PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Rookie VJ Edgecombe made the go-ahead follow shot with 0.9 seconds left, Tyrese Maxey raced back for a game-saving blocked shot and the Philadelphia 76ers beat the short-handed Golden State Warriors 99-98 on Thursday night.
Maxey scored 35 points but missed a jumper with the 76ers trailing by one. Edgecombe tipped it in, but the Warriors quickly fired an inbounds pass to De’Anthony Melton, who had broke downcourt. Maxey got back to block the shot off the backboard just before time expired.
Joel Embiid had 12 points in his return to the 76ers lineup.
Pat Spencer scored 16 points for the Warriors, who erased a 24-point deficit despite playing with their two leading scorers, Stephen Curry (left quad contusion) and Jimmy Butler (left knee soreness), then losing Draymond Green to an injured right foot late in the second quarter.
Maxey's 3-pointer made it 67-43 with 8:06 left in the third quarter. But the Warriors used a 15-0 run early in the fourth quarter to get back in the contest, then had a late lead before Edgecome stole an inbounds pass with 8.2 seconds to play.
Paul George (left knee injury recovery) was out for the 76ers, who play the second game of a back-to-back on Friday night in Milwaukee.
Curry didn’t even make the trip to Philadelphia, missing his third in a row and seventh game this season. Butler couldn’t play after getting injured in the Warriors’ 124-112 home loss to Oklahoma City on Tuesday. Golden State did get some good news on the injury front with the return of Melton, who had 14 points in his season debut while coming back from a torn ACL.
Warriors: At Cleveland on Saturday night.
76ers: At Milwaukee on Friday night.
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA
Philadelphia 76ers' Tyrese Maxey, center, blocks a shot by Golden State Warriors' De'Anthony Melton, right, during the final second of an NBA basketball game Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Philadelphia 76ers' Joel Embiid, from left, Tyrese Maxey and Adem Bona celebrate after the 76ers won an NBA basketball game against the Golden State Warriors Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Philadelphia 76ers' Tyrese Maxey, right, and Adem Bona celebrate after the 76ers won an NBA basketball game against the Golden State Warriors Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The Trump administration is making good on a promise to send more water to California farmers in the state’s crop-rich Central Valley.
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation on Thursday announced a new plan for operating the Central Valley Project, a vast system of pumps, dams and canals that direct water southward from the state’s wetter north. It follows an executive order President Donald Trump signed in January calling for more water to flow to farmers, arguing the state was wasting the precious resource in the name of protecting endangered fish species.
Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum said the plan will help the federal government “strengthen California’s water resilience." It takes effect Friday.
But California officials and environmental groups blasted the move, saying sending significantly more water to farmlands could threaten water delivery to the rest of the state and would harm salmon and other fish.
Most of the state’s water is in the north, but most of its people are in the south. The federally-managed Central Valley Project works in tandem with the state-managed State Water Project, which sends water to cities that supply 27 million Californians. The systems transport water through the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, an estuary that provides critical habitat to fish and wildlife including salmon and the delta smelt.
It is important for the two systems to work together, Karla Nemeth, director of the California Department of Water Resources, said in a statement. She warned the Trump administration’s plan could limit the state's ability to send water to cities and farmers. That is because the state could be required to devote more water to species protection if the federal project sends more to farms.
Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, executive director at Restore the Delta, said pumping more water out would result in more Delta smelt and juvenile salmon dying from getting stuck in the pumping system, and once the temperature warms, harmful algae blooms will develop that are dangerous to fish, wildlife, pets and people. That could have economic impacts, she said.
“When you destroy water quality and divorce it from land, you are also destroying property values,” she said. “Nobody wants to live near a fetid, polluted backwater swamp.”
The Bureau of Reclamation denied the changes would harm the environment or endangered species.
The Central Valley Project primarily sends water to farms, with a much smaller amount going to cities and industrial use. Water from the Central Valley Project irrigates roughly one-third of California agriculture, according to the Bureau of Reclamation.
The Westlands Water District, one of the largest uses of Central Valley Project water, cheered the decision. It “will help ensure that our growers have the water they need to support local communities and the nation’s food supply, while also protecting California’s wildlife,” general manager Allison Febbo said in a statement.
But Vance Staplin, executive director of the Golden State Salmon Association, said in a statement that protections for salmon are already weak and some runs that rely on the water are close to being wiped out. He called for Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom “to file a lawsuit to challenge this unlawful federal move.”
During Trump's first term, he allowed more water to be directed to the Central Valley, a move that Newsom fought in court, saying it would push endangered delta smelt, chinook salmon and steelhead trout populations to extinction. The Biden administration changed course, adopting its own water plan in 2024 that environmental groups said was a modest improvement. Newsom did not immediately comment Thursday on the new decision.
Trump renewed his criticism of the state's water policies after the Los Angeles-area fires broke out in January and some fire hydrants ran dry. The Central Valley Project does not supply water to Los Angeles.
The president dubbed his January executive order “Putting People over Fish: Stopping Radical Environmentalism to Provide Water to Southern California.”
Golden reported from Seattle.
FILE -A sign reading "Farmland Needs Water!" stands along a field in Riverdale, Calif., Saturday, March 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)
FILE - An aerial view shows Friant Dam which holds back Millerton Lake in Friant, Calif., Friday, March 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)
