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Bar Chat

01/29/2024

Mahomes and the Chiefs In...Lamar Doesn't Get it Done...

Add-on posted Tuesday a.m.

NFL Playoffs

--I posted before Lions-49ers, and at the half, the score 24-7 Detroit, the Lions had amassed 293 yards of offense, including 148 on the ground.  San Francisco had 131 yards total offense.  For good reason, Lions fans were planning their Super Bowl parties.

Even when San Francisco opened the third quarter with a field goal, cutting the lead to 24-10, no problem for Detroit in closing the game.  Until coach Dan Campbell intervened. 

Campbell eschewed a 45-yard field goal that would have made it 27-10 had kicker Michael Badgley converted, and Badgley’s four previous kicks, three extra points and a short field goal, were all pure*, so it’s not like you were worried about a shaky performance up to that point.  Badgley was the reason the Lions got this far in the first place with his 54-yarder that was the difference in Detroit’s 24-23 wild-card win over the Rams.

*Badgley finished the postseason 3 of 3 on field goals, 11 of 11 on extra points, and is now 8 of 9 on field goals for his playoff career, 13 of 13 XPs.

Campbell gave up the opportunity to make it a 3-score game, for an opportunity to, get this, make it a 3-score game!  I was furious at that moment. I also immediately thought, what have you done for your kicker’s confidence if you need him later on?

After the Niners stopped the fourth-and-2 at the 28 (yes, a dropped pass by Josh Reynolds, one of two big ones he had), they took it down the field 72 yards for the score, the big play a freak 51-yard pass play from Brock Purdy to Brandon Aiyuk that deflected off the defender’s facemask into Aiyuk’s hands, the two then hooking up on a 6-yard pass for the TD.  24-17.

Detroit gets the kickoff and the first play from scrimmage, Jahmyr Gibbs fumbles it and San Francisco drives the 24 yards in four plays for the tying score, 24-24 3:02 left in the third quarter.

The Niners then chew up seven minutes, 65 yards, ending in a 33-yard Jake Moody field goal, 27-24, when Dan Campbell makes his second huge mistake, fourth-and-3 from the San Fran 30 midway through the fourth quarter, a 48-yarder for Badgley to tie the score, and the coach goes for it, Jared Goff throwing an incomplete pass.

Purdy and Co. drove it 70 yards to make it 34-24, Detroit was able to drive it back down 75 for a TD, 34-31, 0:53 remaining, but the onside kick attempt failed and it was game over.

A tragic missed opportunity for the Lions who should be going to their first Super Bowl and instead, all of Detroit, while proud of the team, has to wonder about the coaching decisions on the two fourth down plays that Lions fans will have nightmares over for years to come.

But in his postgame remarks, Dan Campbell, as you’d expect, said he made the right decisions.

“I just felt really good about us converting, getting the momentum and not letting them play longball,” he said.  “They bleed the clock out, that’s what they do. And I wanted to get the upper hand back.  It’s easy [in] hindsight and I get it.

“But I won’t regret those decisions. It’s hard. …Because we didn’t come through and it wasn’t able to work out.  But I don’t [regret it].  I don’t. I understand the scrutiny. It’s part of the gig. But it just didn’t work out.”

The result was just the fourth conference game loss for a team that held a lead of at least 17 points.

“I’m really proud of all these guys,” Campbell said.  “It’s hard when you lose that way. …You feel like you get your heart ripped out. But I’m proud of that group, and I’ll go anywhere with that group.  And you wish you could keep it all together, but that’s not the reality.”

Neither quarterback was outstanding, Goff 25/41, 273, 1-0, 88.8, while Purdy was 20/31, 1-1, 89.0.

By the way, the game drew 56 million viewers, making it the most-watched telecast since last year’s Super Bowl.

--Kansas City’s record with Mahomes at the helm, along with Andy Reid, is just amazing in today’s modern game, with all its nuances involving caps, free agency and the like.  Heading to their fourth Super Bowl in five years, having won two.  This is indeed Patriots-like in their prime.

Mahomes, along with his gaudy 14-3 mark in the playoffs, has 39 touchdown passes and just 7 interceptions, a 106.5 passer rating.

But K.C. learned Monday that defensive end Charles Omenihu tore an ACL Sunday and won’t be available for the Super Bowl.  He had a big strip sack of Lamar Jackson before leaving with the injury.  Omenihu had a career-high seven sacks this season, his first with the Chiefs.

--For Chiefs-Ravens, I just have to get some stats down for the archives. Mahomes was 30/39, 241, 1-0, 100.5, having started out 13 of 14.  Travis Kelce had nine catches for 96 yards in the first half, 11-116-1 for the game, his hookup with Mahomes for the TD showcasing both of their Hall of Fame attributes.

Kelce became the all-time playoff leader in receptions, now with 156 in 21 games, 19 touchdowns, while Jerry Rice was at 151, 29 games, 22 TDs.

Lamar Jackson was 20/37, 272, 1-1, 75.5, with 54 yards rushing, but the rest of the Ravens had 27 yards on the ground on just eight carries. The best rushing team in football, and their backs get eight carries (actually six, Zay Flowers with two of the eight), and it’s not like this game was a shootout where you could excuse not utilizing the ground attack.

Kansas City’s defense was obviously outstanding, holding the Ravens to a season-low 10 points.

But the Ravens killed themselves with eight penalties for 95 yards, including five personal fouls. And Baltimore committed three turnovers (two in scoring position) and forced zero turnovers.

