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🏀 Five things to know Tuesday
- Ghastly fourth quarter dooms Knicks as Hawks even series. Here’s all you need to know: Entering last night, in all playoff games, all time — as in ever — the Knicks were 45-1 when leading by 12 or more points after three quarters and the Hawks were 1-81 when trailing by 12 or more points after three quarters. So, naturally, the Hawks somehow wind up outscoring the Knicks 28-15 in the fourth quarter for the improbable 107-106 victory. Sam Quinn explains in detail how Mike Brown failed in his first major test in New York. Our nightly NBA playoff winners and losers also covers how the Wolves answered the Nuggets to even that series, and how Donovan Mitchell and James Harden combined for 58 points to go up 2-0 on the Raptors.
- Victor Wembanyama was unanimously voted NBA Defensive Player of the Year. At just 22, Wembanyama is the youngest player to win the award, and he’s the first to do so unanimously by taking all 100 first-place votes. The Thunder’s Chet Holmgren finished second in voting, while Pistons star Ausar Thompson finished third.
- Coach K’s grandson charged with DWI in death of 15-year-old. Joseph Savarino, a grandson of former Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, has been charged with misdemeanor DWI after allegedly hitting a teen riding a bicycle over the weekend, resulting in his death in Durham, North Carolina.
- Jazz win NBA Draft tiebreaker over Kings. The NBA broke two ties Monday as the pre-lottery draft order was set. Most notable was the Jazz winning a tiebreaker over the Kings. The Jazz are now sitting in the No. 4 draft lottery position, though it does not give Utah a meaningful statistical edge over Sacramento in landing the No. 1 pick in the lottery.
- Who takes down the English Premier League crown? Things are set to come down to the wire between Arsenal and Manchester City. James Benge predicted both teams’ remaining matches and sees things coming down to the title being decided by a single goal.
🏈 Do not miss this: NFL Draft season madness
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NFL fan imaginations are running wild as the NFL Draft is fast approaching. Landing the right draft pick can provide a team with a massive boost, not only for the upcoming season but for many seasons to come. And, with draft season come the mock drafts. We have all your mock draft needs covered from various angles, including an NFL insider mock draft, a full seven-round mock draft, and, you guessed it, another NFL mock draft. So, if you don’t like what one mock says your team will do, just try another and see if it’s more in line with your desires.
But, wait, there’s more. The CBS Sports squad drilled down into more specific angles, including a look at where the top 10 quarterbacks in the draft will land and a ranking of the top 32 draft prospects based solely on their college football careers. Most interesting, however, might be Ryan Wilson’s look at what he would do as GM of every team in the first round, which is another variation on a mock draft.
Finally, we are looking at the hottest NFL Draft takes to decide which are in line with reality vs. which are simply overreactions.
⚾ Dodgers remain atop MLB Power Rankings, but NL Central is the best division
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It’s no surprise that the Dodgers are still sitting atop the CBS Sports MLB Power Rankings, even after back-to-back losses to the Rockies. What might be a surprise, however, is that the NL Central is looking like the best division in baseball. All five teams are comfortably above the .500 mark. No other division has more than three teams sporting a winning record.
Matt Snyder broke down the situation and just what is making the NL Central so unique, including a surprising early-season start from the Cardinals.
- Snyder: “The one team pretty much everyone agreed that definitely wouldn’t be a contender in this division this season was the Cardinals. They were in a transition phase throughout the offseason and even if it wasn’t a radical rebuild or anything, there was a youth movement settling in that could, at bare minimum, be described as a retooling at the big-league level.
“The funny thing is, as a fan, when you enter a season with low expectations, the highs can feel so much higher. The Cardinals are 13-8 and Jordan Walker has looked like one of baseball’s best sluggers.”
Also check out:
👍👎 The best (and not-so-best) of the rest
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📺 What we’re watching Tuesday
⚽ Chelsea at Brighton & Hove Albion, 3 p.m. on USA Network
⚾ Yankees at Red Sox, 6:45 p.m. on TBS
🏀 NBA playoffs: 76ers at Celtics, Game 2, 7 p.m. on Peacock
🏒 Stanley Cup playoffs: Canadiens at Lightning, Game 2, 7 p.m. on ESPN2
🏒 Stanley Cup playoffs: Bruins at Sabres, Game 2, 7:30 p.m. on ESPN
🏀 NBA playoffs: Trail Blazers at Spurs, Game 2, 8 p.m. on NBC
🏒 Stanley Cup playoffs: Mammoth at Golden Knights, Game 2, 9:30 p.m. on ESPN2
🏒 Stanley Cup playoffs: Kings at Avalanche, Game 2, 10 p.m. on ESPN
🏀 NBA playoffs: Rockets at Lakers, Game 2, 10:30 p.m. on NBC