The Los Angeles Lakers began life without LeBron James, who’s expected to miss at least one to two weeks with a strained groin, on Monday with a 111-108 road loss to the Brooklyn Nets.
Luka Dončić finished with 22 points, 12 assists and 12 rebounds, his second triple-double since joining the Lakers, but without James on the floor the Nets threw everything at Dončić defensively and the Lakers weren’t able to make them pay.
It’s not a terribly surprising development given the circumstances. These superstars that get blitzed by defenses all the time can only do so much if the other guys aren’t taking advantage of the overloaded defense by making the 4-on-3 plays on the backside.
That takes timing and rhythm, the old cliche of everyone being on the same page, which is easier said than done for a team like the Lakers that has added such a dominant piece like Dončić and is throwing out a lot of lineups that haven’t played a ton of time together.
LeBron James injury: How the Lakers can survive the next few weeks without the face of the league Sam Quinn LeBron James injury: How the Lakers can survive the next few weeks without the face of the league Now, when you have two players as intelligent and skilled as Dončić and James on the court, especially together, you can cover up for a lot of these “getting to know one another” kinks that typically take time to work out.
But without James — to say nothing of his own production — the subtlest of connections that keep an NBA offense flowing become a lot more difficult to execute on the fly with a starting lineup (Dončić with Austin Reaves, Dalton Knecht, Gabe Vincent and Alex Len) that, prior to Monday night, hadn’t played a single minute together, per Cleaning the Glass.
It wasn’t just James that was out, either. It was Dorian Finney-Smith and Rui Hachimura, too. And just when Jaxson Hayes was starting to really settle in as the exact kind of short-roll connector that can, and often does, slice up these blitzing defenses, he was out, too, and it was Len in that spot.
Still, Lakers coach JJ Redick was not in the mood for excuses following the game. Redick categorized his team’s performance as a “very low-level communication game” and said “being shorthanded is [not] an excuse for how we played basketball tonight.”
“I think it was just an overall mentality to take shortcuts tonight,” Redick said. “They scored 20 points on us gambling [defensively]. They had 16 offensive rebounds. We ball-watched all night. They probably made six or seven uncontested 3s. Just shortcuts. You want to be a good team, you want to win in the NBA, you got to do the hard stuff.
“We couldn’t even pass to each other,” Redick continued as he became visibly frustrated. “We couldn’t enter our offense. Running ball screens literally at half court … I don’t know what we were doing.”
Dončić, despite being extremely effective as a playmaker and downhill creator, has not shot well with the Lakers, and he wasn’t shooting well with the Mavericks before he was traded either. He made just eight of 26 shots on Monday while missing seven of his 10 3-pointers.
“[We] should’ve made better decisions,” Dončić said. “I think we started the game doing a really good job, good decisions. But then we just kind of let go of the rope. We got comfortable.”
This would’ve been a big night for Reaves to step up in James’ absence but he was off as well, finishing 3 for 14 and 1 for 5 from 3.
“I just thought I played incredibly bad,” Reaves admitted. “When Bron’s out, I’ve got to be better, and I wasn’t, and that’s one of the reasons we lost.”
The Nets (22-42) don’t make life easy on anyone. They finally seem to have embraced the incentive they have to tank the rest of the way and lost seven straight before Monday. But even when they lose to good teams they push them to the limit.
Within that seven-game losing streak, they got up 22 on the Warriors and led Oklahoma City in the fourth quarter. It’s not shocking they would beat Lakers team playing without James, even if Redick and company aren’t going to use that as an excuse, as they shouldn’t.
Because the reality is, James is going to be out for a decent bit, and the Lakers’ upcoming schedule is no cakewalk with their next six games coming against Milwaukee, Denver, Phoenix, San Antonio, and Denver and Milwaukee again.
And these are crucial games, to say the least. With the loss on Monday, the Lakers (40-23) fell behind Denver, which beat Oklahoma City, into No. 3 in the West (tied in the loss column), and is just one game up on No. 4 Memphis and two up on No. 5 Houston with 19 games remaining.
Denver Nuggets guard Christian Braun didn’t enter this season trying to fill anyone’s shoes, but naturally comparisons happen when a two-time champion exits the team and everyone is looking at you to step up. The departure of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope this past summer left a vacancy in Denver’s backcourt, one that many expected Braun to fill.