College Basketball

--New AP Poll (records thru Sunday)

1. UConn (48) 18-2
2. Purdue (14) 19-2
3. North Carolina 17-3
4. Houston (1) 18-2
5. Tennessee 15-4
6. Wisconsin 16-4…up 7
7. Duke 15-4…up 5
8. Kansas 16-4
9. Marquette 15-5…up 5
10. Kentucky 15-4
11. Arizona 15-5
12. Iowa State 16-4…up 11
13. Creighton 16-5
14. Illinois 15-5
15. Texas Tech 16-3
16. Auburn 16-4
17. Utah State 18-2
19. New Mexico 18-3…up 6
20. Florida Atlantic 17-4
21. Dayton 16-3
22. BYU 15-5
23. Oklahoma 15-5…down 12
24. Alabama 14-6
25. TCU 15-5

--Monday night, 4 Houston defeated Texas on the road, 76-72, and 7 Duke also won on the road, 77-67 at Virginia Tech.

--Massive game for Wake Forest on Wednesday at Pitt.  The Deacs, 13-6, 5-3, will have had a long layoff since getting crushed in the second half at North Carolina last Monday.  Wake must win this road game.  And it seems we will definitely need to finish at least 12-8 in the ACC to have a solid shot at the Big Dance.

Check out the ACC through Monday’s play….

UNC 9-0
Duke 6-2
Virginia 6-3
Florida State 6-3
Wake 5-3
Syracuse 5-4
Miami 5-4
Virginia Tech 5-4
NC State 5-4

NBA

--Only one story in New York…how seriously injured was Julius Randle and how much time would his right shoulder dislocation cost him and the team?

There wasn’t any news all Sunday, after Randle went down Saturday afternoon in a win over the Heat, but Monday morning, multiple reports had Randle being out for “several weeks, not months,” which would be the best possible outcome.

But, the timeline wasn’t conclusive, we were also told, with more testing since his initial MRI Saturday showed no serious damage.  He still could require surgery, and then he’s out months, probably the rest of the season.

Well, the Knicks were down in Charlotte Monday night and despite also playing without OG Anunoby (inflamed right elbow), New York won its seventh straight, 113-92, over the lowly Hornets (10-35).  Jalen Brunson had 32, Donte DiVincenzo 28, the Knicks now 30-17.

--Also Monday, Minnesota won a key game in the West, 107-101 at Oklahoma City (32-15), the Wolves 33-14).

And the Bucks lost their first under Doc Rivers, 113-107 at Denver (33-15), Milwaukee 32-15.

--I was out Monday night and on the drive home, flipped on the Nets-Jazz game in Brooklyn as Ben Simmons made his return after a 38-game absence due to his latest back issue, and Simmons was electric.

Restricted by minutes, Simmons had an astounding stat line…10 points (5 of 5), 8 rebounds, and 11 assists in 18 minutes!…eleven…Brooklyn blasting Utah 147-114 to move to 19-27, the Jazz 24-24.

Golf Balls

--We had a bombshell report from the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg late Monday.  The PGA Tour is on the precipice of landing a historic $3 billion investment from the Strategic Sports Group (SSG).

SSG includes Boston Red Sox and Liverpool owner John Henry, New York Mets owner and hedge fund titan Steve Cohen (aka Uncle Stevie), and Arthur Blank, who owns the Atlanta Falcons and co-founded Home Depot (and also just dissed Bill Belichick).

SSG would be a minority stakeholder in the business.

This initial investment does not include the Saudi Public Investment Fund.

There are zero details as of now, but this could be mammoth.  What golf fans should want is SSG being the prime big partner, with zero Saudi involvement.  I’ll have much more on this as the story develops.

For now, let the Saudis and LIV do their thing.  Eventually, they will lose so much money, they’ll pull the plug. 

The PGA Tour needs to quickly fill its own hole with an investment like this to keep its sponsors from bolting, while attracting new ones.

Separately, Tyrell Hatton fled to LIV to play on Jon Rahm’s new team.  Whatever.

--College Baseball

The Baseball America preseason poll is out (the only one that matters) and Wake Forest is on top.

1. Wake
2. LSU…defending champ
3. Arkansas
4. Florida
5. Oregon State
6. TCU
7. Vanderbilt
8. Tennessee
9. Clemson
10. Virginia

Wake has reloaded despite having eight players selected in the first six rounds of the draft last year following our College World Series appearance.

Stuff

--Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva received a 4-year doping ban on Monday, effectively stripping the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) of its gold medal in the team event from the 2022 Beijing Winter Games nearly two years after the fact.

In its long-awaited ruling, the highest court in sport found Valieva guilty of committing an anti-doping rule violation that rattled the Beijing Games and frustrated competitors who are still waiting for their medals from the event to be allocated.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) added that all competitive results achieved since December 25, 2021, are voided, including the gold medal she helped ROC win in the team event at Beijing.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), one of the parties that brought the case to CAS, welcomed the decision, describing it as a victory for fair sport.

In comments carried by RIA news agency, Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed the ruling as politically motivated.

The CAS panel determined there had been no scope for Valieva, who was 15 at the time of the offense, to be treated with more leniency than an adult found to have committed an anti-doping violation.

Valieva tested positive for the banned substance trimetazidine, which prevents angina, at the Russia national championships in December 2021.

The result of the positive doping test was only made known a day after she helped the ROC win gold in the team event in Beijing in February 2022.

Recall, Valieva was favored to win the singles gold, having become the first woman to land a quadruple jump at the Olympics during the team event, but she missed out on an individual medal after dropping to fourth place with an error-laden free skate.

Her suspension does lift in time for the 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Games.

I have a full retelling of Valieva’s long program in Beijing, Bar Chat 2/21/22, days before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.  It was a dramatic time.  [Scroll through the Add-on of that day to get to the part on Valieva if you want to be reminded of what a huge event this was.]

