🏀 West Coast Wars

Happy FRIDAY! Twenty-four NBA teams made their return from the All-Star break last night, setting up a monster slate of hoops. Luka Legend was as advertised, the Clippers were Thunderstruck, and Steph Curry splashed the Lakers. In the college ranks, a pair of top-10 women’s teams went down, while the Lady Gamecocks kept their perfect record unblemished. Plus, we had a dunk of the year candidate on the men’s side, and *checks watch* yup, another top-five upset. Finally, despite playing their contests on frozen surfaces, the Rangers are red-hot. Let’s go!

WTF Stat: Madison Bumgarner had more career grand slams than Prince Fielder, who had more inside-the-park home runs than Rickey Henderson, who had fewer steals of home than Babe Ruth, who had as many shutouts as Pedro Martinez.

🏈 Chiefs signed former Bills P Matt Araiza, a sixth-round pick in 2022 who was released following the draft after being named in a lawsuit that alleged he and two former San Diego State teammates raped a teenager - in December 2022, the District Attorney announced no charges would be filed against Araiza or his teammates, and the lawsuit was later dropped

🏀 NBA suspended Pistons F Isaiah Stewart for three games for punching Suns F Drew Eubanks in the face in a Footprint Center parking lot before Phoenix’s win over Detroit on Feb. 14 - the Phoenix Police Department arrested Stewart for assault but the chargers were dismissed yesterday

⛳️ Charlie Woods' hopes of competing in the PGA Tour's Cognizant Classic next week ended as the 15-year-old son of Tiger Woods failed to advance from a pre-qualifying event in Hobe Sound, Florida, after carding a 16-over 86 on Thursday

NBA - Top Games

• Dallas Mavericks 123, Phoenix Suns 113: Luka Doncic (41 PTS, 6-11 3PT, 9 REB, 11 AST) was cooking and combined for 70 with Kyrie Irving (29 PTS, 3 AST) as the Mavs duo sparked a 16-0 run to open up the 3rd quarter and surge past Devin Booker (35 PTS, 8 AST), Kevin Durant (23 PTS, 6 REB) and the Suns for their seventh straight dub - it’s Doncic’s 36th, 30-point game this season, and the two teams are now tied for sixth in the West with 33-23 records

• Oklahoma City Thunder 129, Los Angeles Clippers 107: In a marquee matchup featuring two top Western Conference contenders, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (31 PTS, 8 AST) and the Thunder made a statement by 20-piecing Kawhi Leonard (20 PTS, 9-12 FG), James Harden (17 PTS, 6 REB) and the streaking Clippers in OKC

• Golden State Warriors 128, Los Angeles Lakers 110: After sitting out the Lakers’ final game before the break and then playing in the All-Star Game, LeBron James (ankle) didn’t suit up on his team’s first night back, and Steph Curry (32 PTS, 6-13 3PT, 8 AST) had 25 points at the half as the Warriors lit up Anthony Davis (27 PTS, 15 REB) and the Lakers at home

• Orlando Magic 116, Cleveland Cavaliers 109: Moritz Wagner (22 PTS, 7 REB) scored a game-high, his younger brother, Franz Wagner (14 PTS, 4 AST), added 14, and the Magic beat the Donovan Mitchell-less Cavs, marking Cleveland’s second loss in three games but just their third loss in 21 games

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

College Basketball - Top Games

• NCAAM | #21 Washington State 77, #4 Arizona 74: In a late-night, Pac-12 After Dark duel that you’re lucky I stayed up for, Wazzou’s Jaylen Wells (27 PTS, 6-10 3PT) splashed an and-1 three with 24 seconds left to tie the game, and then made the go-ahead free three before sinking two more at the line with 1.2 ticks remaining, as the Cougars tripped up Caleb Love (27 PTS, 5 AST) and the Wildcats on their home floor