“I think a lot of people probably look at it like that, but for me it was more what I bring to this roster is also complementary of what they want and what they need,” Braun said. “There’s a lot of similarities between [Caldwell-Pope] and me already. So I didn’t even change my game. I didn’t need to try to be Pope, but I tried to take things from him, learn things from him that he did when he was here, which is what I bring to this lineup.”
It wasn’t a guaranteed promotion for Braun, Nuggets head coach Michael Malone made sure of that. Malone is big on earning your minutes. “I never believe in just giving things away,” Malone said before the season. “I want guys to earn it and fight for it… Competition is healthy. Lucky for me, we have two young players who are going to make it a very tough decision.”
The two players Malone envisioned of battling for that starting spot were Braun and Julian Strawther, and to a lesser degree Peyton Watson. Braun showed enough during training camp and preseason to earn that starting spot on opening night, but says its “earned every day and every game.”
In his first season as a full-time starter, Braun’s doubled his scoring production from a year ago. He’s also averaging career highs in rebounds and assists, while improving his efficiency. Life tends to be easier when you’re playing next to Nikola Jokić, an all-time great who commands so much defensive attention that virtually every shot you’re going to take is open. But Braun still has to knock them down and finish at the rim, and he’s been doing it extremely efficiently this season.
Christian Braun’s year-to-year stats Year Minutes/G Points/G Rebounds/G Assists/G FG% 3P% 2024-25
33.5
15.3
5.1
2.4
56.9%
38.7%
2023-24
20.2
7.3
3.7
1.6
46.0%
38.4%
2022-23
15.5
4.7
2.4
0.8
49.5%
35.4%
The leap in his raw stats is a natural thing to see when a player goes from averaging just a hair over 20 minutes a game to 30+, but you typically see some sort of decline in efficiency. That hasn’t been the case for the Kansas product, especially at the rim.
Most of Braun’s shots come at the basket, often off transition finishes quarterbacked by the likes of Jokić, Jamal Murray and Russell Westbrook:
… Or backdoor cuts to the rim:
…Or inverted pick-and-rolls with Jokić as the ballhandler:
On all of those shots Braun’s shooting 70% at the rim, a 10% bump from a season ago, and he’s doing it on nearly double the attempts. He also owns a true-shooting percentage of 65.6%, which ranks fifth in the league for players averaging at least 30 minutes a game. True-shooting percentage accounts for 3s, 2s and free throws, making it a more holistic way to measure how efficient a player is. Guys near the top of that list are usually traditional centers and power forwards who get most of their buckets around the basket like Rudy Gobert or on close-range jumpers, like Jokić, as well as players who are incredibly efficient scorers and get to the line frequently, like Stephen Curry and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Well, besides Gobert, Braun has a higher TS% than all of those guys mentioned.
Braun is obviously not the focal point of the offense like many of those guys named, so his usage rate is significantly lower. But it’s the perfect example of starring in your role. And the fact that he’s been so efficient while having the heaviest workload of his career is nothing to scoff at.
“Anytime you see an improvement in any phase of a player’s game, it starts in the gym, being there getting reps in,” Malone said ahead of Braun posted a career-high 28 points in a loss to the Bulls in late January. “It’s not going to happen by accident. So [Braun] obviously understands that, ‘Hey, I got to be a more efficient finisher in traffic, getting to the foul line, running in transition.’ And so all those things that you’re seeing, any improvements, you know [Braun] deserves credit, because he’s definitely put the time in and become better in all areas across the board.”
The leap Braun’s taken came at a time when the Nuggets needed it most. Caldwell-Pope left in the offseason, leaving Denver without its 3-and-D mercenary who was relied on heavily during the team’s championship run in 2023. That, coupled with Aaron Gordon missing 20 games this season due to calf and ankle injuries, meant that the Nuggets were going to need one of their young guys to pop.
Braun’s taken on that challenge, and has played in all but one game this season, an impressive feat when availability has been a constant talking point across the league for years. Over Braun’s three-year career, he ranks eighth in the NBA in games played, and is tied with Mikal Bridges and Toumani Camara for third-most games played this season (min. 30 minutes/game).
“A big part of being valuable is being available, being reliable when the team needs you and being out there every single game,” Braun said. “[Not missing games] is a goal of mine. It’s really important because you get paid to play and you get paid to be available, so I want to be out there as much as possible.”
Over the last six weeks, Braun’s only elevated his game to another level, highlighted by a 25-point outing against the Phoenix Suns on March 7, where he hit what would’ve been the game-winning 3-pointer had Kevin Durant not spoiled the moment by sending the game to overtime on the next possession. He finished with 25 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the floor, including a 4-of-5 showing from 3-point range, in a near-perfect performance from the third-year guard.