As a result of the ruling, the United States will receive the gold medal.

--Bob Baffert and his owners have elected not to transfer any of their promising 3-year-olds to other trainers in order to make them eligible for this year’s Kentucky Derby, as reported by the Los Angeles Times’ John Cherwa. So aside from no Baffert, again, at the Derby, no Baffert horses.

Baffert nominated 18 horses for the Triple Crown and all of them will be eligible to run in the Preakness and Belmont Stakes.  As Cherwa put it: “The non-moves show the intensity of the loyalty that his owners have for the hall of fame trainer.”

His two best prospects are believed to be Nysos and Muth.  [J. Mac, Nysos runs this Saturday in the Robert Lewis Stakes at Santa Anita.]

Last week, Baffert announced he was dropping all litigation against Churchill Downs Inc., who inexplicably extended his ban at tracks in Kentucky for another year.

Next Bar Chat, Sunday p.m., following the conclusion of the Pebble Beach Pro-Am. *The weather forecast looks horrendous here so if there is no Sunday conclusion, I’ll be no doubt posting earlier.

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[Posted Sunday p.m. prior to Lions-49ers]

Jets Fan Quiz:  The current issue of Sports Illustrated (ironically, one of their best issues in years at a time of their potential impending doom), had a story on the “50 Most Influential Teams in NFL History” and the 1968 Jets were No. 1.  This is the 55th anniversary of their Super Bowl III triumph (Jan. 12, 1969), so for you older folk, how many players on the defense can you name?  Answer below.

NFL

--In a matchup for the ages, Mahomes vs. Jackson, K.C. at Baltimore, it started out as advertised in dreary, damp Charm City.

After holding the Ravens to three yards on the first possession of the game, the Chiefs and Mahomes drove 86 yards, the two-time NFL MVP hooking up with Travis Kelce for 3 receptions, 36 yards, including a 19-yard touchdown pass.

Lamar Jackson then drove the Ravens 75 yards on six plays, Jackson to Zay Flowers, 30 yards for the TD, Jackson with a mammoth 21-yard run on a 4th-and-1.  7-7.

But Mahomes then chewed up 9:02, 16 plays, 75 yards, Isiah Pacheco taking it in from the two, 14-7 Kansas City, Mahomes already 13/14, 106 yards, Kelce five catches, 52 yards.

K.C.’s Charles Omenihu then sacks Lamar, forcing a fumble, Chiefs recover at Baltimore 33.  Huge.

But on 4th-and-1 from the 13, Pacheco is stuffed.  Massive.  This game has already had everything.  Still 14-7 Chiefs, 6:18 left in the first half.

And I wrote this before Jackson then completed a 13-yard pass to himself, after a deflection!  You just don’t see that!

But the drive quickly stalls, on two great plays by Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones, a future Hall of Famer.

K.C. goes 3-and-out as the game seemingly begins to settle down.  14-7, 2:47 left in the half.

But K.C. gets it back with timeouts, and Baltimore commits two awful penalties*, and the Chiefs suddenly have the ball at the Ravens’ 23, 0:26 left…when K.C. commits back-to-back holding penalties, ball back to the 43, but Mahomes then connects on a pass to Kelce for 9 yards, and Harrison Butker boots a 52-yard field goal…17-7 at the intermission, his eighth straight from 50+.

*Jim Nantz with a brilliant reference to “The Longest Yard” on the second one.

Mahomes was 20/25/ 161, 1-0, 106.8…Lamar just 5/12, 67, 1-0, 87.8, 27 yards on the ground.

Kelce 9 receptions for 96.

All the talk at halftime is about Lamar, who seemed a little out of sorts…how would he respond?

Tony Romo made the point that Baltimore has to run the ball!

We start the second half…Kansas City 3-and-out, Baltimore 3-and-out. 

And then 2:31 left in the third…still 17-7, both defenses coming through.

So then Jackson connects with Zay Flowers on a 54-yard pass play, but Flowers, stupidly, like really stupidly, taunts the D-back, and it goes back to the K.C. 25. 

Jackson and Flowers, though, hookup on an 11-yard pass play, ball at the Chiefs’ 11-yardline as the third quarter ends.

The nation goes to the bathroom, and/or grabs an adult beverage.

And then in an unreal play…Jackson throws it to Flowers near the goal line, and L’Jarius Sneed knocks it out of Flowers’ hands…recovered in the endzone by K.C., no controversy on the call.

Amazing.

The guy I have praised since his days at Boston College, Flowers, with an absolutely horrendous stretch of like 2 minutes, let alone he cut his finger on the bench in frustration.  Zay Flowers could be heading into the December file.

Baltimore gets the ball back, albeit at their own 1-yard line, get a first down, and then on 3rd-and-1, Jackson blows it, the Ravens not just running it. Yet on 4th-down, they go for it and convert, clock running down.

But Lamar then throws an awful interception in the endzone.  6:45 left.  17-7.  Jackson’s ‘Legacy Game’ not in the cards, it would seem.  He throws down his helmet on the sidelines, never a good sign in terms of composure.

The Ravens do get it back, and after a nice punt return, take it 29 yards, ending in a Justin Tucker 43-yard field goal…17-10, 2:34 to go, two timeouts left.

But Roquan Smith, the All-Pro, with another stupid penalty, Chiefs getting a first down, Ravens needing to call a time out, 2:24 to play.

Baltimore takes its final timeout, 2:19, ahead of the 2:00 minute warning, Chiefs 3rd-and-9…and Mahomes “ices it,” as Jim Nantz said, on a 33-yard pass play to Marquez Valdes-Scantling. 