• NCAAM | #3 Purdue 96, Rutgers 68: Rutgers only trailed by one midway through the first half, but Purdue signed up for a full 40 minutes, as Zach Edey (25 PTS, 7 REB) and the Boilermakers quickly ballooned the lead to 19 before halftime and didn’t look back for a bounce-back win at home following Sunday’s loss to Ohio State - Purdue (24-3) holds a 2.5-game lead in the Big Ten with a 13-3 conference record

• NCAAM | Florida Atlantic 80, SMU 70: FAU’s Alijah Martin (20 PTS, 7 REB, 3 AST) threw down perhaps the most vicious poster of the season and got help from Vladislav Goldin (20 PTS, 7 REB) to power the Owls past Chuck Harris (15 PTS, 3 REB) and the Ponies for a rebound victory after Sunday’s loss to South Florida - FAU is 21-6 and a projected seven-seed for the NCAA Tournament

• NCAAW | #14 Indiana 86, #4 Iowa 69: Caitlin Clark (24 PTS, 3-16 3PT, 10 REB, 9 AST, 5 TO) couldn’t get anything to go and scored just four points in the second half, while Indiana’s All-American Mackenzie Holmes (24 PTS, 9 REB) and Sara Scalia (25 PTS, 4 AST) led the Hoosiers to a massive win over the Hawkeyes at Assembly Hall

• NCAAW | #1 South Carolina 72, Alabama 44: South Carolina’s perfect season continues as Ashlyn Watkins (14 PTS, 10 REB) and the Gamecocks absolutely housed a 20-8 Alabama squad to improve their record to 26-0 - Alabama scored just 11 points in the first half, and it’s South Carolina’s 28th straight double-digit win at home

• NCAAW | North Carolina 80, #6 NC State 70: Lexi Donarski (23 PTS, 4 REB) was brilliant, and the Heels never trailed in the second half to knock off Aziaha James (24 PTS, 9 REB) and the Wolfpack in Chapel Hill for a key conference victory - NC State (23-4) has now lost two of their past three games

See the full NCAAM scoreboard here and the current rankings here. See the full NCAAW scoreboard here and the current rankings here.

NHL - Top Games

• New York Rangers 5, New Jersey Devils 1: The red-hot Rags notched their ninth straight win as Vincent Trocheck’s (2 G) second goal of the night put them up 5-0, and Igor Shesterkin (40 SV) pitched a shutout for the first 57 minutes in a rout of Jack Hughes (1 G) and their crosstown rivals - New York (38-16-3) leads the Metropolitan Division and is 7-0-0 since the All-Star break

• Detroit Red Wings 2, Colorado Avalanche 1 (OT): Nathan MacKinnon (1 G) gave the Aves a 1-0 lead in the 2nd period, but Dylan Larkin (1 G, 1 A) tied things up in the 3rd and then dished a dime to Patrick Kane (1 G) for the OT-winner, giving Detroit their third consecutive dub - the Red Wings (30-20-6) hold the first wild-card spot in the East

• Washington Capitals 5, Tampa Bay Lightning 3: Alex Ovechkin saw his nine-game point streak come to an end, but the Caps got their third win in a row as Rasmus Sandin (1 G) snapped a tie with 4:59 left in the 3rd period to hand Nicholas Paul (1 G) and the Bolts their third straight L - unfortunately for Washington, TJ Oshie left the game with a non-contact injury

See the full box scores here and the current NHL standings here.

Stop aimlessly scrolling through charts and source the best podcasts around with this newsletter:

Golf season is nearly here, lower your scores this year:

The off-the-field news in college sports is endless these days, understand it better:

Who holds the NBA record for the most blocks in a season as a rookie?