Braun has been the ideal complementary player next to Jokić and Jamal Murray. He knows where to move on the floor to get himself open, when to cut if Jokić or Murray are getting swarmed, and always has his hands ready out on the perimeter to catch a no-look pass from Jokić or a kick-out from Murray for a 3-pointer.
“Since Day 1 he was that guy who was going to run hard in transition, play good defense and take the open looks,” Jokić said after a late February game where Braun finished with 26 points on 12-of-14 shooting from the floor. “Some nights he’s going to score 26 points, some nights he’ll score 14 or 10, but I like the mindset and how he’s playing. We don’t have another player like him on our team.”
It’s not just the offense where Braun has taken strides, he’s been tasked with more responsibility on the defensive side of the ball, too. He’s not a lockdown defender by any means, but he has great instincts that can sometimes result in a turnover, kickstarting Denver’s transition offense, which ranks fifth in scoring. His size allows him to guard multiple positions, and the energy he plays with usually leads to deflections or steals.
There will be some tough competition for Most Improved Player, but Braun (who has the third-shortest odds at +3000 behind Cade Cunningham and Dyson Daniels) has more than done enough to at least be in the conversation. There’s been times where he’s been the third-best player for the Nuggets, and he’s come up clutch on a number of occasions already. The next big test will be to see if this production carries over into the playoffs, where the Nuggets will need him to sustain that efficiency if they want to go on a deep run in the gauntlet that is the Western Conference.
But Braun’s already passed each test the Nuggets give him, so the chances of him extending this breakout year into the postseason is high.
“I’m just trying to continue to be good at what I was good at before,” Braun said. “Don’t change anything. Don’t try and be somebody else. Don’t try to fill another person’s shoes. Just kind of be me. Do what I do as best as possible.”
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. That’s the attitude Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas had when he turned down the chance to appear in HBO’s new docuseries, “Celtics City.”
Thomas, who had a starring role in the rivalry between the Pistons and Celtics in the 1980s, didn’t want to be portrayed as a villain. That’s what Thomas thought happened in “The Last Dance,” a docuseries about Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls.
Having gone through that experience once, Thomas elected not to risk anything this time around.
“I decided not to do the Boston documentary because of what Jordan and ‘The Last Dance’ did,” Thomas told SiriusXM NBA Radio. “They totally set me up and blindsided me. I wasn’t gonna get fooled twice. I just decided not to participate in the documentary and be able to talk about it. I wasn’t gonna go on film and sit there and potentially be set up again like I was set up in ‘The Last Dance.'”
From 1985-1991, the Celtics and Pistons met in the playoffs five times. Four of those matchups came in the second round or later. Thomas and Celtics legend Larry Bird were at the center of it all with Boston taking the first two of the five before Thomas and Detroit rattled off three in a row.
Nuggets’ Christian Braun, one of NBA’s most efficient scorers, has entered MIP discussion with breakout season Jasmyn Wimbish Nuggets’ Christian Braun, one of NBA’s most efficient scorers, has entered MIP discussion with breakout season It would have been interesting to get Thomas’ perspective on the rivalry, but he had already felt burnt once by a former foe. Perhaps one day Thomas will open up more about his side of the story.
The Philadelphia 76ers survived a scare against the Miami Heat in their play-in game Wednesday night, escaping with a 105-104 win, setting up a first-round matchup against the No. 2-seeded New York Knicks. It took overcoming a 14-point deficit and Nicolas Batum catching fire off the bench for 20 points on 6 of 10 from deep for the Sixers to get past Miami. And yet, as close of a call as that win was, Philadelphia is already trash talking ahead of its meeting with the Knicks.
Backup center Paul Reed didn’t shy away when talking about the upcoming matchup with New York, and said that the Sixers wanted to play the Knicks.
“We ain’t ducking no smoke, but yeah, we wanted the Knicks matchup, of course,” Reed said on Run It Back. “That’s the easier team I guess, but you know it’s going to be fun, we match up pretty well. They got a great guard, we got a great guard, we also got Joel, MVP, so like you said earlier, he’s one of the most unstoppable guys in the league right now. They’re gonna have to send triple teams, and he’s gonna get everybody else involved.”
This is both A: confirming that the Sixers are relieved not to have to play the Celtics in the first round and B: that they do not fear the Knicks. Surely, no team in the East would want to play the Celtics in the first round, given how dominant they’ve been all season, and yes, New York is the inferior team when holding them up to Boston. But this feels like one of those situations where you don’t want to poke the bear.