Game over.

Mahomes is now an unreal 14-3 in the postseason, Lamar 2-4. Nothing more to say, except Zay Flowers will not be sleeping well for a long while.

I now pray Summit’s Michael Badgley comes through for the Lions.

--In the coaching carousel, Bill Belichick lost out on the Atlanta job to Raheem Morris, this being the only team Belichick interviewed with, and twice, so he’s likely out of a job for 2024, which is kind of surprising.

Morris was the Rams defensive coordinator, having also served as Atlanta’s interim head coach in 2020. He is 47.

--Carolina shocked the football world in hiring Tampa Bay OC Dave Canales – who has just one year of coordinating experience.  Canales, 42, who helped Baker Mayfield produce an elite year, is being counted on to find a solution for highly disappointing No. 1 overall pick Bryce Young.

After the Morris hiring, that left Seattle, who kicked Pete Carroll upstairs, and Washington without a coach.

Washington is targeting Detroit offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, but he can’t be hired until after the Lions’ season is over, though the Commanders are also looking at two Ravens assistant coaches.

Seattle also has interest in Johnson and a slew of others.

Belichick’s best shot at a job in 2025 is probably the Giants, a team he has longtime affinity for where he grew up as a gifted coordinator.  Should the Giants disappoint in 2024, head coach Brian Daboll and GM Joe Schoen could be jettisoned if it was clear Belichick would take the job.

--Meanwhile, Jim Harbaugh, 60, accepted a job with the Chargers, leaving Michigan with a national championship (and controversy).  It’s the perfect spot for Harbaugh and the Chargers.  The deal is for five years.

“Jim Harbaugh is football personified, and I can think of no one better to lead the Chargers forward,” team owner Dean Spanos told the team website.

Bill Plaschke / Los Angeles Times

“The Chargers finally get it.  The Chargers finally got it.

“Seven years after barging into Los Angeles amid a cacophony of catcalls, the Chargers finally figured out how to quiet the doubters, capture the buzz and take a significant bite out of the market.

“They finally hired a nationally celebrated figure who will cause a commotion, raise a ruckus, and, oh yeah, win football games.

“They just hired Jim Harbaugh…

“When is the last time the Chargers hired the hottest of anything?  Never.  Yet they just nabbed the best coach available, a freshly minted champion whose NFL record of 44-19-1 is as impressive as his 147-52 college mark. [Ed. all jobs, 118-46 at Stanford and Michigan.]

“When is the last time the Chargers opened the vault for a big-name coach who could instantly be the face of the franchise?  Never….

“When is the last time the Chargers made the bold statement that they care only about winning?  Never.  They’ve only won two playoff games in 15 years.  But they just hired an eccentric, rumpled, bespectacled 60-year-old football lifer who has done nothing but win, at every stop, from the University of San Diego to the San Francisco 49ers to a recent Monday night championship victory for the Wolverines over the University of Washington in a national championship performance applauded by millions.”

--One more since I last posted, Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan, 39, was named head coach of the Titans. Callahan has spent five years as Cincy’s offensive coordinator, the last four with Joe Burrow.  In Burrow’s two healthy seasons (2021, 2022), Cincinnati ranked first in passer rating.  The Bengals made the Super Bowl in the 2021 season.

--Vic Fangio is the new defensive coordinator in Philadelphia.  Good choice, as it sure looks like HC Nick Sirianni is sticking around. Fangio was defensive coordinator for Miami but has been all over, including three seasons as head coach in Denver (19-30).

Eagles GM Howie Roseman, during an end-of-season press conference on Wednesday, was asked why he had confidence in Sirianni:

“I’ve had the opportunity to work with him, and I’ve seen what he had done winning games, putting us in a position where we could win a world championship, putting us in the position every year to be in the playoff race and giving us an opportunity with the team to do that. Those things are hard to find.”

Roseman doled out the blame across everyone in the organization, not just Sirianni, for the freefall the team suffered after a 10-1 start.

The Eagles then also hired Kellen Moore as offensive coordinator on Saturday, just three days after he was let go by the Chargers.  [Actually, with the hiring of Jim Harbaugh, the Chargers allowed Moore to look around.]

Moore had just finished his first season with the Chargers, working with Justin Herbert, after spending the previous four seasons with the Cowboys, where he worked with Dak Prescott.

College Football

--After losing Jim Harbaugh, there was only one replacement that was considered, offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore, 37, who was Michigan’s acting head coach in four games this past season, going 4-0.  It’s now his team.  A great choice.

A big winner with Harbaugh’s departure?  Ohio State’s Ryan Day, who had lost to Harbaugh’s Wolverines the past three seasons.

Coach Day has been raiding Alabama, after their coaching change, picking up some top players in the portal.

--Will Rogers, the storyteller/QB from Mississippi State, is staying at Washington.  Rogers had transferred to Washington, but then withdrew his name when Kalen DeBoer left for Alabama.   But he decided to stick around with the Huskies to play for new head coach Jedd Fisch.

College Basketball

--More top-10 road upsets this week….

Tuesday, 6 Kentucky (14-4, 4-2) lost at South Carolina (16-3, 4-2), 79-62.

Also Tuesday, Texas (14-5, 3-3) defeated 11 Oklahoma (15-4, 3-3) in Norman, 75-60.

Wednesday, 8 Auburn (16-3, 5-1) lost at Alabama (13-6, 5-1), 79-75, while 10 Illinois (14-5, 5-3) lost at Northwestern (14-5, 5-3), 96-91.

