TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Nate Calmese scored 18 points, which included the winning jumper with 6.8 seconds left, and Wake Forest rallied for a 69-68 victory over Florida State on Saturday night for the Demon Deacons' first Atlantic Coast Conference road win this season.
The Demon Deacons used an 11-4 run to pull to 68-67 with 24 seconds left. Florida State called timeout after Calmese's floater ended the scoring, and the Seminoles' Robert McCray V missed a potential winning shot that hit the front of the rim to end it.
Calmese finished 8-of-19 shooting. Juke Harris and Myles Colvin added 15 points apiece for Wake Forest (11-7, 2-3 Atlantic Coast Conference), which trailed 65-54 with 4:26 remaining.
Chauncey Wiggins scored 15 points to lead Florida State (7-11, 0-5). McCray finished with 12 points and five assists but committed 11 turnovers. Thomas Bassong chipped in with 11 points for the Seminoles.
Florida State scored the last four points of the first half to go up 34-31 at the break. Martin Somerville scored seven of his nine points in the first half for the Seminoles. Calmese scored 10 first half-points to pace Wake Forest.
AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — Filip Jovic scored a career-high 23 points and Auburn held off a last-minute rally by South Carolina, defeating the Gamecocks 71-67 on Saturday night.
Auburn led by six at halftime and held the lead throughout the second half. Back-to-back dunks by Sebastian Williams-Adams and Jovic gave the Tigers their first double-digit lead of the game, 60-49 with about 5 minutes remaining.
Two free throws by Mike Sharavjamts and a driving layup by Kobe Knox had the Gamecocks within 62-57 with 1:20 remaining before Kevin Overton's 3-pointer put Auburn up 65-57 with 53 seconds left. USC got within three points twice, the second time on a layup by Sharavjamts with 17 seconds remaining.
After a pair of free throws from Keyshawn Hall, USC's Meechie Johnson buried a 3-pointer to make it 69-67 with four seconds remaining. Overton then made two free throws to seal the win.
Jovic, a freshman from Bosnia & Herzegovina, made 9 of 12 shots and 5 of 8 free throws in his fourth double-digit scoring game of the season. KeShawn Murphy and Williams-Adams scored 11 points each for the Tigers (11-7, 2-3 SEC), who beat South Carolina for the 10th straight time.
Johnson scored 17 points, Sharavjamts 13, Knox 12 and Elijah Strong 10 for South Carolina (10-8, 1-4).
Although the Tigers missed seven of their first eight shots they still led 12-8 eight minutes into the game. A 3-pointer by Johnson had South Carolina within 21-19 but Tahaad Pettiford and Jovic converted three-point plays to push the margin to eight points. Auburn led 30-24 at halftime.
Unfortunately for most hockey fans, but perhaps fortunately for the Anaheim Ducks and their supporters, Los Angeles Kings captain Anze Kopitar (38) has probably played his last career game against the Ducks. Kopitar announced his retirement from the NHL on the first day of Kings’ training camp before the 2025-26 season.
The Kings drafted Kopitar with the 11th overall pick in the 2005 NHL Draft, out of Södertälje SK of the then-Swedish Elite League. He made his NHL debut at Honda Center on Oct. 6, 2006, against the Ducks, to open the 2006-07 season, a 4-3 Ducks win that will be remembered as Kopitar’s introduction of himself to the NHL and the Ducks as a problem they were going to have to deal with for the duration of his career despite the Ducks going on to win the Stanley Cup in that very season.
Kopitar scored two goals in that game, the first of which was a highlight reel goal where he burned Hall of Fame defenseman Chris Pronger wide, pulled the puck around Conn Smythe-winning goaltender Jean-Sebastian Giguere, and buried from a tough angle. He went on to score a second goal in that game and finished with 22:16 TOI.
That’s how Kopitar’s career started against Anaheim, and he didn’t let up through his entire 20-year career. At the end, he rides off as the player to score the most points against the Anaheim Ducks/Mighty Ducks of Anaheim franchise, with 93 points (32-61=93) in 95 games. He went on to win two Stanley Cups with LA. He was the best player in the only playoff series between the Ducks and Kings franchises, a seven-game Western Conference semi-final matchup in 2014, where he scored nine points (1-8=9), playing his typical brand of detailed, two-way hockey and limiting the impact of the Ducks' top offensive producers.
To accompany his two cups (2012 and 2014), Kopitar’s trophy case includes three Lady Bing trophies, a Mark Messier Leadership Award, and two Selke trophies, an award he’d have won more had it not been for him playing in the same era as Patrice Bergeron and in a later time zone than most awards voters.
Kopitar has played the most games (1491) in a Kings uniform in franchise history and needs just nine more points to become their all-time leading scorer, when he’ll surpass Marcel Dionne (1307). He represented a quiet, lead-by-example brand of leadership that earned him the captaincy in 2016.
