🏀 Mega NBA Monday

Happy Tuesday! NFL Championship Sunday is in the rearview, but there’s still plenty of ball to go around. Basketball, that is. We had a massive Monday in the NBA as Doc Rivers made his Bucks coaching debut against the reigning champs, Luka Doncic posted another set of downright silly numbers, the Knicks went for their seventh straight dub, and the best in the West went down to the wire. Also, Ben Simmons finally ran out of outfits and decided to put on his uniform. At the collegiate level, the Lady Tigers were handed another L, and a Big 12 battle among the boys needed overtime to determine a winner. Let’s go!

WTF Stat: Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes in their first full six NFL seasons as starters:

• Regular Season Record | Brady: 70-24, Mahomes: 72-22

• Playoff Record | Brady: 12-2, Mahomes: 14-3

• AFC Titles | Brady: 3, Mahomes: 4

• Super Bowl Titles | Brady: 3, Mahomes: 2 (playing for a third)

• Pass TD/INT | Brady: 167/87, Mahomes: 258/69

Note: After just one day of Super Bowl buildup, I’m already sick of “goat” conversations, so this will be my first and last Brady-Mahomes comparison.

🏈 Chiefs DE Charles Omenihu tore his ACL in Sunday’s win against the Ravens and will not play in the Super Bowl - Omenihu had a sack and forced fumble on Sunday before leaving in the first half and tallied a career-high seven sacks in the regular season

🏈 Chargers plan to hire Ravens Director of Player Personnel Joe Hortiz as their next general manager - Hortiz, 48, has been with Baltimore for 26 years and spent the past five seasons as their director of player personnel

NBA - Top Games

• Minnesota Timberwolves 107, Oklahoma City Thunder 101: Both teams entered the night atop the Western Conference with 32-14 records, and things were all knotted up at 96 with 2:46 remaining, but Anthony Edwards (27 PTS, 4 REB, 4 AST) and the T-Wolves finished the game on an 11-5 run to edge out Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (37 PTS, 7 REB, 8 AST) and the Thunder in OKC, giving Minnesota sole possession of first place in the West - Edwards threw down a ridiculous jam with two minutes to play and expressed his displeasure with the officiating postgame

• Denver Nuggets 113, Milwaukee Bucks 107: In Doc Rivers’ first game as the Bucks head coach, Giannis Antetokounmpo (29 PTS, 12 REB) and company found themselves in a dogfight against the defending champs, but Nikola Jokic (25 PTS, 16 REB, 12 AST) and Jamal Murray (35 PTS, 5 AST) were too much in the end, as the Nuggets flexed their muscle for their fifth win in six games - Denver (33-15) has beaten the top three teams in the East (Bucks, 76ers, and Celtics) in the past 10 days

• Dallas Mavericks 131, Orlando Magic 129: Two games after hanging 73 on the Hawks, Luka Doncic (45 PTS, 9 REB, 15 AST) stuffed the stat sheet again as the Mavs superstar was just a rebound shy of a monster triple-double to help Dallas squeak by Paolo Banchero (36 PTS, 9 REB, 7 AST) and the Magic - Doncic’s 73 points are the most scored by a single NBA player since Kobe Bryant’s 81-point game in 2006

• New York Knicks 113, Charlotte Hornets 92: Despite being without Julius Randle, who suffered a dislocated shoulder on Saturday, and OG Anunoby (elbow inflammation), Jalen Brunson (32 PTS, 4 REB, 7 AST) and the Knicks rolled past Brandon Miller (29 PTS, 7 REB) and the Hornets for their seventh straight dub - New York (30-17) is now 20-0 against teams below .500

• Boston Celtics 118, New Orleans Pelicans 112: Jayson Tatum (28 PTS, 10 REB, 8 AST, 7 TO) had 12 points in the 4th quarter to help the C’s erase an 11-point deficit in the final 10 minutes and steal one from Brandon Ingram (28 PTS, 7 REB, 6 AST) and the Pels, snapping a two-game home skid for Boston - the Celtics (36-11) were 21-0 at TD Garden before losing to the Nuggets on Jan. 19

• Brooklyn Nets 147, Utah Jazz 114: After missing the last 38 games with a pinched nerve in his lower back, Ben Simmons (16 MIN, 10 PTS, 8 REB, 11 AST) made his return and posted a near triple-double despite being on a minutes restriction, and Mikal Bridges (33 PTS, 4 AST) also had a big night to lead the Nets past Keyontae George (21 PTS, 4 REB) and the Jazz, dropping Utah to .500 with a 24-24 record

See the full NBA scoreboard here and the current standings here.