And then Thursday, 9 Arizona (14-5, 5-3) lost at Oregon State (10-9, 2-6), 83-80.

--Saturday, 7 Kansas was beaten on the road, though this time it was to a ranked team, 23 Iowa State (16-4, 5-2), 79-75, the Jayhawks falling to 16-4, 4-3.

8 Auburn (16-4, 5-2) added to the top-10 road woes, again, falling 64-58 at Mississippi State (14-6, 3-4).

Locally, Seton Hall (13-8, 6-4) lost its third straight, getting whipped by 14 Marquette (15-5, 6-3), 75-57, as Pirates star Kadary Richmond mysteriously missed his second straight game to what has only been described as “soreness.”

Yes, Richmond played over 50 minutes in last weekend’s triple-overtime loss to Creighton, but he must be sore from missing 24 of 32 shots in that contest, because no one has said anything more.  This just doesn’t add up.

--Two games Sunday of note….

Rutgers has pulled off some big upsets the last few years, and they had a chance to take down No. 2 Purdue today in Piscataway, only they didn’t…Zach Edey (26 points, 12 rebounds) leading the Boilermakers (19-2, 8-2) to a 68-60 victory despite shooting just 5 of 19 from three.  The problem was, RU shot 4 of 16 from beyond the arc themselves.

No. 1 UConn is 18-2, 8-1 in Big East play, destroying Xavier (10-10, 4-5) 99-56.  This isn’t your Father’s Musketeers team, sports fans.

NBA

--Friday night, Dallas superstar Luka Doncic exploded for a franchise-record 73 points in a 148-134 win over the Hawks, just days after Joel Embiid scored 70 for the 76ers and Karl-Anthony Towns dropped 62 for the Timberwolves on Monday.

Doncic was 25 of 33 from the field, 8 of 13 from three, and 15 of 16 from the foul line.  He had 10 rebounds and 7 assists.  He had 41 points at the half.

Doncic’s total was the most points anyone has scored in an NBA game since the late Kobe Bryant’s 81-point game on Jan. 22, 2006, and tied for fourth-most ever with David Thompson.

Wilt of course is at 100, Kobe 81, Wilt 78, and then Doncic and Thompson (with Wilt also having 73 in a game, twice).

And Luka is a deserving starter for the Western Conference in the upcoming All-Star Game.

--Going back to Monday, I had to post early for various reasons and that evening, Joel Embiid had the 70 points, and a career-high 18 rebounds (which I find startling he hadn’t had a game of 20) in a 133-123 victory over San Antonio; Embiid setting a franchise record because Wilt Chamberlain’s biggest figures were when he was a Warrior, 68 his high as a 76er.

He was 24 of 41 from the field, 1 of 2 on three-pointers and 21 of 23 free throws.

Embiid joined Wilt and Elgin Baylor as the only players to have a 70-point, 18-rebound game.

But the same night, Karl-Anthony Towns scored a franchise-record 62 points in a loss, Minnesota falling to Charlotte, 128-125, Towns throwing up bricks in the fourth quarter after scoring 58 through three.  Coach Chris Finch was incensed, pulling Towns from the game for defensive purposes at multiple points during the closing stretch before bringing him back in for the final possessions.

“It was an absolute disgusting performance on defense and immature basketball,” Finch said of his team’s effort, adding that the Timberwolves lost focus and became too concerned with chasing shots.  “There’s a lot of ways to be immature. We totally disrespected the game and ourselves, and we got exactly what we deserved.”

Coach Finch can’t be happy that his Wolves lost to the lowly Spurs (10-36) last night, 113-112, Victor Wembanyama with 23 points and 10 rebounds.  Minnesota is 32-14, a ½-game behind Oklahoma City in the West.

One more, back to Friday night, like Towns, Devin Booker had 62 points but in a loss to the Pacers (26-20), 133-131, Indiana without Tyrese Haliburton, but getting 31 points from new acquisition Pascal Siakam.  Former Knick Obi Toppin had 23 points and 11 rebounds off the bench for the Pacers.

Phoenix is 26-19.

--Saturday afternoon the Knicks took on the Heat at the Garden, New York 11-2 since the OG Anunoby trade, including a terrific 122-84 mauling of the defending champion Nuggets on Thursday, Anunoby with 26 points and six steals.

Prior to today’s affair, the New York Post had a piece on OG and his plus-minus numbers since he came to the Knicks.

It was first tracked in the 1996-97 season, and the king of the stat is Tim Duncan, who finished with an exact plus 10,000 for his career, rather staggering to think about.

You know I’m ambivalent to so many new age stats, particularly in baseball, but the plus-minus in hoops is a great one.

And OG Anunoby, since his arrival in the Big Apple, has a +/- of 239, according to NBA.com.

This is the best plus-minus for a player through his first 13 games with a new team since the tracking started, per Elias Sports Burau.

Rasheed Wallace is No. 2, 2004, when he was plus-172 with the Pistons after being traded in February from the Blazers.

The Knicks got OG for his defense, and the stats don’t lie.  Quite an impact.

So how did he and the team do Saturday?

The Heat days earlier acquired sharp-shooting Terry Rozier from Charlotte, the Hornets receiving Kyle Lowry and a first-round pick.

Rozier, 29, was averaging 23.2 points and 6.6 assists, a terrific pickup for Miami.

But the Knicks did it again, defeating the reigning Eastern Conference champions, 125-109, Jalen Brunson with 32, OG chipping in 19 points, with a +/- of +13.