Despite the headaches he gave the Ducks franchise, Kopitar played with class, carried it off the ice, and was the catalyst to the “Freeway Faceoff” rivalry from the moment he stepped onto NHL ice that 2006 night in Anaheim and carried that into what was likely his last game against the Ducks, a three-point (all assists) performance that led his club to a 6-1 victory over Anaheim on Dec. 27, 2025.
The Kings and Ducks will face each other for a weekend home-and-home series on Friday and Saturday in Los Angeles and Anaheim, respectively. Kopitar was placed on IR on Jan. 10 and will likely be unavailable for this set of games against the Ducks.
Both teams currently sit on the outside, looking in at the 2026 Western Conference playoff picture, leaving the odds of the two meeting in the playoffs at almost zero. If Kopitar has played his last game against the Ducks, his competitive drive will always be respected, and those headaches he gave his rival franchise, the Anaheim Ducks, will linger long after he’s hung ‘em up.
Before Friday’s game in Los Angeles, the Ducks organization presented Kopitar with a VIP tour of Disneyland for ten people. In his 20 years in LA, Kopitar did more for hockey and the growth of the sport in Southern California than all but a few, and it can be argued more than any.
California led by 20 points in the second half of the game but North Carolina rallied late, although it wasn't enough to mount a comeback. The win was the Golden Bears' first victory over a top-15 opponent since 2016.
The Golden Bears were led by senior forward John Camden with 20 points. Dai Dai Ames and Justin Pippen, son of Basketball Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen, each scored 17 in the game. Lee Dort had seven points and 12 rebounds.
Cal head coach Mark Madsen was grateful for the loud, raucous environment during their home game at Hass Pavilion.
"Just really want to thank the Cal coommunity, the students, the alums ... the donors and supporters. It was basically a packed house. We're trying to build something special here at Cal and it takes everybody and I can't say enough about the environment," Madsen told reporters after the game.
Madsen added: "Can't give enough credit to North Carolina. Late in the game they had us on our heels. They did a great job of trying to make us uncomfortable. Credit them and credit some guys of ours that stepped up and made plays late with no timeouts."
Tar Heels freshman Caleb Wilson had a team-high 17 points for North Carolina. Henri Veesaar and Derek Dixon each had 14. Veesaar grabbed 10 rebounds for UNC.
"I think there was a sense of urgency that wasn't there in the first 20, 25 minutes," UNC coach Hubert Davis told reporters after the game. "There were still mistakes that were made on both ends of the floor but it was done with an urgency, with an effort that allowed us to get back in the game."
Cal shot 50% from the field and even better from 3-point territory, shooting 54% from deep.
"It was great to see," Madsen said. "Everybody knows we put pressure on the rim with attacking the rim with different actions that we have. It was nice to see a few shots drop too, tonight, early, because we can also shoot it, we can do both."
North Carolina shot 46% from the field and 33% from 3. Additionally, the Tar Heels missed 11 free throws, going 61% (17-of-28).
Despite dominating the paint 32-18, the Tar Heels never led.
Cal advances its record to 14-5 (2-4 in the ACC standings), while North Carolina, 14-4, now has a 2-3 mark in the ACC.
The Tar Heels' next game is against Notre Dame on Jan. 21 on ESPN2. The Golden Bears visit the Stanford Cardinal at Maples Pavilion on Jan. 24 on the ACC Network.
Cal vs No. 15 North Carolina basketball highlights
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Rashaun Agee posted a double-double, and Texas A&M beat Texas 74-70 on Saturday.
Agee finished with 17 points on 6 of 14 shooting to go with 11 rebounds for his eighth double-double of the season and seventh-straight game in double figures. Rylan Griffen added 17 points for the Aggies (14-4, 4-1 SEC). Ruben Dominguez had 10.
Jordan Pope scored 17 for the Longhorns (11-7, 2-3). Dailyn Swain also had 17 points and added six rebounds and two steals. Matas Vokietaitis had 14 points and nine rebounds. Tramon Mark scored 13 points.
The game went to halftime tied 29-29 after a 7-0 run from the Longhorns was answered with a 7-0 run from the Aggies.
The Aggies used an 11-3 run to open up a 10-point lead with 5:02 remaining, spurred by Griffen, who scored all 17 of his points in the second half. They allowed an 8-0 Longhorn run starting with 3:02 remaining before closing out the win.
The Aggies had a 20-6 advantage in bench points and turned an 8-6 turnover advantage into a 15-5 advantage in points off turnovers.
Up next
Texas A&M will host Mississippi State on Wednesday.
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — Treysen Eaglestaff scored 22 points, Honor Huff scored nine of his 14 points in the final seven minutes, and West Virginia blew a 12-point lead before beating Colorado 72-61 on Saturday.
