NBA

• Pistons 135, Timberwolves
  • I don’t love where the Timberwolves are at — or where they’re probably heading. The team’s front office undoubtedly didn’t have a 20-22 start in mind when it surrendered a great deal of its future to acquire Rudy Gobert. With Gobert roaming the middle, the team’s defense hasn’t exactly been elite, ranking just 14th in defensive rating.
• Bucks 114, Hawks 105
  • Like the Timberwolves, the Hawks have also been big underachievers. Atlanta was sans Trae Young for this contest, but being just 19-22 at the midway point of the regular season isn’t ideal for a team that fancied itself as an Eastern Conference contender at the beginning of the season. The pieces don’t seem to fit in Atlanta, as 25-year-old trade target John Collins has seen his scoring average dip from 21.6 in 2020 to 13.3 in 2023.
• Celtics 125, Pelicans 114
  • It’s insanely difficult to take down the Celtics when the NBA’s best wing duo, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, play better than normal on the same night. Tatum and Brown combined for 71 points last night, and should both obviously be locks for the All-Star game next month.
• Knicks 119, Pacers 113
  • The Knicks stole Jalen Brunson this past summer, inking the starting point guard to a deal worth $104 million over four years. Brunson has practically been a godsend for New York, especially lately, as the 26-year-old is averaging 33.2 points per game over five January contests.
  • Almost everything has gone right for the Pacers this season, except the development of former lottery pick Chris Duarte. Duarte posted mostly empty numbers last year as a rookie, but this season, Duarte’s shooting has floundered to just 32.1 percent. The former Oregon product is basically unplayable at this point.
• Kings 135, Rockets 115
  • It was obviously in defeat, but Alperen Sengun recorded his first-career triple-double last night. I like the second-year center as a part of Houston’s future, but the organization will need to find a star at some point. Jalen Green, Jabari Smith, and Kevin Porter are all strong building blocks, but none of the trio will become high impact players over the course of their careers.

NCAAB

• Georgia 58, Mississippi State 50
  • Mike White is a really good coach. After falling flat at just 6-26 in 2022, White has the Bulldogs in pretty decent standing in his first year in Athens at 12-4. Adding Terry Roberts as a transfer from Bradley has certainly helped.
• Alabama 84, Arkansas 69
  • Alabama is a legitimate national title contender. The Crimson Tide possess a bevy of quality victories and the luxury Nates Oats has in being able to bring Noah Gurley, Dominick Welch, and Jahvon Quinerly off the bench is nearly criminal. It’s still to be determined, but it’ll be fascinating to see who emerges between Alabama and Tennessee as the SEC’s best team.
  • The past five games have not been a great stretch for Anthony Black. The freshman has shot just 14-45 from the field over that run.
• Marquette 82, Connecticut
  • I believe in Connecticut as a top-10 team, but the Huskies are certainly proving to be human, losing three of their past four. Every shot Jordan Hawkins shoots feels like it’s going in, but the sophomore needs to avoid bad shooting nights.
• Xavier 90, Creighton 87
  • Xavier is back. Sean Miller has things rolling in Cincinnati, and Souley Boum is a big reason why. The senior guard dropped 26 points, along with eight assists, in this game, giving the Musketeers just enough to edge a Creighton team that is way better than its 9-8 record.
• Miami 88, Boston College 72
  • The ACC, yet again, is quite weak for power conference standards, and Miami has taken advantage of that. The Canes are 5-1 in league play, and as long as Isaiah Wong is around, the team should be able to contend for a conference title this year. Miami isn’t as good as its 14-2 record, though.
• Charleston 71, UNC Wilmington 69
  • The CAA, outside of these two programs, is a bit of a joke this year, so it was critical for the Cougars to win this game for the sake of their at-large hopes. Charleston shoots a ton of threes, and it almost cost the team last night.
• Duke 77, Pittsburgh 69
  • Duke brought in three mega recruits this past offseason in Dereck Lively, Kyle Filipowski, and Dariq Whitehead. Unfortunately for Jon Scheyer’s team, only Filipowski has lived up to the hype, as the big man scored 28 points and secured 15 rebounds last night.
• UCF 107, Memphis 104
  • This UCF team may actually be better than the 2019 iteration, one that took a great Duke team to the brink in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament. We’ll see how these Knights fare come March, but the returns so far have been promising for Johnny Dawkins’ squad.
• Loyola (MD) 67, Bucknell 57
  • Bucknell is a fairly proud program, so it’s odd to see the team be so bad this season. 7-11 shouldn’t be the standard in Lewisburg.
• Southern Illinois 69, Indiana State 61
  • The Missouri Valley lacks an elite team this year, but these two programs are at the top of the conference this season, so this was a big win for Southern Illinois. Arch Madness will be so much fun this year, with these two squads, Bradley, Drake, and Belmont all lurking as contenders to go dancing.
• Penn State 85, Indiana 66
  • Oof, Indiana. The Hoosiers have now lost three in a row, and circumstances might get shaky real fast without Race Thompson. Trayce Jackson-Davis may need to play like the best player in the Big Ten the rest of the way to save Indiana.