Highlights around the NBA today! •The Chicago Bulls knocked off the Bucks 132-125. The Bulls were led by Norman Powell’s 25 points (7/20 FG, 2/12 3FG, 9/9 FT) and the rookie Caleb Wilson’s 21/6/1/1/2 day. •The Raptors defeated the Wizards with Scottie Barnes having an incredible game (28/14/5/2/2). Anthony Davis really struggled for Washington, going just 3/12 with 9 points, really costing his team. •Despite Anthony Edwards going just 5/23 shooting on the day, the rest of the Wolves pick him up (7 total players scored double digits!) as they defeat the Magic 115-93. •Kyrie Irving and the Mavs hold off the Pacers to win 121-105, but the bigger concern is what the situation with Cooper Flagg is. He was a ridiculous +34 in 17 minutes before getting injured, and he is the most important player on the Mavs roster right now. We all hope he’s okay. •The Hawks dominated the Hornets 128-81 with stifling defense and efficient offense across the board. •The Celtics sent the defending champion Knicks to 0-2, taking home a tight 107-103 victory. Jayson Tatum rebounded after a rough game 1, putting up 36/9/7 on a 54% clip. •The Pistons took down the Giannis-led Heat 128-111. Cade Cunningham (16 points, 8 assists), John Collins (23/7, 60% FG, 83% 3FG), and Paul Reed (19/11/4, 72% FG) led the way for Detroit while Giannis’ supporting cast was putrid. •The Jazz just barely held on to take down the Pelicans in a 120-119 thriller! Jaren Jackson Jr (24/10/3), Jaxson Hayes (17 points, 87% FG), and Keyonte George (19 points, 10 assist) led the way for the Jazz, holding off a great Zion performance. •Off of Amen Thompson’s game winning block on Victor Wembanyama, the Rockets defeat the Spurs 114-110. He, along with Sengun and KD, were the best players tonight for the Rockets. •The Lakers pull away in the 2nd half from the Clippers and take home a 125-117 victory. The big 3 of Austin Reaves (28 points, 9 assist), Walker Kessler (22/8/3/3/6), and Luka Doncic (23/6/7) led the way for the Lakers, and the supporting pieces played very well too. •Deni Avdija (26/6/6) leads the Blazers to a 128-120 win over the Kings, despite the best efforts from the Kings’ Domanntas Sabonis who put up a 27/19/10 triple double. •The Grizzlies go on a 17-0 run in the 4th quarter and STEAL a win from the Golden State Warriors, winning 111-108. Ty Jerome (28 points) and Cam Boozer (25/13/6) were both incredible for Memphis.

DE’AARON FOX IS RUINING THE SPURS! We already saw Fox basically throw the Spurs’ season away last year, with questionable IQ and poor performance in the NBA finals. Now tonight, Fox posted a -14 +/- in 34 minutes played. He played more than Wemby did tonight. The Spurs lost by 4 points. If Fox wasn’t such a liability, it’s likely that the Spurs would’ve won this game! His contract is basically unmovable, but that doesn’t have to mean that he’s locked into these massive minutes for San Antonio. At the least, he NEEDS his minutes cut down, or else the Spurs are going to pay dearly for it in a championship window.

HAS THE NBA FIGURED OUT VICTOR WEMBANYAMA? 👀 Wemby was awful in game 1 of the NBA season on offense— just 1/13 on his field goals. He did knock down 10 free throws, boosting his point total to 12, but that’s not the offense you expect from someone involved in “best in the world” conversations. He was still elite defensively, but that’s only half of the game. In game 2, he was definitely better. He put up 25 points. But he still struggled with his efficiency, going just 9/21 from the field. He only hit 5/8 of his free throws. And the worst of all? Let’s talk about the end of the game. The Spurs got a defensive stop with around 5 seconds to go in the game. They were down by 2 points against the Rockets. Mitch Johnson calls a timeout and draws up a play— of course it goes to Wemby. De’Aaron Fox threw it out to Wemby who, at 7’4”, went up for the bucket. He was BLOCKED by Amen Thompson. Wemby tried to float it into the basket instead of slamming it with authority, and that allowed Thompson to block it. Being an athletic super freak like Wemby is, you can NOT get blocked in that spot. Now obviously, Amen Thompson is an athletic super freak in his own right. That’s why he was trusted with the Wemby matchup with the game on the line, and he delivered. But if you want to be the best player in the world, Wemby has to come through in that situation. On top of an already pedestrian offensive night, that ending just leaves a sour taste in the mouths of fans. So, has the NBA figured out Wemby? He’s still a top tier defender— I don’t think that’ll ever change. But if the offensive game continues to stagnate in development, has he already hit his ceiling? Or are the Rockets and Thunder just uniquely equipped to guard Wemby with some of the most athletic bigs/wings in the game? We’ll just have to see how the rest of the year goes for the Spurs and how it looks against other opponents, and in these repeat matchups.