Brenen Lorient had 12 points and nine rebounds for West Virginia (12-6, 3-2 Big 12) and Harlan Obioha added 10 points and nine boards.
Alon Michaeli and Barrington Hargress hit back-to-back 3s in a 12-2 run that made it 43-42 with 13:37 left in the game and gave the Buffaloes — who trailed by as many as 12 in the first half — their first lead. Jasper Floyd made a layup that put West Virginia in front for good 42 seconds later amid a 13-3 spurt, which included eight points by Eaglestaff, that made it 55-46 with nine minutes remaining.
It was at least a two-possession game the rest of the way.
West Virginia shot 52% from the field, limited Colorado to 39% shooting — 33% (10 of 30) in the second half — and outrebounded the Buffaloes 38-22.
Hargress led Colorado (12-6, 2-3) with 15 points, Isaiah Johnson had 12, Bangot Dak scored 11 and Sebastian Rancik added 10. The Buffaloes, who went in averaging 18.9 made free throws (No. 27 nationally) on more than 24 attempts per game, made 10 of 14 from the foul line.
Huff is second in the country with 68 3-pointers this season (Belmont's Tyler Lundblade, 70) and his 360 career made 3s are the third most amongst active players (High Point's Chase Johnston, 387; Oklahoma's Nijel Pack, 368). Huff, a 5-foot-10 senior, led the country with 131 3-point field goals made on 41.6% shooting for Chattanooga.
The Dallas Mavericks once again humiliated the Utah Jazz, this time by the score of 138-120. This is coming after Dallas trounced Utah on Thursday night, and the Maverick have done this all with a seriously constrained and short-handed roster.
Klay Thompson had another heather, the Mavericks made a bunch of threes, and the Jazz once again didn’t seem to care there was a basketball game being played. Dallas led wire-to-wire and mostly by double-digits.
Saturday’s game was the third time in nine days the Mavs and Jazz faced one another. This fourth and final meeting of the season did not feature Cooper Flagg, who was sitting out his second consecutive game with a left ankle sprain. Despite that, the Mavs held off the Jazz in a win that left the season series split 2-2.
For the third consecutive season, the Utah Jazz are making it increasingly obvious they are tanking. Jusuf Nurkic missed his third consecutive game to rest, Lauri Markkanen missed his second consecutive game due to illness, and the Jazz have a host of players who have been DNP’d in recent games. Meanwhile, a plethora of Mavericks rotation players were out including P.J. Washington, Daniel Gafford, Cooper Flagg, Anthony Davis, and D’Angelo Russell. Despite being shorthanded, the Mavs blew past the Jazz (again). Here are three key numbers from the weekend win.
3: Mavericks with 20-plus points
For the first time this season, the Mavericks had three players score 20-plus points: Klay Thompson (23) Brandon Williams (22), and Max Christie (22). Jaden Hardy also added 12 points off the bench, Ryan Nembhard with seven, and Miles Kelly with eight. Dallas’s quickness in the backcourt gave Utah fits all afternoon. The dribble penetration left Jazz guards scrambling on the perimeter, seemingly with no answers. Scoring wasn’t the only story, as the Mavs were distributing the ball well, notching 35 assists, tying their season high of 35 in Denver on December 1.
Dallas took care of the ball too, having only 11 turnovers. Utah had 15 turnovers, leading to 30 Maverick fast break points. When Dallas wins the turnover battle, they typically win and proved it tonight. A 3:1 ratio of assists to turnovers is a recipe for success.
6: Made 3-pointers for Klay Thompson
After making 19 threes on Thursday night against Utah, the Mavs had a curtain call and hit 18 on Saturday afternoon. Dallas shot 18-41 from three, 44%. Klay Thompson led the charge with six, all of them in the first half, going 6-of-11 from distance. There’s a reason he’s fourth on the all-time three pointers made list, behind only Stephen Curry, Ray Allen, and James Harden. The Klay Thompson arc of being continually better from three as a season progresses is a real thing. This time of year, as soon as the ball touches his hands, it’s going up – and probably going in. Thompson also became the 109th player in NBA history to score 17,000 points.
Three-point shooting has been the Achilles heel of the Mavericks, as they’ve sat in the bottom fourth of teams all season long in three-point efficiency, but you couldn’t tell against Utah. The Jazz are 30th in the NBA in defense and letting these Mavericks catch fire two games in a row from three probably isn’t a fluke. The Mavs were shooting into an ocean right out of the gate, going 7-of-12 from three in the first quarter. Dallas led 42-29 after the first quarter and never let off the gas. They scored at least 70 points by halftime for the second game in a row, which was the catalyst enroute to a 138-120 win.
16: Naji Marshall points
There are only a few certainties in life: death, taxes, and Naji Marshall hitting a paint floater. The nickname “the knife” is fitting since this man can do it all. After putting up 22 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists in Thursday’s game against Utah, he followed up with 16 points, six assists (team high) and five rebounds.