Despite all the injuries the Knicks have had, they managed to finish the season strong, and Jalen Brunson played himself into the fringes of the MVP conversation as well as the All-NBA First Team chatter as well. The Knicks have also had the fifth-best net rating in the league since the All-Star break, so throwing verbal jabs after just beating a Heat team that was playing with a hobbled Jimmy Butler doesn’t seem like a great strategy.
The Knicks may not be the Celtics, but going against them isn’t going to be a walk in the park for Philadelphia. We just saw in that Heat game how unreliable Tobias Harris can be in must-win situations, and Kelly Oubre Jr. wasn’t exactly lighting up the scoreboard, finishing the game with 11 points on a poor 3 of 9 from the floor. If it weren’t for Batum coming to life in the second half the Sixers could very well be preparing for another play-in game against the Bulls instead of a postseason series with New York.
This isn’t to say that the Sixers aren’t right in being confident entering this series. As Reed said, Embiid is difficult to gameplan for, and he was on track to win MVP for the second consecutive year had he not gone down with a meniscus injury. Prior to that injury, the Sixers were humming along and looked like the team that could meet the Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals. But this feels like one of those “be careful what you wished for” situations, and against a Knicks team that has been playing incredibly well as of late, it doesn’t seem wise to give them more motivation before you head into Madison Square Garden to try and beat them.
Bruce Brown’s stock dropped so low by the 2022 free agency that his former team, the Brooklyn Nets, didn’t even make a significant attempt to re-sign him. Why would they? They already had a questionable shooter who could handle the ball and defend multiple positions. His name… and I promise I’m not kidding… was Ben Simmons. So Brown hit the open market. The best he could do was a two-year, $13 million tax-payer mid-level contract with the Nuggets.
Well, that turned out to be one of the best decisions of his career. Brown’s shot improved just enough for the rest of his versatile skill set to flourish in the right setting. His high basketball IQ made him an immediate fit within Denver’s cerebral offense, and his positional versatility made him an essential defensive cog on their way to a championship. Brown closed some games for Denver during that title run. Even when he didn’t, he was by far their most reserved.
Fast forward to the 2023 offseason, and Brown is suddenly a household name. He immediately inks a two-year, $45 million deal with the Indiana Pacers after sparking a bidding war that seemingly included every contender in the NBA. It’s amazing what a difference one strong playoff run can make for a player. It’s even more amazing what it can do for a team. The Nuggets, in part because of Brown, won their first championship in franchise history.
Every NBA postseason includes a player or two like Brown, someone that the wider NBA fan base doesn’t quite know in April but has fallen in love with by June. So with the playoffs now at hand, we’re going to try to identify who those players might be during the 2024 postseason.
Peyton Watson We’re beginning with Brown’s immediate replacement. That title comes directly from Denver’s general manager, who didn’t just expect Peyton Watson to fill in for Brown, but to surpass them. “Some of these teams were trying to get Bruce, trying to make it worth it; it’s like, just be careful what you wish for,” Booth told The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor after Brown left for Indiana. “Peyton’s bigger. He’s longer. He’s more athletic. He guards better. He passes better.”
I’m going to set the bar higher. Watson isn’t just a better defender than Brown. Watson is the best defender on the Denver Nuggets roster. Yes, that includes All-Defense candidates Aaron Gordon and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. Watson doesn’t play their minutes yet, so such accolades are still beyond his grasp. But the metrics favor the second-year forward. Watson had the best Defensive Estimated Plus-Minus on the Team this season. He trailed only Nikola Jokic in terms of Defensive Box Plus-Minus within Denver’s rotation, and on a per-minute basis, the same was true for Defensive Win Shares. I may have just bored you with the analytics. I promise, I’m not going to bore you with the clips. Because dear god, how did he do this?
Peyton Watson jumped over Nikola Jokic as he tried to block Jaylen Brown 😅pic.twitter.com/58KLw2SXEG
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) March 8, 2024 Or this…
INCREDIBLE block from Peyton Watson in transition but what I love is that he stays in the play to contest CJ McCollum’s layup after the offensive rebound. pic.twitter.com/ReoXzSMppg
— Matt Brooks (@MattBrooksNBA) January 13, 2024 We’d be here all day if I shared every incredible Peyton Watson block, yet he doesn’t really chase them. It’s just the natural result of his combination of length, reflexes and closing speed. It turns out those are traits that translate to basically every tenet of defense. Kevin Durant shot 6-of-20 when matched up against Watson this season. Paul George shot 4-of-13. LeBron James shot 4-of-11. Again, we could go on, but we just don’t have the time.