College Basketball - Top Games

• NCAAW | Mississippi State 77, #9 LSU 73: Angel Reese (20 PTS, 18 REB, 5 STL) and the Tigers led by five at the break, but Jerkaila Jordan (24 PTS, 4 REB, 5 STL) sparked a 28-17 run in the 3rd quarter for the Bulldogs, and Mississippi State held on in Starkville to hand the defending champs their second straight loss - LSU (18-4) also fell to No. 1 South Carolina, 76-70, on Thursday

• NCAAM | #4 Houston 76, Texas 72 (OT): In a defensive slugfest, Max Abmas (20 PTS, 5 REB, 5 AST) and the Longhorns had the Big 12’s top-ranked team on the ropes in Austin, but Jamal Shead (25 PTS, 8 REB, 4 AST) helped the Cougars overcome a poor shooting night, and Emmanuel Sharp’s (13 PTS, 8 REB) four free throws in the final 10 seconds of overtime allowed Houston to survive for a big road win

• NCAAM | #7 Duke 77, Virginia Tech 67: The Cassell Coliseum crowd gave the Blue Devils all they could handle, but the Hokies had no answers for Jeremy Roach (16 PTS, 4-5 3PT, 4 AST) and Kyle Filipowski (14 PTS, 6-9 FG, 8 REB) as Duke took the lead midway through the first half and didn’t look back to top MJ Collins (17 PTS, 3 AST) and Virginia Tech in Blacksburg - Duke (16-4) is 11-1 in their past 12 games with their lone loss coming against Pitt on Jan. 20

See the full men’s scoreboard here and the current rankings here. See the full women’s scoreboard here and the current rankings here.

NHL - Only Game

• Ottawa Senators 4, Nashville Predators 3 (OT): The lone NHL game of the night delivered as the Preds appeared to be on their way to an easy victory after Yakov Trenin (1 G) put them up 3-0 in the 1st period. However, Brady Thachuk (1 G, 1 A) and the Sens rattled off three straight goals in the 2nd period, and Claude Giroux (1 G) called game with an OT-winner, handing Nashville their fourth loss in five outings - both teams will play their final game before the All-Star break on Wednesday

See the full box score here and the current standings here.

English FA Cup - Fourth Round

• Blackburn Rovers 4, Wrexham 1: Wrexham’s FA Cup run came to an end yesterday as Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney’s club went ahead early with Andy Cannon’s (19’) opening strike only to concede four unanswered goals, as Blackburn ousted the League Two side in a fourth-round rout - Wrexham returned to the English Football League last season after a 15-year absence and is on the verge of a second successive promotion

See the full international soccer scoreboard here.

If you love golf, you’ll love this…

Sunday’s NFC Championship Game between the 49ers and Lions drew _________ viewers.

A. 39 million

B. 45 million

C. 56 million

D. 67 million

On January 30, 2000, the Tennessee Titans fell "One Yard Short" in Super Bowl 34, losing to the St. Louis Rams 23-16. Going into the game, 28-year-old and second-year QB Kurt Warner led St. Louis to an NFC-best 13-3 record, outscoring their opponents 526-252 for a record plus-284 scoring margin. Their dominance helped Warner win league MVP, and the Rams' high-scoring offense earned the nickname "The Greatest Show on Turf." But in their first year since rebranding from the Oilers, the Titans also went 13-3 and were led by the dynamic duo of QB Steve McNair (RIP!) and RB Eddie George. Both teams ran the table in the postseason and met at the Georgia Dome, hoping to win their franchise's first-ever title. Late in the 4th quarter, Tennessee miraculously tied the game after trailing 16-0, but Rams WR Isaac Bruce regained St. Louis' lead with a 73-yard touchdown grab with 1:54 left. However, Air McNair willed the Titans down to the Rams' 10-yard line with six seconds to spare. On the game's final play, McNair hit WR Kevin Dyson on a quick slant, but LB Mike Jones tackled a reaching Dyson just one yard shy of the goal line for a dramatic Rams win. The play became known as "One Yard Short" or "The Tackle," and the game is considered one of the greatest Super Bowls of all time - no Super Bowl since has featured two teams seeking their first title!

NBA

• Los Angeles Lakers @ Atlanta Hawks 7:30pm ET, Local

• Indiana Pacers @ Boston Celtics 7:30pm ET, TNT

• Philadelphia 76ers @ Golden State Warriors 10:00pm ET, TNT

• Full Schedule

NHL

• Columbus Blue Jackets @ St. Louis Blues 8:00pm ET, NHL Net

• Seattle Kraken @ San Jose Sharks 10:30pm ET, NHLPP / ESPN+

College Basketball

• NCAAM: #3 North Carolina @ Georgia Tech 7:00pm ET, ESPN

• NCAAM: #9 Marquette @ Villanova 7:00pm ET, FS1

• NCAAM: Oklahoma State @ #8 Kansas 9:00pm ET, ESPN

• NCAAM: Full Schedule

• NCAAW: UCF @ West Virginia 7:00pm ET, ESPN+

• NCAAW: Full Schedule

Grab $20 off tickets to your favorite games, concerts and events using code TORCH20 at Vivid Seats - Promo is for first-time buyers and orders over $200!

Trivia Time Answer

C. 56 million. The 49ers’ comeback win against the Lions in Sunday’s NFC Championship drew 56.6 million viewers, making it the most-watched telecast since the 2023 Super Bowl. It was also the most-watched NFL conference championship on Fox since 2012 and the fourth-most-watched non-Super Bowl telecast in network history. For comparison, last year’s AFC title game, which had the 6:30pm ET window, averaged 53.1 million viewers on CBS for the Chiefs’ last-second win over the Bengals - the college football national championship game between Michigan and Washington earlier this month drew 25 million, the biggest college football audience sine the 2020 title game.

The Heat lost their seventh straight game last night, their largest losing streak under HC Eric Spoelstra.