It’s been reported that the Mavericks prefer not to trade Naji Marshall and it’s easy to see why. In a season full of disappointment, Marshall has been a bright spot, averaging 14.0 points per game, 4.6 rebounds, and 2.8 assists on 54% from the floor. He’s also been the definition of durable in his time in Dallas, as he’s played in all of Dallas’s 43 games this season.
Marshall continues to stay steady amidst a wild season. His veteran leadership and competitive nature have kept the Mavs ship from completely sinking (for now).
It’s the existential question that will hover over the Knicks until proven otherwise.
Can a team win a championship with a small, less-athletic guard — like the Knicks with Jalen Brunson — as their best player?
“Tough. It’s tough. Even if you just took out the ‘not as athletic’ component, and you just said ‘at his size as your highest-volume shot-taker,’ just look historically how many teams have done that,” former NBA guard Tim Legler, now ESPN’s top NBA analyst, told The Post. “And the teams that have been led by, let’s take a smaller guard that won a championship. Let’s take an Isiah Thomas, for example; look at the balance on their scoring. You didn’t have the discrepancy that you have here where your leading scorer is seven points better than your next leading scorer. Then there’s another five-point drop before you get to your third leading scorer.
Jalen Brunson looks to make a move on James Harden during the Knicks win over the Clippers earlier this month. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
“The teams that have done it and won it all with a guy that size as your top shotmaker have been more balanced teams. Chauncey Billups was a little bit bigger than that but still was a grounded player. He wasn’t a super athletic guy; strong base, all that kind of stuff. Look at the balance on that team.”
Entering Saturday’s 106-99 loss to the Suns at Madison Square Garden, Brunson averaged more than six more shots per game than the next closest teammate in Karl-Anthony Towns. In both championship seasons in 1988-89 and 1989-90, Thomas was around two more shots per game than any of his Pistons teammates.
And on the 2003-04 championship Pistons team, Billups wasn’t even the leading scorer or shot-taker; it was Richard Hamilton.
The only recent example of a smaller guard winning a championship as a lead scorer is Stephen Curry.
The reigning champion Thunder have a guard in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as their best player and top scorer, but he is much bigger at 6-foot-6 and much more athletic.
Unlike the Knicks, Oklahoma City was also an elite defensive team, similar to those Pistons teams.
“It’s not as easy,” former longtime NBA coach Stan Van Gundy, now an “NBA on Prime Video” analyst, told The Post. “Small guards in today’s game are not easy because you can’t switch as much. Steph Curry has shown us that certainly you don’t have to be a big guard to play on a championship-level team. One of the things that Steph has done throughout the course of his career is he has really improved at the defensive end. It’s one of the things in my preparation [for Warriors games]. Teams try to go at him, but it’s not that easy anymore. He has great pride in what he does at the defensive end. Can you have somebody that size on a championship team be the best player? Yep, you can. Is it easy? No.”
Jalen Brunson reacts after hitting a 3-pointer during a game earlier this month. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
Across the past 10 years, the non-Warriors championship teams had LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic, Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown and Gilgeous-Alexander as their best player and top scorer.
The discourse became a national talking point when Becky Hammon, then an ESPN analyst, two years ago said Brunson is too small to be a “1A dude” capable of leading a team to a championship. Allen Iverson and Steve Nash were examples she used as precedent.
The Knicks have since added Towns, OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges as depth around Brunson rather than using the resources they parted with to land a big fish like Antetokounmpo that could make Brunson more of a second option.
“It’s a smaller guy, highest usage rate, biggest shot taker, kind of know exactly what’s gonna happen late in games,” Legler said. “Being honest? It’s not easy, it’s very rarely been done in the history of the league. That’s what they’re trying to pull off and it’s not an easy thing to do. Now fortunately for them, most guys his size aren’t this efficient. Most guys his size that shoot that much do not shoot 48 percent from the field. They don’t shoot 40 percent from the 3-point line. They don’t do that. Most of those guys, in that size range that take a lot of shots, are in the low 40s. They’re 34 percent from the three. That’s way more typical than what Brunson does.”
Brunson has defied expectations pretty much his whole career. But the vast majority of recent NBA history is against him.
DALLAS (AP) — Klay Thompson scored all 23 of his points in the first half, including the 17,000th of his career, and six Mavericks scored in double figures in a 138-120 win over Utah on Saturday night as Dallas completed a two-game sweep of the Jazz.
The Mavericks were without Cooper Flagg (left ankle sprain) for a second straight game and the first injury absences of his rookie season. Dallas was also missing Anthony Davis (finger) and Kyrie Irving (knee) and forward P.J. Washington for personal reasons.
The rest of the Mavericks proved to be more than enough against the Jazz for a second straight game.