The Knicks (29-17, 12-2 with Anunoby), however, may have suffered a devastating blow near the end of the game when Julius Randle (19 points, 9 rebounds) drove to the basket and Miami’s Jaime Jaquez Jr. attempted to draw a charge. Randle barreled into Jaquez and hit the floor hard, immediately getting up in deep pain, holding his right shoulder, and going straight into the locker room, without taking his free throws.

This is one of the toughest guys in the NBA, one who plays in every game, despite getting beaten up non-stop (though he inflicts his own pain on opponents).

X-rays were negative but the fear was a dislocated shoulder, which would be crushing.  An MRI was taken Saturday night and no details as I go to post, but the worst is feared (and multiple reports say it was dislocated), so we await a potential timeline and whether surgery is necessary (it normally would be), which would be season-ending.

A very said day for us Knicks fans.  As Charlie Brown would say, “Drat!”

--Denver took on Philadelphia Saturday, following Knicks-Heat on ABC, and the Denver fans were psyched for a rematch of Joel Embiid against their superstar Nikola Jokic.

But the 76ers scratched Embiid minutes before tipoff after he grimaced through his warmups with a sore left knee, which has bothered him from time to time.

For good reason, though, Nuggets coach Michael Malone was pissed by the late nature of Embiid’s scratch.

“We found out very late and again, I don’t know how you go from being active/available to out,” Malone said.  “And I’m sure the league will do their due diligence because that’s frowned upon.  We’ve had situations this year where we’ve talked to the league and they told us if a player goes from being active to out, there’s going to be an investigation.”

Denver fans were also ticked off, and booed Embiid sitting on the bench the whole contest.

The Nuggets (32-15) won the game 111-105, Jokic with 26 points, 16 rebounds and 7 assists, Philadelphia now 29-15.

--LeBron and Steph hooked up for the latest edition of their rivalry and this was one game where the fans in San Francisco sure got their monies worth…the Lakers winning it 145-144 in double-overtime, LeBron with 36 points, a career-high 20 rebounds and 12 assists, while Curry had 46 points.  Great stuff.

It was also a big game as both are struggling in terms of the playoff chase, the Lakers improving to 24-23, ninth in the West, while the Warriors are 19-24, 3 games out of a play-in spot.

--The Milwaukee Bucks stunned the basketball world in firing coach Adrian Griffin on Tuesday, eight months into his job, and after a 30-13 start.

But in hindsight, the signals were there.

Alarm bells first sounded just before the season, when veteran assistant coach Terry Stotts – who’d been new arrival Damian Lillard’s head coach in Portland for nine seasons – abruptly resigned after a verbal altercation with Griffin.

Despite on-court wins, appearances have been bad, the defense particularly poor, after being fourth in defensive efficiency last season. And Griffin was unable to get the most out of Lillard.

Milwaukee then moved quickly to hire Doc Rivers, which I don’t understand, but he’s got experience, though his title came 16 years ago.

Bottom line the Bucks didn’t think Griffin could lead the team to the championship.  He wasn’t connecting with the players, first and foremost star Giannis Antetokounmpo, who said after a Dec. 7 loss to Indiana, “I feel like sometimes we’re not organized at all.  We don’t know what we try to get from our offense, or sometimes defensively we’re not sprinting back.”

After a Jan. 6 loss to Houston, Giannis said: “We have to be better. We have to play better. We have to defend better.  We have to trust one another better. We have to be coached better.”

Milwaukee is 2-1 under interim coach Joe Prunty, including Saturday’s 141-117 blowout of New Orleans. Giannis praised the way Prunty responded as the Bucks played these three games in a span of four days.

“It’s crazy that he’s never been a head coach in this league,” Antetokounmpo said.  “It’s insane.”

Rivers makes his debut Monday at Denver.

--The Washington Wizards booted Wes Unseld Jr. upstairs after he went 77-130, including 7-36 this season.

--All-Star Game first teams for Feb. 18 in Indianapolis.

East

Giannis, Embiid, Jayson Tatum, Damian Lillard and Tyrese Haliburton

West

LeBron (record 20th ASG, passing Kareem), Jokic, Kevin Durant, Doncic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

This game is a return to Eastern Conference vs. Western Conference format.

MLB

--Adrian Beltre (95.1%), Todd Helton (79.7%) and Joe Mauer (76.1%) were voted into Baseball’s Hall of Fame on Tuesday, 75% required for enshrinement.

Zero surprise with Beltre, one of 12 players with at least 3,000 hits and 400 home runs, as well as five-time Gold Glover at third base.

Mauer is a semi-surprise in terms of him getting in on the first ballot, but he was a three-time Gold Glover at catcher and is the only backstop to win three batting titles, as well as being 2009 AL MVP.

But Helton, who played his entire career with the Rockies, making five All-Star games and winning three Gold Gloves at first base, as well as a batting title, carries some controversy.

Helton had 369 home runs, 1,406 RBIs, hit .316, and had a sterling .953 career OPS in his 17 seasons.

But his home/away splits are as follows:

Home…227 home runs, 859 RBI, .345 BA, 1.048 OPS
Away…142, 547, .287, .855

Contrast this with Beltre, whose career splits are remarkable.

Home…237 HR, .286 BA, .820 OPS
Away…240, .286, .818

Granted, Beltre played for four teams, but still….

I don’t need to spell it out any further.  I think some folks, me included, are just kind of surprised the ease at which Helton got in…just six years.

Meanwhile, the guy I wanted in, reliever Billy Wagner, fell five votes short (73.8%).  A real shame.  BUT…he has one year of eligibility left and he will get in.

Outfielder Gary Sheffield, however, saw his time run out, 63.9%, on his tenth and final year.  I hope he gets in through the veterans committee while he is still alive, but because of the steroids cloud over him, deserved or not, the veterans’ route won’t be easy.

