates, so it’s important to keep recent tests stocked.
“Every home in the U.S. is eligible to order an additional 4 free at-home tests beginning November 20. If you did not order tests this fall, you may place two orders for a total of 8 tests,” according to the HHS. “Your order of COVID tests is completely free – you won’t even pay for shipping.”
You can request updated, free at-home tests at covid.gov/tests.
You can find free, in-person COVID-19 testing locations at testinglocator.cdc.gov.
I’m positive for COVID-19. Now what?
First things first – stay home.
COVID-19 spreads from person to person when water droplets from one person, let out through a breath or a cough, are inhaled by another person. This is much more likely to occur in group settings or while eating, making Thanksgiving and other holidays this season the perfect opportunity for the virus to spread.
COVID-19 can also be spread as many as eight days after symptoms begin, the CDC says. This means you can continue to spread the virus even after you start to feel better.
The most recent CDC quarantine guidelines, updated in May, suggest quarantining from others in your home for a minimum of five days following a positive test.
If your symptoms persist the entire five days or worsen, the CDC says you should continue to isolate until you’ve gone more than 24 hours without a fever (without using fever-reducing medication) or your other symptoms begin to improve.
If you test positive but do not have any symptoms, you should still quarantine for five days while you are infectious, but can end your isolation after that time, the CDC says.
Preventing sickness this season
The newest COVID-19 booster was approved and released in mid-September, and targets the most variants to date.
“We know when we get to Thanksgiving, people are going to travel, they’re going to gather, and that’s when viruses spread,” CDC Director Mandy Cohen told Health.com. “Right now is the best time for folks to protect themselves so they can build up those antibodies ahead of the holiday.”
The shot is recommended for everyone over the age of 6 months no matter what prior vaccinations they’ve had for COVID-19.
Vaccinated or not, you should wash your hands frequently, avoid busy areas, cover your mouth when coughing or sneezing, and wear a mask if you feel sick, the CDC says.
©2023 The Charlotte Observer. Visit at charlotteobserver.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Black Friday has matured to more than deals on TVs, air fryers and electronics.
All sorts of retailers are attaching the name “Black Friday” to sales, says Jane Boyd Thomas, a professor of marketing at Winthrop University in South Carolina.
As the Black Friday sales go on longer and expand into more categories each year, you’ll find deals you might not have thought about. Here are six offbeat Black Friday buys.
1. Tires
Can you see the top of Lincoln’s head? Car nuts will know the penny trick for gauging tire wear. And if you’re due for a new set, tire retailers and manufacturers are ready to sell you some new rubber at a discount. Nationwide retailer Discount Tire’s website says it will drop Black Friday tire and wheel deals Nov. 23-29 this year.
Look for deals on batteries and filters too. Your local car wash may even run a Black Friday promotion. Car stuff on Black Friday. Who knew?
2. Big-ticket baby gear
After the baby shower, stuff gets expensive to replace without the help of family and friends. Black Friday could be a good time to get a discount on something you use a lot that may be wearing out.
Thomas, who’s about to be grandmother, says it’s a category she wouldn’t have thought about otherwise at this time of year. She’s seen an influx of digital ads for strollers and highchairs lately, some of which were marked down by 50% for early Black Friday, she says. The week of Thanksgiving should bring deals from all sorts of baby brands like Owlet and BOB Gear.
3. Furniture
Rather than roll the dice on a gift your mom or dad might not use, give them a comfortable place to sit for the next gathering at your house. Furniture isn’t the first thing that comes to mind for a Black Friday score, but deals on couches, chairs and tables are in full effect this November. You can get up to 35% off at LoveSac right now, and over at Macy’s, the popular Radley sectional couch is marked down 47% through Nov. 25.
Your relatives should appreciate the soft seating at holiday gatherings.
4. Amusement park tickets
You may not be thinking about theme parks at the moment, but there are deals worth cheering for this time of year. You can save up to 60% on tickets and annual passes to SeaWorld Orlando, for example, or up to 50% on tickets to Busch Gardens Williamsburg, Virginia. If a theme park visit is in your family’s future, look for a deal now.
5. Health and beauty supplies
Not everything has to be a big-ticket buy on Black Friday. You can also find good sales on smaller items like health and beauty products, for example. Thomas says it’s interesting to see how early retailers like Ulta Beauty have pushed out discounts.
Ulta deals are happening now and roll on through Nov. 25. Look for good discounts on items you need to restock, like shampoo and conditioner. Check the websites of your favorite brands for deals, too.
Also, look at your local drugstore on or around Black Friday for better-than-usual buys on toiletries and over-the-counter medicines.
6. Streaming services
Streaming services are getting pricey, and the cost of multiple subscriptions adds up. Last year’s Black Friday streaming deals included 50% off a Paramount+ annual plan and one year of an ad-supported Hulu subscription for $1.99 a month.
Check provider websites on Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday to make sure you don’t miss out. Note that offers may apply only to first-time subscribers.
Don’t let Black Friday break you
A great deal is still a bad reason to go into debt, offbeat buys notwithstanding.
NerdWallet’s 2023 holiday shopping report found that around half of Americans (52%) incurred credit card debt shopping for gifts last holiday season, and among them, nearly a third (31%) haven’t paid off these balances.
And if you’re taking on credit card debt to spend on a semi-discretionary item like a sofa, you may want to reconsider.
Even 50% off a $5,000 item is still a hefty $2,500 out of your budget, said Robert Finley, a certified financial advisor and founder of Virtue Asset Management in Chicago, in an email. Try not to be “seduced by a discount,” he added.
But let’s say you have the money saved for something you need — like tires — and you come in under budget on the purchase thanks to a holiday sale. Finley called what’s left over “found money,” and doesn’t recommend going shopping with it.
Instead, make sure to pay off credit cards to avoid interest, put savings toward student loans if you have them, and if anything is left, invest it, he said.
We won’t knock you if you still want to shop some, though. It’s Black Friday after all.
But while the masses are scrambling to save 20% on an air fryer, you might find something more useful on sale. Look around.
