NFL

Giants hire Shane Bowen as defensive coordinator

This is an uninspiring hire. Entering what could be his final season as the Giants’ head coach, Brian Daboll probably wasn’t flush with great options to fill this role, thus causing him to turn to Bowen, who served as the Titans’ defensive coordinator the past three seasons.

Grade: C-

NBA

Cavaliers 136, Kings 110

The Kings are great at forcing opponents into unwanted shootouts, but the Cavaliers had every answer to Sacramento’s strategy in this contest. Sure, Cleveland won’t shoot 23-for-41 from three-point range every night, but the Cavaliers are rolling right now, and not many players in the association are playing better than Donovan Mitchell. Cleveland’s All-Star guard scored 29 points last night.

Serving as the bookend of a seven-game road swing, this could be considered a scheduled loss for the Kings, although Sacramento being just a 4.5-point underdog disputes that notion. With the elite play of Mitchell in this game, the Kings needed more from De’Aaron Fox, who recorded 19 points on 8-for-20 shooting.

Lakers 124, Hornets 118

Sitting at No. 9 in the West, Los Angeles needs every edge it can get. For awhile, those edges were hard to find for the Lakers, but Anthony Davis’ uptick in playmaking recently has been a nice boost. In this game, the talented big accumulated 11 assists, matching Austin Reaves for the team lead.

There were plenty of questions surrounding the Hornets’ decision to draft Brandon Miller ahead of Scoot Henderson last June, but if Charlotte’s past five games are any indication, the franchise made the right call. Over those five contests, the rookie forward is averaging 29.2 points per game. The 10-39 Hornets are burdened with issues, but Miller isn’t one of them.

Mavericks 118, 76ers 102

It was probably inevitable with Joel Embiid sidelined indefinitely due to knee surgery, but the 76ers are digging themselves a hole and are staring down a first round series without home-court advantage. Adding to the roster is definitely an option following the increased flexibility due to the James Harden trade, but the picture is pretty murky for Philadelphia at the moment.

Clippers 149, Hawks 144

It’s not crazy to suggest the 34-15 Clippers have the second-best chance to win the West, behind only the defending champions. LA lacks a good low-post presence, but basketball is coming easy to the team, especially its best player, Kawhi Leonard. The forward was nearly flawless last night, shooting 13-for-20 for 36 points.

This Hawks team has the pieces, but since falling in the 2021 Eastern Conference Finals, not much has clicked for Atlanta, so moves might need to be made. The obvious call is to look into trading Dejounte Murray, but the franchise likely wouldn’t receive 100 cents on the dollar for the 27-year-old guard. Landry Fields isn’t in an envious position as he tries to retool this club around Trae Young.

Warriors 109, Nets 98

Speaking of retooling clubs, the Nets have more questions than perhaps any other team. Brooklyn is 20-29 following this defeat, and feels very much like a collection of decent parts than an actual NBA team. Mikal Bridges is a keeper, but running guys like Spencer Dinwiddie out of town should be a priority for Sean Marks. The struggling guard went just 3-for-12 yesterday.

MLB

Royals sign SS Bobby Witt Jr. to 11-year, $289 million contract extension

Not much has gone right for the Royals since they hoisted the Commissioner’s Trophy after winning the World Series in 2015, but drafting and now extending Witt Jr. certainly counts for something positive. The 23-year-old shortstop finished seventh in AL MVP voting last season, and should only get better as the face of the Royals. Moving forward, Kansas City will need to a better job of spending and surrounding its young phenom with more talent, but if Witt Jr. builds on his 30-30 2023 campaign, the Royals might be in decent shape in a few years.

Grade: B+