A. David Robinson

B. Dikembe Mutombo

C. Shaquille O’Neal

D. Manute Bol

On February 23, 2021, Tiger Woods crashed his SUV in a single-car rollover outside of Los Angeles, CA. Around 7:00am PT, Woods, who was not under the influence and was wearing his seatbelt, was found sitting in his totaled car off the side of the road with significant injuries to his right leg and was immediately rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery on "open fractures affecting both the upper and lower portion of the tibia and fibula bones." His right leg was stabilized by inserting a rod into his tibia, and additional injuries to the bones of his foot and ankle were repaired with screws and pins. Following the crash, Tiger said he felt "lucky to be alive" and that "it was 50-50 whether part of his leg might have been amputated." Ten months later, he was back playing golf, competing in the PNC Championship with his son, Charlie, where the pair finished in second place, carding a 57 in their final round that included 11 consecutive birdies. In April of 2022, 14 months after the crash, Tiger made his return to the PGA Tour in the 2022 Masters. The 46-year-old finished tied for 47th place at 13-over but received a standing ovation on the 18th hole as he concluded his Sunday round. Woods has won 15 majors, second all-time behind Jack Nicklaus’ 18 - will Tiger win another major before it's all said and done?

Friday

• NBA: Cleveland Cavaliers @ Philadelphia 76ers 7:30pm ET, ESPN

• NBA: Milwaukee Bucks @ Minnesota Timberwolves 10:00pm ET, ESPN

• NCAAW: #11 Colorado @ #7 USC 10:00pm ET, Pac-12

• NHL: Buffalo Sabres @ Columbus Blue Jackets 7:00pm ET, NHL Net

• NHL: Minnesota Wild @ Edmonton Oilers 9:00pm ET, NHLPP / ESPN+

Saturday

• EPL: Newcastle United @ Arsenal 3:00pm ET, Peacock

• NBA: Boston Celtics @ New York Knicks 8:30pm ET, ABC

• NCAAM: #2 Houston @ #11 Baylor 12:00pm ET, CBS

• NCAAM: #10 North Carolina @ Virginia 4:00pm ET, ESPN

• NCAAM: #13 Alabama @ #17 Kentucky 4:00pm ET, CBS

• NCAAM: Texas @ #9 Kansas 6:00pm ET, ESPN

• NCAAM: Full Schedule

• NCAAW: #24 Baylor @ #22 West Virginia 2:00pm ET, Big 12 / ESPN+

• NHL: St. Louis Blues @ Detroit Red Wings 12:00pm ET, ABC

• NHL: New York Rangers @ Philadelphia Flyers 3:00pm ET, ABC

• MLAX: #11 Princeton @ #4 Maryland 2:00pm ET, B1G+

• MLAX: Full Schedule

Sunday

• EFL Cup Final: Chelsea vs. Liverpool 10:00am ET, ESPN+

• NASCAR: Cup Series at Atlanta 3:00pm ET, FOX

• NBA: Los Angeles Lakers @ Phoenix Suns 3:30pm ET, ABC

• NBA: Denver Nuggets @ Golden State Warriors 7:00pm ET, ESPN

• NBA: Sacramento Kings @ Los Angeles Clippers 9:30pm ET, ESPN

• NCAAM: #3 Purdue @ Michigan 2:00pm ET, CBS

• NCAAM: Xavier @ #7 Marquette 5:00pm ET, FS1

• NCAAW: #13 LSU @ Tennessee 12:00pm ET, ESPN

• NCAAW: Illinois @ #4 Iowa 1:00pm ET, FS1

• NCAAW: #1 South Carolina @ Kentucky 3:00pm ET, SECN

• NCAAW: Full Schedule

• NHL: Tampa Bay Lightning @ New Jersey Devils 1:00pm ET, TNT

• NHL: Philadelphia Flyers @ Pittsburgh Penguins 3:30pm ET, TNT

Trivia Time Answer

D. Manute Bol. “Nute” holds the NBA record for total blocks and blocks per game as a rookie when he had 397 and averaged 5.0 in the 1985-86 season with the Washington Bullets. He is trailed by former Spurs C David Robinson (319) and former Magic C Shaquille O’Neal (286). Spurs rookie C Victor Wembanyama currently has 161 blocks through 50 games played, for an average of 3.22 per game - Wemby is averaging more blocks per game this season than the entire Miami Heat team (3.10)

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Have a great weekend, and thanks for reading!