Thompson, coming off the bench, had a pair of 3-pointers and then hit a turnaround jumper in the lane with just under five minutes left in the first quarter to reach the 17,000-point plateau. He shot 7 for 12 overall and 6 for 11 from 3-point distance and led the Mavs in scoring for the second straight game in Flagg's absence after scoring a season-best 26 in Thursday's win.
Brandon Williams and Max Christie each scored 22 points, Naji Marshall added 16, Jaden Hardy pitched in with 12 and Dwight Powell had 10 for the Mavs, who entered Saturday with wins in just two of their last five games.
Utah's Keyonte George led all scorers with 29 points, Brice Sensabaugh had 25 and Ace Bailey scored 18. Kyle Filipowski contributed 13 points and 12 rebounds and Cody Williams scored 11 for the Jazz, who trailed 42-29 after one period and never recovered.
Lauri Markkanen, Utah’s scoring leader averaging 27.9 points, sat out a third consecutive game because of illness. Walker Kessler (shoulder) was also sidelined.
Up next
Jazz: At San Antonio on Monday in the finale of a five-game trip.
The Dallas Mavericks defeated the Utah Jazz yet again, this time 138-120Saturday afternoon in Dallas. It’s the Mavericks second-straight game, and second straight offensive explosion against a Jazz team that has mostly shown little interest in winning across the two games.
This was almost a carbon copy of the Mavericks win on Thursday night, except for the Jazz showing some semblance of shame in the third quarter. Outside of that third quarter, the Mavericks have absolutely embarrassed this Jazz team across the two games, despite the Mavericks missing numerous starters and key players.
Cooper Flagg and Daniel Gafford once again did not suit up due to ankle injuries suffered against Denver last week. PJ Washington is battling injuries as well, but was probable for this game before being a late scratch due to personal reasons. Dallas once again relied on lots of minutes from two-way players and even a 10-day contract player signed on Thursday. It didn’t matter — Dallas led from wire-to-wire once again.
Klay Thompson was the key igniter once again, scoring 23 points in the first half and torching the Jazz in a variety of ways. That instant offense off the bench basically carried the Mavericks to a double-digit lead and the team never looked back. Jazz guard Keyonte George finally decided to be the first Jazz player to realize that trying hard is important in basketball and scored 21 points in the third to prevent this from being a complete joke of a game. Utah cut the lead to nine early in the fourth, but the Mavericks stomped out that rally pretty quickly after that and the Jazz meekly conceded the game.
Here’s what we noticed from this one.
The Mavericks are professionals, and that should matter
Dallas’ season is effectively over. The team is 12th in the West, and two losses behind Memphis at 11. The teams in seventh, eighth, and ninth are all surging too and want to win — the Warriors and Trail Blazers are 7-3 in their last 10 and the Clippers are 8-2. Those teams aren’t slowing down anytime soon, so combine that with all the Mavericks injuries and Dallas doesn’t really have a postseason to look forward to in April.
Despite that, the team continues to play hard. I worried after Davis got hurt again and the Mavericks were blown out by Chicago that perhaps the team had finally reached a breaking point and would naturally let go of the rope after fighting so hard despite being so short-handed for the last three months. Instead the Mavericks have won three of their last four since that Bulls blowout loss, and even the loss was a mostly competitive game against the Denver Nuggets.
I’m not sure what all this means. Dallas, on paper, needs to lose as often as possible to secure the best draft pick they can later this June, the last first rounder Dallas has direct control over until 2031. But the Mavericks still have lots of pieces from the 2024 Finals team, they still have Klay Thompson and Naji Marshall, who were brought in to bring that 2024 roster over the hump and win that elusive title. Even with all the injuries the Mavericks just have too many good players to be totally hopeless, even with some brutal losses this season to bad teams like the Wizards and the Pelicans.
So say what you will about coach Jason Kidd, but he has instilled a culture of accountability and competitiveness within this organization. These guys play fucking hard. They don’t quit, even in the games they eventually lose. The Mavericks have played a zillion clutch games regardless of the quality of the opponent. They’ve beaten the Nuggets twice, the Rockets twice, and the Pistons once. They’ve lost 26 games but less than a handful of those were uncompetitive blowouts. They have more wins against teams at .500 or better than you’d expect for a team in 12th place.
Call me old fashioned but that means something. Losing is an awfully hard stench to clean off, and the Mavericks coaching staff has instilled a sense of purpose with this organization, even despite all the buffoonery happening off the court around this team in the last 18 months. The players didn’t trade Luka Doncic, they didn’t try to make Anthony Davis the centerpiece of the team. They didn’t alienate the fans, and they played hard through injuries even when the organization should have known better to keep them healthy. All they’ve done is play hard as hell, and win a few more games than anyone should reasonably expect from them considering the circumstances.