One more…Alex Rodriguez got 34.8% of the vote in his third year on the ballot, speaking of PEDs.

Golf Balls

--We had quite a leaderboard heading into the final round, Saturday finish, at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines (San Diego).

Granted, as Johnny Mac said, not exactly scintillating in terms of star power, but what an international lineup.

Stephan Jaeger (Germany) -11
Matthieu Pavon (France) -10
Nicolai Hojgaard (Denmark) -10
Thomas Detry (Belgium) -9
Taylor Pendrith (Canada) -8

Not a PGA Tour win among the group, which could make it rather dramatic.  And Hojgaard, age 22, is a rising star with three European Tour titles as well as being a member of the Euro Ryder Cup team.

Back at -7, though, we have Ludvig Aberg, Xander Schauffele, Tony Finau and Will Zalatoris.

How would it play out?

Matthieu Pavon wins it, with a remarkable birdie on No. 18, one shot ahead of Hojgaard, Pavon thus becoming the first Frenchman to win on the PGA Tour since World War II.

“It is big for our country,” the 31-year-old PGA Tour rookie said. “I hope it will inspire a lot of people, because coming from an amateur player which is 800 in the world to a PGA Tour winner is pretty big.”

I’ll say it is.  Pavon had put his drive on the par- 5 18th in the sand and then failed to reach the fairway with his second, when he hit a remarkable third shot to within 8 feet and sank the birdie putt to avoid a playoff.

Will Zalatoris finished T13 for us Wake Forest fans.

--Chiefs-Bills had a record viewership of 57 million people. The final round of the 2023 Masters garnered 12.06 million.

Last Sunday’s numbers at the American Express were up 37%, to 574,000 thanks to Nick Dunlap’s historic win as an amateur.  The NFL divisional playoff between Green Bay and San Francisco drew 37.5 million.

There’s too much panic in some of the articles this winter on how golf misses out by competing with the NFL, but we’re only talking four or five weeks, and the Waste Management Open prior to the Super Bowl is a terrific event.  I know I’m not the kind of guy who ever watched three or four hours of SB pregame.

Golf’s prime season for viewing starts with the Masters, through August, and it works fine.

What some authors like Eamon Lynch and SI.com’s Alex Miceli bring up, however, in relation to golf’s ratings, is indeed true.

Golfers have this image of themselves as superstar athletes on par with the best of the NFL, NBA and even MLB in terms of salaries, when the ratings point out the limited appeal of golf for the general public.

Miceli: “All of this is to say that while I didn’t learn that golf is a niche sport – I already knew that – it was reinforced that golf is a poor second, third, fourth or worse in viewership to other sports.

“It also reinforced the fact that professional golfers are not really entitled to the same money or salaries to a professional football, basketball or baseball player, despite what some of them think.  Just look at the television numbers.

“Being the best in your sport is laudable, but it doesn’t mean you should get paid as much as the best players in other sports.”

But that’s what golfers want, and it’s going to potentially kill the sport if the economics just don’t work out…see sponsors leaving.

--According to reports, Anthony Kim, 38 is planning a comeback after being off the tour for nearly 12 years, due to injuries.  He is evidently in discussions with the PGA Tour and LIV Golf about his return.  He hasn’t played since the Wells Fargo Championship in May 2012, after which he underwent surgery to repair an Achilles tendon injury in his left leg, the first of many issues.

But a sticking point is he collected at least part of a disability insurance policy that was reportedly worth $10 million to $20 million.  He would be required to pay back a large portion, if not all, say experts in such matters.

Kim was a shooting star, winning three times by age 24 and with a 3rd and 5th at The Masters and U.S. Open, respectively, before flaming out with the injuries.

Tennis

--Aryna Sabalenka won the Australian Open, 6-3, 6-2, over No. 12 seed Zheng Qinwen of China, the Belarusian and world No. 2 winning her second straight women’s singles title in Melbourne.

Sabalenka has reached at least the semifinals in her past six Grand Slam tournaments and in eight of the past 10 she has entered, including losing the U.S. Open final last year to Coco Gauff.

Gauff lost to Sabalenka in Thursday’s semifinal.

--On the men’s side, no Novak Djokovic in the final. Djokovic was taken out in one of the semifinals by No. 4 Jannik Sinner, the 22-year-old from Italy.

Djokovic’s bid for a record-extending 11th Australian and 25th major title overall will have to wait.

For Sinner it’s his first Grand Slam final and he then faced 3-seed Daniil Medvedev, who took out No. 6 Alexander Zverev.

And Sinner did it, coming back from down 2-0 to win in five sets for his big breakthrough, 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3, the first Italian man to win a Grand Slam singles tournament since Adriano Panatta won the 1976 French Open.

Meanwhile, the 27-year-old Medvedev, whose only Grand Slam title is the 2021 U.S. Open, fell to 1-5 in Grand Slam finals, this being the third time he was runner-up Down Under.

So the post-Djokovic era, whenever that officially begins, will be in good hands with the likable Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, with at least for a few more years, Medvedev always in the picture, smiling, collecting big checks.

I’d love to see Sinner and Alcaraz in the U.S. Open Finals next September.  That would electrify Gotham.

NHL

--The New York Rangers, after an 18-4-1 start under first-year coach Peter Laviolette, have gone 11-12-2 since thru Friday, including a dismal 5-2 home loss that night to the Golden Knights.

My Rangers are battered and they’ve been getting shaky goaltending from All-Star Igor Shesterkin.

But they came back Saturday to whip the Senators up in Ottawa last night, 7-2, the Rangers now a startling 9-0-0 in the second games of back-to-back slates, which shows you something, and for all the problems of the past six weeks, they remain first in the Metropolitan Division.