Watson’s weakness is his shooting. Most teams would struggle to compensate for a 29.6% 3-point shooter from deep playing any position other than center. Playing with Nikola Jokic has its advantages. He’s not nearly as adept a cutter as Gordon is yet, but he can capably fill in for him as Jokic’s alley-oop muse for stretches. When Jokic goes to the bench in the playoffs, Gordon will move to center and Watson will fill in at power forward. Not great spacing. Utterly absurd athleticism for an offense that’s used to moving and passing more than most.
If Denver wins the championship again this season, Watson will be to them what Brown was a year ago: not quite as important as the core starters, but utterly essential nonetheless. The key difference? He’s not going anywhere with two years left on his rookie deal. My condolences to the rest of the Western Conference.
Jonathan Isaac Oh, we’re talking about under-the-radar defenders now? Might as well cover the best of them all. Jonathan Isaac only played 15.8 minutes per game this season. Within those minutes, he was the best defensive player in basketball. Better than Victor Wembanyama. Better than Rudy Gobert. Better than anyone. I’ve covered him in more depth here. In the meantime, enjoy my favorite screenshot of the season.
Jonathan Isaac blocked this dunk attempt.
Look at where he is. Look at where KAT is. Look at where the ball is. Just a breathtaking piece of defense by the best per-minute defender in the NBA. pic.twitter.com/YdjjCB6vrH
— Sam Quinn (@SamQuinnCBS) February 3, 2024 The Nuggets can get a player on this list playing bench minutes because, well, they might win the championship. It would be much harder to justify 15 minutes of Isaac as a breakout candidate. That’s where this gets interesting.
Orlando limited Isaac’s minutes for medical reasons. They slowly ramped him up down the stretch. And then, in the season finale, he was in the starting lineup and played 26 minutes. That’s meaningful for a variety of reasons. The biggest is that it means more minutes playing alongside Jalen Suggs, which the rotation rarely allowed during the regular season. During the 183 minutes they did play together across Orlando’s first 82 games, that pairing held opponents to 98.1 points per 100 possessions. Do you know how long it’s been since an NBA team had a defensive rating that low over a full season? I’ll give you a hint: every player on that roster is now retired except for Derrick Rose and Taj Gibson.
If Orlando starts the Isaac-Suggs pairing and plays them together for a meaningful number of minutes, the Cleveland Cavaliers aren’t going to be able to score in the first round. Think about the longer-term implications of such an outcome. There is a reasonable chance that two weeks from now, the Donovan Mitchell era in Cleveland will have ended in a storm of Isaac blocks. The Magic aren’t quite ready for championship contention, but they’re certainly ready to break up the Cavaliers.
Deuce McBride Denver gets away with a bit more questionable shooting than most teams because of Jokic. The Knicks are a bit more conventional and, at times, old fashioned. They like to play non-shooting big men. That makes their non-shooting wings a tougher sell. Josh Hart is the prime example here. He does too many important things for the Knicks to adequately list in a single sentence, but when it came down to it against Miami last season, his shooting was problematic. The Heat never guarded him. He shot 3-of-13 from 3-point range. The Knicks scored only 106.3 points per 100 possessions with him on the floor and lost the series largely on offense.
In a perfect world, Hart makes his 3’s and this isn’t an issue. But the playoffs are messy, and Hart shot just 32.3% on wide-open 3’s during the regular season. Series are won or lost based on what sort of pivots a coach is willing to make when these things happen. If defenses won’t defend Hart, McBride is Thibodeau’s pivot.
His playing time has been… erratic. In the span of a single week in March, he had one game in which he played under 12 minutes and another in which he played all 48. Availability contributed to that disparity but so did Thibodeau’s propensity for shorter rotations. When you’re in with him, you’re in. When someone he likes better returns, you might lose 30 minutes through no fault of your own.
McBride isn’t quite as “jack of all trades” as Hart. He certainly doesn’t rebound like him, for instance, and until this season, he fell into the shaky shooter bucket as well. But in the calendar year of 2024, he’s averaged five 3-point attempts per game and made just under 41% of them. He’s not going to be left open, but he’s not a defense-for-offense sacrifice like, say, Bojan Bogdanovic is. He can’t defend quite as high on the positional spectrum as Hart, but he brings similar traits against most perimeter players. Against guards, he’s a shade better, a useful card to play when OG Anunoby has a higher-priority assignment.