Whenever the Mavericks are good again, or at least playoff-bound, these moments will resonate. Dallas is laying the foundation of the next great Mavericks team. That matters.
The Jazz are an embarrassment and should be kicked out of the league
I’ve never seen a more embarrassing effort across two games like the Jazz just did on Thursday and Saturday, and this is coming from the same team that lost by 55 points to the Hornets a week ago.
Dallas should not have won these games. Ryan Nembhard, Moussa Cisse, and Miles Kelly are all two-way contract rookies and all three played heavy minutes due to the Mavericks injuries. Dallas signed Jeremiah Robinsin-Earl to a 10-day contract on Thursday before the game, and he played over 20 minutes in each one. Even with the Jazz shameless resting healthy players like Jusuf Nurkic, there’s still enough talent on this roster to not only stay competitive, but quite frankly defeat this limited Mavericks team.
Instead the Mavericks almost set their franchise record for points scored in regulation on Thursday, and followed that up with 138 points on Saturday. This is a Dallas team that even at full-health is one of the worst offensive teams in the league and the Jazz made them look like the Showtime Lakers.
This is a disgrace. The NBA can never really rid the league of tanking, but there’s tanking and then there’s whatever the hell this Jazz team did in the last eight quarters of basketball. They didn’t try, they were disinterested and they wasted everyone’s time. They wasted the 15 Jazz fans still watching these games, they wasted the time of the travel party and trainers and anyone else that had to work these games. They honestly wasted my time as well, since while it’s fun to see the Mavericks blow the doors off a team, these games were so shamelessly uncompetitive that it’s hard to really take anything real away from this game. It felt like a scrimmage or open practice.
The Jazz shouldn’t be allowed on television for the rest of the season. They’re on their fourth straight season of the organization not caring about winning and shockingly it appears the players don’t give a shit about winning either. They are developing losing habits and those habits will be extremely hard to break whenever the team feels like trying again. Honestly at this rate though we’ll probably experience the heat death of the universe before the Jazz feel like trying again.
Professional basketball is an entertainment product. It’s an entertainment product in an age where entertainment has never been so numerous and accessible. Go back 10 or 15 years, and watching your local basketball team on TV was one of the few things you could do. When I was in high school in the mid-2000s, I could watch the Mavericks, watch whatever was on cable, watch whatever movies or TV shows I had on DVD or play whatever video games I owned. Now I have access to virtually every movie and TV show ever made at instant speed, and I don’t even need to buy video games anymore — the most popular games in the world are persistent, free-to-play experiences. Good lord I haven’t even talked about all the shit you can do outside now. Have you been out there lately? There’s so much stuff.
So why the hell would anyone watch what we just watched today? The NBA has structured itself to basically ignore 75 percent or more of the product because you’re not missing much. The incentives to watch suck, the players regularly don’t care, and the orgs don’t care either. So many games have missing stars, injured regulars, or at least one team that could care less about the outcome. It’s horrible. And I don’t care about the NBA’s TV ratings or revenue numbers, I just care as someone that likes the NBA and wants to continue engaging with it. If these games don’t matter and the players don’t care, why should I? I can just quit doing this stupid second job and go spend my time outside or something.
Welcome to the Game Thread. Veterans of the Game Thread know how we do things around here, but for all you newbies we have a few rules. Our community guidelines apply and basically say be cool, no personal attacks, don’t troll and don’t swear too much.
The Spurs finished up the first half of the season at 28-13 with an easy 119-101 win over the Bucks on Thursday night. Last season, the Spurs were at 19-22 at the halfway point of the season, so that’s a huge improvement so far. The Spurs played well for most of the game against the Bucks, but the Timberwolves will provide a tougher test for the Silver and Black, having won their two previous games against the Spurs, the latest being a comeback 104-103 win last week in Minneapolis, where the home team overcame a 19 point deficit by shutting down the Spurs offense in the fourth quarter with physical play, most notably by Julius Randle using his strength to push around Victor Wembanyama and keep him off balance.
The Spurs will have to come up with a strategy to handle that scheme, because you can’t count on fouls being called. That could involve moving the ball more on offense and some hard screens on Randle, matching physicality with physicality. Wemby played Gobert off the court in the last game, and the Spurs need to make them put him back into the game so he can miss some free throws. This is the third and final meeting of these two teams in the regular season, so the Spurs will want to get a home win to avoid being 0-3, and more importantly, a lead would help to keep ahead of them in the Western Conference standings.
The injury report has Stephon Castle listed as questionable with an undisclosed illness, hopefully he will be able to play to slow down Anthony Edwards, who is available tonight after missing a few games with a foot problem. Devin Vassell is still out, and he has been missed, but hopefully he will be able to return to the lineup sometime soon. The Spurs will play the Jazz on Monday at 4:00 PM in a MLK Day game, but that’s probably too soon.