WHAT AN ENDING TO GAME 1 OF THE WORLD SERIES 🚨 In the top of the 9th inning, in a 3-1 ball game with the Brewers on top, the Rays LOADED THE BASES against Brewers’ closer Trevor Megill. Aranda and Simpson both singled, while Junior Caminero took a walk. There was only one out. This brought up trade deadline acquisition Liam Hicks to the plate. He had driven in the only Rays run on the day, but it was on a groundout. Could he come through in the biggest of moments? The answer was NO! With the bases loaded with 1 down, Hicks swung at the first pitch he saw… a fastball right down the middle. He POUNDED it to 2nd base for a double play, and that was the ballgame. Except… it wasn’t over! It turns out that the Brewers just missed the 2nd base bag when going for the double play. This meant that it would go down as a 2nd RBI for Liam Hicks, and the game would continue! But, the Rays were still down by 1 run. And now they had two outs, with Jonny DeLuca coming up to the plate. On a 2-2 count he… struck out swinging. Game over! The Brewers barely hang on in a 3-2 victory in game 1 of the World Series. It was a fantastic game, this looks like it’ll be a great series! Players of the game for Milwaukee include starting pitcher Jacob Misiorowski (5 IP, 1 ER), LF Jackson Chourio (2/4, 1 RBI, 1 run), DH Christian Yelich (1/4, 1 RBI, 1 run) and C William Contreras (2/3, 1 RBI). Relievers Aaron Ashby and Abner Uribe also had stellar outings out of Milwaukee’s bullpen.

Is the Giannis experiment in Miami a FAILURE? 👀 When Giannis Antetokounmpo demanded a trade away from the Bucks, he wanted to go to a contender. He had a large list of teams willing to acquire his services, and he decided that the Miami Heat would be the best suited to get him back to playoff success. Early in his Miami tenure… it looks like he was WRONG. Giannis has still been Giannis— he’s put up 35+ in both games. The surrounding talent, however? BRUTAL. Key players like Bam Adebayo, Aaron Wiggins, Klay Thompson, and Pelle Larson have been terrible. This can be seen by the Heat’s abysmal 3 point % in the first two games— 24% in game 1 and 29% in game 2. If the shooters around Giannis can’t make their shots, the Heat have no chance. It’s Milwaukee all over again. Is it just a cold streak to start the year for the Heat? Or will the veteran shooters around Giannis continue to regress and let him down? Do the Heat have enough defensive talent to even have a chance in the playoffs? It’s been an ugly start, they really can only go up from here. But if it continues this way, Giannis’ choice to go to the Heat may prove to be a truly horrible career decision.

Christian Yelich MASHES a RBI triple to put the Brewers out in front of the Rays in the bottom of the 1st 1-0! In the next AB, William Contreras knocks Yelich home with a RBI single to increase the early lead to 2-0!

Today is Game 1 of the 2026 World Series! 2 teams with similar philosophies: the Tampa Bay Rays and Milwaukee Brewers. Both teams are led by great pitching, making contact, playing small ball, and providing value on defense. Both teams were the 1 seed in their respective leagues. The advantage would seemingly slant Brewers— they were seemingly the better team in most categories and metrics in the regular season and the playoffs. They’re coming off of a clean sweep of the super team Dodgers while the Rays took 6 games to take down the Guardians. But these are teams who try to win the same way. Both are competing for their first ever World Series title. I’m intrigued to see which team will be able to come out on top and take home the first championship in franchise history!

SGA caught heat at the end of his game against Denver— but should there be any concerns about his game so far this season? SGA’s game is all about his efficiency. This includes his ability to get to the free throw line. That elite efficiency has not been as easy to come by early in this NBA season. Shai had a good, not great debut to his season. 32 points is gaudy, but 13/27 (3/7 from deep) is not the efficiency Shai is known for. Tonight? Much worse— going into the 4th quarter, SGA was just 2/13 from the field. He went 4/6 in the 4th quarter to partially save his numbers, but we all saw the first three quarters. He finished with 17 points, but many of those were empty in a game that the Nuggets let get away from them well before that point. The even bigger thing to look at: Shai has only attempted 6 free throws in his first two games. He attempted 4 against the Spurs and 2 against the Nuggets. Is the NBA cracking down on his perceived foul baiting? If this is the case, will this hurt Shai’s game to the point where his efficiency will drop off a cliff? Is he the same player without the extreme free throw numbers? We’ll just have to see, it’s definitely an early season storyline to keep an eye on 👀

Despite a poor offensive game from SGA (until some stat padding at the very end), the rest of the Oklahoma City Thunder pick him up and lead the team to a gritty victory over the Denver Nuggets. Chet Holmgren was a force tonight for the Thunder, picking up 17 rebounds (including EIGHT offensive boards) and 4 blocks. He helped hold Nikola Jokic to a measly 13/7/5 on a 26% clip (5/19, 1/7 from deep). Other key Nuggets starters like Jamal Murray (6 points, 2/11 FG), Christian Braun (7 points, 3/10 FG), and DeMar DeRozan (5 turnovers, 0 assists) were also terrible against the suffocating Thunder defense. Jalen Williams (21 points, leading scorer), Ajay Mitchell (12 points, 5 steals), and Alex Caruso (7/4/5) played key supporting roles in the Thunder victory.