McBride won’t and shouldn’t replace Hart outright. There’s a reason Thibodeau trusts Hart so much, after all. But there will be a game or two in which Hart’s shot isn’t falling, and the outcome is going to hinge on the shots McBride makes in his place. His role will continue to be erratic, but he’s at the top of the list of “unheralded role players likeliest to swing an important playoff game.”
Isaiah Joe Enough with these tough, gritty defenders. Let’s talk fireworks. Joe attempts over 11 3-pointers per 100 possessions and makes 41.6% of them. Among players with consistent rotation roles, the only other players to do that this season were Luke Kennard, CJ McCollum and Sam Hauser.
Kennard is a worthwhile starting point for this conversation because we saw how wildly he could swing a playoff series last season when Taylor Jenkins slowly realized that putting him on the floor was the only way Memphis was going to consistently score against the Lakers. This isn’t a typo: the Grizzlies were 28.6 points per 100 possessions better offensively against the Lakers with Kennard on the floor. There were rumblings that he might replace Dillon Brooks in the starting lineup for Game 6. Instead he got hurt, and the Lakers blew the Grizzlies out by 40 in the series clincher.
That’s an extreme example, but it shows just how much a single, elite shooter can complicate life for an opposing defense in a playoff series when the rest of that offense can generate rim pressure. Any team that faces Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in a playoff series is going to focus the entirety of its game plan on keeping him away from the basket. Having Josh Giddey on the floor creates a convenient help spot for defenses. Whenever those defenses seem to realize that, Mark Daigneault dials the difficulty meter up to 11 and says, “OK, try to stop Shai now that our real spacer is on the floor.”
This tends to be Daigneault’s “we’re not messing around anymore” adjustment in big games. When the Thunder faced the Clippers in a critical seeding matchup right after the All-Star break, for instance, they led by only two at halftime after starting Giddey. When they emerged for the second half, Joe had replaced Giddey in the starting lineup. The Thunder won by 22.
We’re going to see this adjustment quickly in the playoffs. Giddey will almost certainly remain a starter throughout the postseason, but he’s going to cede more and more high-leverage minutes to Joe as defenses get more and more aggressive in ignoring him. This has suited the Thunder just fine all season. Joe has the best offensive rating on the team. They are so stout and so creative everywhere else defensively that they can endure his presence there. It’s worth it when he swings a game with four 3’s in a quarter.
Daniel Gafford You could realistically list essentially the entire Dallas supporting cast as breakout candidates. P.J. Washington, in typical “rescued from a bad team” fashion, has gone from a toolsy but inconsistent defender in Charlotte to an essential part of what has been the NBA’s best defense for the past month in Dallas. Dante Exum returned from Barcelona as a stellar defender and a passable jump-shooter. Dereck Lively emerged from Duke as a teenager somehow more polished at center than most 30-year-olds. All of them will play essential parts in any extended Mavericks run.
None are quite as interesting as Daniel Gafford, who is steadily emerging Luka Doncic’s basketball soulmate. Gafford has made 145 total shots as a Maverick. Exactly 40% of them, 58, have been assisted by Doncic. That number might not seem huge, but remember, every other Maverick combined has assisted Gafford 59 times. Doncic is matching his entire team when it comes to passing to this single player. Doncic actually has outpaced his entire roster when it comes to assisting Lively, and their relevant offensive numbers are somewhat similar. Both are shooting above 74% from the floor on all of the easy looks Doncic creates. Both are scoring at least 1.36 points per possession as pick-and-roll finishers, again, largely with Doncic as their table-setter.
But where Gafford stands out here is defensively. Lively has all of the tools to be a defensive star, and he flashes them frequently. But rookies tend to be vulnerable defensively in the playoffs, and the lineup data suggests that Lively still has plenty to work on as a defender. Gafford, for basically his entire NBA career, seemingly did as well. And then he got to Dallas and turned into Rudy Gobert. The Mavericks are allowing only 108.2 points per 100 possessions during his minutes this season, a hair below Minnesota’s full-season number. He’s blocking more than three shots per 100 possessions. Since Gafford’s acquisition, no team has allowed a lower field goal percentage in the restricted area than Dallas at 62.7%. The pre-Gafford Mavericks ranked 29th at 70.2%.