--Edmonton has had a season that is the reverse of the Rangers.  The Oilers, who were 50-23-9 last season, losing in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs to eventual champion the Vegas Golden Knights, got off to a start of 2-9-1 this season that staggered NHL fans.  Then it was 5-12-1, and 13-15-1 on Dec. 19.

Well, they have won 16 straight since, now 29-15-1, third in the Pacific Division and safely in the playoffs (as of today).  That is one shy of the NHL record.

But Edmonton now doesn’t play until Tues., Feb. 6, following the All-Star break.

Stuff

--Mikaela Shiffrin had a very scary crash at a World Cup downhill in Cortina D’Ampezzo, Italy, on Friday. Shiffrin lost control while trying to land a jump in a soft patch of snow on the upper portion of the Olympia delle Tofane course that will be used for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics.  Then she slammed into the net at high speed.  She was able to limp off the course with her left boot raised off the snow, but as per protocol, she was transported to a hospital.

“Initial analysis shows the ACL and PCL seem intact,” Shiffrin’s team said in a statement.  Shiffrin added on social media: “Thank you all for your support.”

It seems it was a sprained MCL, and while her initial reaction was that she didn’t know when she’d return, it shouldn’t be more than a few weeks, if that, according to Lindsey Vonn, who once had a similar sprain and raced the next day.

But for now, Shiffrin is stuck on 95 wins with opportunities in her best events the rest of the season running out.  So most likely we have to wait until next fall or early winter for No. 100.

As I go to post, I’m guessing Shiffrin will be out until Feb. 10-11, when there is a giant slalom and slalom race at Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

As for this Olympic course, 12 of 52 starters didn’t finish the race, with Olympic champion Corinne Sutter suffering a torn ACL and damaged meniscus, out for the season.  The race was won by Stephanie Venier of Austria.

Well, Saturday, American Jacqueline Wiles, 31, picked up just the third podium finish of her career, first since 2018, with a second in another downhill at Cortina, Norway’s Ragnhold Mowinckel with the win.  You Go, Jacqueline!  Very cool.

Back to Shiffrin, she is attempting to match Annemarie Moser-Proll’s record with a sixth overall title, and her lead over Lara Gut-Behrami has shrunk to 195 points.

I just have to add that on the men’s side, for the first week all season, they had snow issues, or rather warm weather and sloppy conditions that canceled the races at Chamonix.

FIS Alpine Ski World Cup has been lucky.  After a lack of snow last campaign caused scheduling chaos, there has been abundant snow this season.

--In a stunner in the Premier League, and the sport of football overall, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp announced he is leaving at the end of the season.

As the BBC described it: “The bewildered and heartbroken reaction from Liverpool’s followers is an accurate measure of the bond Klopp has formed with them since he walked into Anfield in October 2015, labeling himself ‘the normal one’ as the antithesis of Jose Mourinho’s ‘special one.’

“What has followed has been anything but normal, a thrill ride during which the 56-year-old German has claimed almost all the major honors, including Liverpool’s sixth Champions League crown in 2019 and the club’s first English title in 30 years 12 months late.”

Among Cups, Liverpool won the FA Cup in 2021-22, while also losing a Champions League final to Real Madrid in that season.

We had more FA Cup play this weekend (Tottenham losing to Man City on Friday, 1-0), and today, Liverpool took on Norwich in a fourth-round match, winning 5-2.

The Reds currently have the lead in the Premier League by five points over Man City, Arsenal and Aston Villa, though City has a game in hand.

--A prized statue of Jackie Robinson was stolen from a public park in Wichita, Kansas, spurring a police search and outrage across the city.

Surveillance video was released of two people hauling the sculpture away in the dark.  The statue was cut at the ankles to be removed. All that remained were Robinson’s feet.

Wichita City Council member Brandon Johnson called the theft “horrendous” and “disgusting,” and said that residents are feeling hurt and angry, and demanding justice.

Hang the bastards!

The sculpture was installed in 2021 in McAdams Park, where roughly 600 children play in the youth baseball league.  As in, what a great teaching lesson for the kids to have that there.

“Bobby, why are all the major leaguers wearing No. 42 today?”

Top 3 songs for the week 1/31/70:  #1 “I Want You Back” (The Jackson 5)  #2 “Venus” (The Shocking Blue)  #3 “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head” (B.J. Thomas)…and…#4 “Whole Lotta Love” (Led Zeppelin)  #5 “Without Love” (Tom Jones)  #6 “Don’t Cry Daddy” (Elvis Presley)  #7 “I’ll Never Fall In Love Again” (Dionne Warwick) #8 “Thank You Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin/Everybody Is A Star” (Sly & The Family Stone)  #9 “Someday We’ll Be Together” (Diana Ross & The Supremes)  #10 “Leaving On A Jet Plane” (Peter, Paul and Murray, err, Mary…another ‘A’ week…)

Jets Fan Quiz Answer: Members of the 1968 Super Bowl-winning defense.

Gerry Philbin (DE), Johnny Sample (CB), Ralph Baker (LB), Jim Hudson (SS), Carl McAdams (DT), Bill Baird (FS), Randy Beverly (CB), Paul Rochester (DT), Al Atkinson (MLB), Earl Christy (DB), Cornell Gordon (FS), Paul Crane (LB), Mike D’Amato (DB), Jim Richards (DB), Verlon Biggs (DE), John Elliott (DT), Larry Grantham (LB), Karl Henke (DE), Steve Thompson (DE).

Brief Add-on up top by noon, Tuesday.

 

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