Can Dennis Allen get ANOTHER Head Coaching job in the NFL? 👀 The Bears’ defense was considered to be very poor by many analysts throughout the offseason. Many said the Bears’ offense would have to carry them. But Dennis Allen’s defense has been ELECTRIC this season! Since week 1, the Chicago Bears are allowing just 13.67 points per game. That’s right there with Brian Flores’ Vikings! This is with a roster of players many considered to be quite poor. I’ve been particularly impressed with his blitz packages, which have tremendously helped patch up some holes in their weaker secondary and pass rush units. Dennis Allen has gotten two head coaching opportunities in the NFL, once with the Raiders in the early 2010s when he was just 39 years old, and then another shot with the Saints after Sean Payton and Drew Brees left. Is it time for him to get another opportunity with a more competent situation?

In a battle of two of the top three picks in the 2024 NFL draft, the Chicago Bears took down the New England Patriots 30-24. I expected this game to come down to which defense could force more mistakes— and the Bears forced a Drake Maye turnover. That proved to be the difference in a 6 point Bears victory. Both QBs played well, but Caleb Williams outdueled his closely drafted counterpart in Drake Maye. Is it time to crown Caleb Williams as the best QB in the 2024 draft class? Or are we still rocking with Maye off of his stellar 2025 campaign? 👀

IS AJ BROWN COOKED????? 👀 AJ Brown has been AWFUL so far in his Patriots career. He begged to be sent away from the Philadelphia Eagles because he didn’t feel like the passing ecosystem was beneficial for him. However, his Patriots career has been nothing less than a disaster. Sure, he’s been injured. But that’s part of the problem— reports of a degenerative knee have surfaced. He may never be “fully” healthy. And his play on the field? Even worse. Brown had just 3 catches for 25 yards in his season debut before getting hurt. Then in his return he dropped FIVE passes. Tonight? ANOTHER dropped pass, this time on a deep ball. And another one-on-one opportunity that he barely gave an effort on. He hasn’t had more than 3 catches or 50 yards in ANY of his 3 starts with New England. AJ Brown has injury issues, character concerns, and now his play is going down too? It might be over for the perceived superstar receiver if he can’t right the ship fast.

THE SUPERSTARS ARE FLOUNDERING IN OKC 👀 At halftime, Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic and Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander have combined for 10 points on 3/20 shooting. SGA hasn’t even made a single field goal attempt going into halftime and has TWO points. Just yesterday, we pointed out that Anthony Edwards looked like the best player in basketball and has a great chance to have a MVP campaign. With many other perceived top 5-10 players starting off slow, it’s starting to look more and more like this could be the year for Ant-Man to stake his claim as the best player in basketball!

ANALYTICS OR TALENT????? The Cavaliers and 76ers may have answered the question 👀 The Cavaliers are all about analytics. Even when they were struggling in the playoffs last season, Head Coach Kenny Atkinson said that they had “analytically won” games that were losses in the stat sheet. Tonight, they were looking incredible in the first half against the 76ers. Their analytics-driven game looked like it was working splendidly. But in the 2nd half… things changed. The 76ers are all about the talent. Maybe not everyone is a perfect fit together on an analytics sheet, but putting together a large group of top 25 talents in basketball proved to be effective tonight. Despite being in a massive hole in the first half, their elite talents turned it on in the 2nd half and led the Sixers to a MASSIVE 29-point comeback win over Cleveland. So, analytics or talent and gut feel? Talent wins this round, and the debate will live on amongst teams and fans alike.

WOW! What an ending to the first half in Patriots vs Bears!!! The Bears were backed up on a 3rd and 17 from the 24 yard line… and Luther Burden took a screen pass to the HOUSE!!! This play put the Bears up by 2 scores with just 14 seconds left in the half! You may think that’s where it ended… but no! In just 9 seconds, the Patriots respond with a quick pass to AJ Brown and then a CRAZY catch and run from veteran running back Rhamondre Stevenson for a 48 yard touchdown! These defenses have been stellar the past few weeks, but they’re struggling tonight! Both of these offenses end the half with some ELECTRIC plays, and I’m looking forward to seeing if they’ll be able to cook up more scores in the 2nd half 👀

UPDATE: THE SIXERS HAVE TAKEN THE LEAD 🚨🚨🚨 Off of great 2nd halves from Joel Embiid and LeBron James, as well as brutal play from players like James Harden and Peyton Watson on the Cavs, the Sixers have come ALL THE WAY BACK to take the lead here in the fourth quarter! Jaylen Brown is even heating up to increase the lead. Now all they have to do is close it out and they’ll go home 2-0! Maybe the Uncs just needed some time to warm up 👀

How about the Cavaliers? 👀 After winning on opening night against the defending champs, the Sixers were riding high. However, the Cavs came in tonight and put their foot DOWN. Veteran stars Joel Embiid, LeBron James, and Jaylen Brown were all AWFUL in the first half for Philly. Will the Philadelphia 76ers REGRET going all in on this season and adding a bunch of regressing veterans? Should they have instead leaned into their young core with players such as Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe? Or is this just an off night against another good team?