The sample is way too small to jump to conclusions, and there are other extenuating factors at play here. But for the price of a single first-round pick, the Mavericks have thus far stumbled into what is essentially the perfect Doncic center: an unstoppable rim-runner that protects the basket at the other end. Lively is going to be that player, too, someday. For now, it’s the Gafford show, and if he keeps this up throughout the postseason, there’s a real chance that the Mavericks are going to the Finals.
This is an article version of the CBS Sports HQ AM Newsletter, the ultimate guide to every day in sports. You can sign up to get it in your inbox every weekday morning here.
CBS Sports HQ Newsletter We bring sports news that matters to your inbox, to help you stay informed and get a winning edge.
I agree to receive the “CBS Sports HQ Newsletter” and marketing communications, updates, special offers (including partner offers), and other information from CBS Sports and the Paramount family of companies. By pressing sign up, I confirm that I have read and agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge Paramount’s Privacy Policy. Email Address 🏀 🏒 🏈 Good morning to everyone but especially to … YOU! — SPORTS FANS EVERYWHERE
No one, and I mean no one, is having a better morning than diehard sports fans. Arguably the one of the best part of the sports calendar begins tonight, and the next two months will feature playoff action in the NBA and NHL virtually every single night.
On Friday, the NBA playoff first-round matchups will be solidified with the final two Play-In Tournament games. The Heat and Bulls will battle in Miami for the East’s No. 8 seed, while the Pelicans will host the Kings to see who captures the final playoff spot in the West.
After that the first round begins in earnest on Saturday afternoon, and it’ll roll through Sunday night.
Saturday
Game 1: Magic at Cavaliers, 1 p.m. on ESPN Game 1: Suns at Timberwolves, 3:30 p.m. on ESPN Game 1: 76ers at Knicks, 6 p.m. on ESPN Game 1: Lakers at Nuggets, 8:30 p.m. on ABC Sunday
Game 1: Heat or Bulls at Celtics, 1 p.m. on ABC Game 1: Mavericks at Clippers, 3:30 p.m. on ABC Game 1: Pacers at Bucks, 7 p.m. on TNT Game 1: Pelicans or Kings at Thunder, 9:30 p.m. on TNT Before the first round tips off, be sure to get caught up on our expert picks at CBS Sports. Our NBA analysts reveal their brackets and make their Finals predictions.
The NBA isn’t the only league that begins its postseason this weekend. The NHL playoffs will also fire up its 16 teams chasing down the Stanley Cup, with 12 of them taking the ice this weekend. (Stars-Golden Knights and Kings-Oilers will open their series on Monday night.)
Saturday
Game 1: Islanders at Hurricanes, 5 p.m. on TBS Game 1: Maple Leafs at Bruins, 8 p.m. on TBS Sunday
Game 1: Lightning at Panthers, 12:30 p.m. on ESPN Game 1: Capitals vs. Rangers, 3 p.m. on ESPN Game 1: Avalanche at Jets, 7 p.m. on ESPN2 Game 1: Predators at Canucks, 10 p.m. on ESPN Those schedules are a beautiful sight, but — wait — there’s still more.
In addition to the frenzy of 14 NBA and NHL playoff series starting in a 36-hour span, the 2024 NFL Draft is less than a week away. As the first round draws ever closer, keep it locked on CBS Sports’ coverage, which includes a slew of mock drafts and the latest information on what teams will do when the clock starts ticking.
👍 Honorable mentions Rangers pitching prospect Jack Leiter struck out the first batter he faced in his MLB debut. Former 5-star CB Cormani McClain is getting his shot at redemption with Colorado. The Lions unveiled new uniforms for the 2024 season, including alternate black jerseys. Kentucky star Reed Sheppard, the Freshman of the Year, has declared for the 2024 NBA Draft. 😩 And not such a good morning for… untitled-design-2024-04-18t232230-038.png Getty Images THE MIAMI HEAT
The Heat will host the Bulls tonight with the East’s No. 8 seed on the line. If the Heat are going to earn a shot at the NBA’s best, the top-seeded Celtics, they will have to do so without Jimmy Butler.
On Tuesday, Butler exited during the first quarter of Miami’s loss to the 76ers with a knee injury, but he was able to return. Unfortunately for the Heat, Butler suffered a sprained MCL that will keep him out of Friday’s do-or-die game, the team announced on Thursday. Heat Culture aside, expect Miami to have an uphill battle all night as the offense certainly doesn’t get better with Butler on the bench, as our own Colin Ward-Henninger points out.
