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Good morning! Get some fresh air before the good games start.
Kyle Terada / Imagn Images
About Last Night: NBA Cup final set
It was a perfectly pleasant day of NBA hoops yesterday, but with plenty of other news to get to, we’ll keep this brief. The stars came through for both winning teams in the NBA Cup semifinals in Las Vegas:
- In the first of the two contests, the Bucks beat the Hawks 110-102 behind 32 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists from Giannis Antetokounmpo, avenging last year’s disappointment. Damian Lillard added 25 points and seven assists.
- In the late game, it was Shai Gilgeous-Alexander who starred with 32 points in a defense-heavy matchup and had this …. weirdly endearing … postgame moment. Good vibes.
The NBA Cup final is Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. ET. (ABC). Reminder, since this is only our second time going through it: The final is the one game in this tournament that doesn’t count toward regular-season standings. Also, every player on the final two teams is guaranteed at least $205,988 — with the winners getting $514,971 each. 🤯
Onward:
Strange Days: A notably packed college football Saturday
These days, it feels like we’re saying this frequently, but it’s true yet again: Yesterday was one of the weirder days in college football history.
- As recently as 16 years ago, there were traditionally two full weeks between the end of the FBS regular season and the beginning of its bowl season.
- Then, Army–Navy moved into that empty weekend, shining one of the sport’s biggest annual spotlights on one of its most historic rivalries.
- In 2024, with the expanded College Football Playoff’s new quarterfinal games arriving before Christmas, the rest of bowl season has sprawled across the calendar.
So yesterday, for what might’ve been the first time ever, FBS regular-season and bowl-season action happened on the same day. Navy ruined Army’s best season since the 1950s by winning one of this rivalry’s rare blowouts, and then — in slightly less landmark news — South Alabama hit 7-6 by beating Western Michigan in Montgomery, Alabama’s bowl.
And that’s in addition to everything else in CFB that happened yesterday: Travis Hunter won the Heisman (check out his suit, and here are the voting margins), and Jackson State won the HBCU national title in the Celebration Bowl (yep, two years after the departure of … Travis Hunter), plus Army’s anticipated bowl opponent, Marshall, withdrew due to transfer-portal losses.
Oh yeah, and all of this is happening amid the December transfer-portal rush and days after Texas clinched the top recruiting class and with Bill freaking Belichick randomly materializing in the ACC (more on him shortly).
Never boring. Five days until the CFP starts.
News to Know
Where’s LeBron?
A situation to monitor today: LeBron James has missed two straight games, and Lakers coach JJ Redick said Friday he doesn’t know when the superstar will be back. James is officially listed as out with foot soreness, but Redick said Wednesday that the 39-year-old had an excused absence for “personal reasons.” Los Angeles (13-12) plays the Timberwolves at 9:30 p.m. ET tonight, so stay tuned for updates.
Belichick was interested in … them?
As the dust settles on our new reality — Bill Belichick is the head coach at UNC — our Dianna Russini came through with some extra intel yesterday: About two weeks ago, the Jets “were informed that there was interest in their organization” from Belichick. Remember, Belichick was New York’s head coach for 24 hours … 24 years ago. Read Dianna’s full Saturday column.
More news
- Auburn defensive lineman Trill Carter is recovering from a bullet wound to the lower stomach after being shot during an incident late Thursday in Charlotte, he said yesterday. Full story here.
- NFL great Randy Moss — who recently stepped away from television work to focus on his health — detailed his ongoing recovery from a cancer diagnosis in an emotional Instagram Live appearance Friday.
- This season’s woes continued for Joel Embiid and the 7-16 76ers on Friday when he exited the team’s loss to the Pacers with a fractured sinus. Ouch.
- The Astros traded outfielder Kyle Tucker to the Cubs in exchange for a package headlined by infielder Isaac Paredes. Read our breakdown here.
- Cal football hired Nick Rolovich, the former Washington State head coach who was fired in 2021 for failing to comply with the state’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, as an offensive assistant.
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NFL Watch Guide: Maybe take the lunch hour off today
We’d never tell you to skip NFL football on a Sunday, but unless your team is playing in the early window … maybe you should get a chore done. All the action starts this afternoon. Just see for yourself (all times ET):
1 p.m.
Cowboys (5-8) at Panthers (3-10) — This is a sicko’s delight, as you can watch Dallas squirm once more this season as they try to find a win against a resurgent Bryce Young in Carolina. Dallas’ defense isn’t bad, but I’d bet on Young & Co. in a nice win. TV: Fox
4:25 p.m.
Bills (10-3) at Lions (12-1) — Welcome to the afternoon! Here’s a possible Super Bowl preview. It was nearly $400 just to get into the stadium here yesterday. Josh Allen will do some superhuman stuff, win or lose. I’m excited to watch. TV: CBS
8:20 p.m.
Packers (9-4) at Seahawks (8-5) — A huge game for playoff seeding. Green Bay is solidly a wild-card team right now, and Seattle remains on the precipice of the NFC West division lead. Both need this badly. TV: NBC
Pulse Picks
Calais Campbell could probably play until he’s 45. No, really. Read this story on the 38-year-old Dolphins wrecking ball by Zak Keefer and try to disagree.
From Friday: Nothing represented the 49ers’ season more than Deebo Samuel’s big drop — and his comments before it. San Francisco is due for a retooling.
We have a QB transfer portal big board here that could be very valuable going forward.
Fluto Shinzawa has an intriguing story on the brands of sticks certain hockey players use and why.
In case you didn’t get to it Friday, we’re still thinking about the fascinating story from Larry Holder and Craig Custance on the use of CT scanners in the trading card industry. Catch up!
Try today’s Connections: Sports Edition beta.
Most-clicked in Friday’s newsletter: Our story on 49ers linebacker De’Vondre Campbell refusing to play. (The team now plans to part with him.)
Most-read on the website yesterday: Dianna’s column featuring the Belichick-Jets twist, the latest on the 49ers’ plans around Brock Purdy and Kyle Shanahan, and more.
(Top photo: Danny Wild / Imagn Images)