Let’s all watch the Spurs start off the second half of the season on a positive note, and GO SPURS GO!!
Game Prediction:
Jeremy Sochan takes Julius Randle’s lunch money, and Randle gets a tech from the ref for complaining about it.
San Antonio Spurs vs Minnesota Timberwolves January 17, 2026 | 7:00 PM CT Streaming: NBA League Pass TV: FanDuel Sports Southwest Reminder: It is against site policy to post links to illegal streams in the comments.
ATLANTA — Payton Pritchard, who is dealing with ankle soreness, won’t lace up for the first time this season when the Celtics face the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday. So, in his place, Baylor Scheierman will start for the third time this year, alongside Derrick White in the backcourt.
Scheierman is averaging 2.7 points and 1.7 rebounds in 11.7 minutes this season. He’s appeared in 35 of the Celtics’ 40 games, and started two so far. He also started in Monday’s game against the Indiana Pacers, when Sam Hauser was sidelined with hamstring tightness.
Joe Mazzulla has praised Scheierman for always being ready to impact winning when his (sometimes sporadic) opportunities come.
“He works really hard, so he’s always prepared,” Mazzulla said. “His confidence never wavers — whether he plays well or whether he makes a mistake, his confidence in his ability to impact winning is always there, and that helps a lot. And he can make an impact regardless of how many minutes he plays.”
Baylor Scheierman is starting for the second time this season, with Payton Pritchard sidelined.
It will be Baylor, Derrick White, Sam Hauser, Jaylen Brown, and Neemias Queta.
Fellow backcourt mate Derrick White has echoed that sentiment.
“He’s been amazing,” White said. “He’s always ready. It’s tough; you never know how many minutes or if he’s gonna play, but he’s always ready. And when he comes in, he just does a lot of things for us, and I feel like it’s always a positive segment when he’s out there with us.
The full list of starters when the Celtics face the Hawks
Derrick White
Baylor Scheierman
Sam Hauser
Jaylen Brown
Neemias Queta
Mazzulla opted to keep Anfernee Simons on the bench despite his recent hot play; Simons is coming off a 39-point game against the Miami Heat on Friday night. Over his last 8 games, Simons is averaging 18.3 points and 3.6 assists, while shooting 49.1% from the field and 51.6% from three.
It’s not unsurprising that Mazzulla has kept Simons on the bench; it seems he’s in a similar role to what Pritchard was in last year, when he was a perennial bench player even when the team was short-handed.
For the Celtics, Chris Boucher (lower back spasms) and Josh Minott (ankle sprain) are both out as well.
For the Hawks, CJ McCollum, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Vit Krejci, Jalen Johnson, and Onyeka Okongwu will start. Meanwhile, Dyson Daniels, Kristaps Porziņģis, and Zaccharie Risacher are all out.
The Celtics (25-15) face the Hawks (20-23) at 7:30pm.
New Jersey Devils forward Jesper Bratt is set to play his 600th NHL game tonight as the Devils take on the Hurricanes.
Bratt made his NHL debut against the Hurricanes in October 2017. Ahead of his milestone game, Bratt shared his thoughts with NJD.tv.
“It’s really special. Time goes fast,” Bratt said. “Super honored and happy to be doing it here in the same place and in front of the same fans I did my first game. It’s going to be a special time.”
In 599 NHL games, Bratt has scored 161 goals and 322 assists. Over his nine seasons with the Devils, Bratt has become a key contributor.
Reflecting on Bratt’s journey since being drafted in the sixth round (162nd pick), head coach Sheldon Keefe offered his perspective on the forward’s career.
"When I've been asked about him and reflect on him and what I observe is a guy that works extremely hard, is extremely focused and disciplined," Keefe said. "How he prepares, how he seeks to improve, how he accepts coaching and information. In that sense, he's an easy guy to coach because he's all about getting better and all about helping the team."
This season, Bratt has appeared in 47 games, earning 36 points (11 G, 25 A). Keefe continued to highlight the left winger’s accomplishments.
“From where he was drafted to how quickly he got into the league to how he found ways to be successful despite being an undersized guy to being a premier player in the league," Keefe said. "Quite a story, great accomplishment for him. I feel like he's just getting started."
The puck will drop at 7 PM tonight.
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The music has not yet stopped, but it is certainly getting close to the final chorus in the game of musical chairs that is MLB free agency.
And while the Yankees and Cody Bellinger continue their dance around the length of a contract, what would have been their two best free agent pivots if they weren’t able to find common ground with Bellinger are no longer on the board.
With Kyle Tucker landing a four-year, $240 million contract with the Dodgers and Bo Bichette heading to Queens on a three-year, $126 million deal, the Yankees options for an impact bat beyond Bellinger are dwindling — and they are not overflowing on the trade market, either — turning up the pressure to finally secure a reunion with their top priority all offseason.
The Yankees are believed to have an offer out to Bellinger for five years and $155 million, though the 30-year-old’s camp is still seeking seven years. Now that Tucker and Bichette have agreed to deals elsewhere, the market for Bellinger should become more defined, with the lefty-hitting outfielder becoming the clear-cut top hitter available in free agency — and by a decent margin, with third baseman Eugenio Suárez the next best hitter remaining.
There had been a sense that Bellinger may wait for Tucker to sign so that the teams that missed out on the former Astro and Cub could boost the market for the former Yankee, Cub and Dodger. Besides the Dodgers, the Mets and Blue Jays were the teams going hardest for Tucker, and while the Mets rebounded by signing Bichette — who the Phillies had been trying to reel in — to another short-term deal, they still have a need in the outfield.
Cody Bellinger #35 of the New York Yankees reacts after hitting a single during the first inning. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
So the Yankees’ competition for Bellinger now figures to include the Mets, Blue Jays and Giants, perhaps with the Phillies also in play, though they responded to losing out on Bichette by re-signing catcher J.T. Realmuto to a three-year, $45 million deal.
The Blue Jays had offered Tucker a 10-year, $350 million deal, The Post’s Jon Heyman reported. Tucker is a year and a half younger and a more consistent hitter, but might they be willing to offer some of that money and years for Bellinger? Besides, it would be two for the price of one by keeping him away from their AL East rivals, who have said all along how much they want to bring him back.
The Mets had offered Tucker four years and $220 million, per Heyman. They have been loathe to offer long-term deals with older players, but would a short-term deal with a higher average annual value than the Yankees are offering be something Bellinger would consider? The Mets could certainly use him, with their current projected outfield made up of Juan Soto in right, Tyrone Taylor in center, and rookie Carson Benge in left. And Scott Boras, Bellinger’s agent, is only just over a year removed from his client (then Soto) being in a bidding war between the two New York teams.
For now, the Yankees have been holding fast to their five-year offer for Bellinger, wary all winter of not bidding against themselves. But their margin for error is slim.
Brian Cashman has said all along that they could head into spring with a left field competition between Jasson Domínguez and Spencer Jones. And if they do end up missing on Bellinger, it would not be surprising to see them add a right-handed hitting outfielder — someone like Austin Hays — to form a potential platoon with Domínguez, a switch-hitter who is much better from the left side.
But such a scenario would still leave them with a big hole in their lineup, given the threat that Bellinger was hitting behind Aaron Judge for most of the season last year, and remove a valuable, versatile and trustworthy defender from their roster. All of which, of course, is why he has been the Yankees’ top target from the start, as long as it comes at a price and term with which they are comfortable.
Some nights your goalie stands on his head and stuns an offense led by the most dangerous forward in the world, some afternoons you’re down 4-0 before the other team has gotten its 12th shot.
The Islanders lost 4-2 in Calgary despite outshooting and outchancing the Flames, though still making enough mistakes to do themselves in. They outshot the Flames in the first period 10-4, then gave up a second goal early in the second right after Jonathan Drouin missed a golden chance to tie it. The Flames added two more by the midway point to basically put the game out of reach.
After Yan Kuznetsov made it 4-0, J-G Pageau did answer with a sizzler just 32 seconds later to open a little daylight. The building was still announcing Kuznetsov’s goal, and few seemed to realize Pageau’s shot scored.
But overall, the Isles’ chances were rarely dangerous enough, even after pulling David Rittich (15 saves on 19 shots) for a sixth attacker with eight minutes left to go, a stretch that included a power play to skate 6-on-4.
On me for not expressing question correctly but I tried to ask Patrick Roy if he uses analytics or his gut more in determining when is the right time to pull a goalie for an extra skater. Don't think he got what I was asking: "I don't give a shit about analytics, to be honest."
Anders Lee added one consolation goal to reach the 300-goal milestone with three minutes left, while Dustin Wolf narrowly missed getting a goalie goal despite all that time and the fat lead to chase one.
Overall, it just wasn’t the Islanders’ day, and it felt like a bit of Albertan karmic payback after they stole the two points in Edmonton a day and a half prior (not that aggrieved Oilers nor pleased Flames fans would see it that way).
On this trip, the Islanders are stealing some games against better teams (Minnesota, Edmonton) and finding things difficult against weaker teams (Nashville, Winnipeg, Calgary), and that’s probably just and fitting for a team whose higher-risk approach often turns on whether they’re getting a great 60 minutes from their goalie.
Up Next
And the next weak team on the docket is Vancouver, where they’ll meet the Canucks late Monday night.
The Canucks are at the bottom of the league with just 37 points. Hell, they’re even worse than the Rangers…someone in British Columbia should write a strongly worded, poorly proofed letter.