Ward-Henninger: “What Butler brings on both ends of the court — not to mention his leadership — simply cannot be replaced by anyone on the Heat roster. Miami’s offense landed in the bottom-10 during the regular season and dropped significantly with Butler off the floor. In his minutes, the Heat averaged 116 points per 100 possessions, compared to 109 when he was on the bench.” In Butler’s 60 regular season games, he averaged 20.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game. And the loss of that production puts Miami’s run of four straight playoff appearances in jeopardy. On the other side, all eyes will be on Chicago’s Coby White, who exploded for 42 points in Wednesday’s win over the Hawks.
👎 Not so honorable mentions Leiter also surrendered eight hits and seven earned runs in 3.2 innings of work. The Red Sox placed OF Tyler O’Neill on the concussion list amidst a hot start to the 2024 season. Both the Eagles and the Packers may be prevented from wearing green when they play in Brazil next season. 😲 76ers’ Reed delivers bulletin board material to the Knicks untitled-design-2024-04-18t225736-422.png Getty Images This time of year, NBA teams are scouring news clippings in hopes of finding bulletin board material for the playoffs. Luckily for the Knicks, 76ers center Paul Reed delivered some to their front door, free of charge.
After the Sixers edged the Heat to secure the No. 7 seed and a first-round series with the Knicks, Reed said the quiet part out loud when asked about that matchup on “Run It Back.”
Reed: “We ain’t ducking no smoke, but, yeah, we wanted the Knicks matchup, of course. That’s the easier team I guess, but you know it’s going to be fun, we match up pretty well. They got a great guard, we got a great guard, we also got Joel, MVP, so like you said earlier, he’s one of the most unstoppable guys in the league right now. They’re gonna have to send triple teams, and he’s gonna get everybody else involved.” That textbook example of oversharing may come back to bite Reed and the 76ers. The Knicks may not be the Celtics, but they won 50 games, got the 2 seed and beat Philly 3-1 head-to-head this season. Reed will get the chance to back up his words starting Saturday when the series tips off at Madison Square Garden.
🚚 Coyotes bid farewell to Arizona in advance of move to Utah untitled-design-2024-04-18t235307-009.png Getty Images Over the last week, the worst-kept secret in the NHL was the news that the Coyotes would be moving to Utah. On Thursday, the NHL Board of Governors officially approved the Coyotes’ relocation to Salt Lake City.
Ryan Smith, who also owns the NBA’s Jazz, purchased the Coyotes’ players and assets from former owner Alex Meruelo. The team will make the move this summer, and the NHL will make its Utah debut this fall.
This marks the first time the NHL has relocated a franchise since the Thrashers moved from Atlanta to Winnipeg and became the Jets in 2011, but the “Coyotes” aren’t necessarily dead. Meruelo will have the opportunity to reactivate the franchise in the next five years, as long as he meets certain requirements.
One of those requirements will probably be finding a permanent home for the team. The lack of an arena was one of the major reasons why the Coyotes are now packing up for the Beehive State. The team spent the last two seasons in Mullett Arena, a 5,000-seat venue it shared with Arizona State. A plan to build an arena and entertainment district in Tempe faced a lot of opposition and was rejected by voters.
The Coyotes also failed to put a respectable product on the ice. With one playoff berth in the last 12 seasons, the postseason was about as common as finding ice in the desert. Alas, the Coyotes did go out with a 5-2 win over the Oilers on Wednesday. Defenseman Sean Durzi scored the last goal, and fans were emotional as they bid farewell to the Yotes, at least, for now.
🏈 Patriots revamp offense in Josh Edwards’ mock draft getty-jayden-daniels-lsu.jpg Getty Images The NFL Draft will give the Patriots the chance to rejuvenate what has become a stale offense. In his latest seven-round mock draft for CBS Sports, Josh Edwards laid out his plan for New England to do just that.
Watching the Patriots’ offense over the last two years has been akin to watching grass grow, only less fun. Last season, they were tied with the Panthers for dead last in scoring offense. With the No. 3 overall pick on Thursday night, New England can start to address that problem under new head coach Jerod Mayo.
In his new mock draft, Edwards has the Patriots selecting LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels. The Mac Jones experiment is over, and so the Pats must find a long-term solution under center in the post-Brady, post-Belichick era.
Edwards: “There’s simply no way in my mind the Patriots move out of this spot and/or don’t take a quarterback. The way the offseason has gone — and the way the last three years have gone — they have to.” The Pats’ offensive-minded approach doesn’t end there in the mock draft. Edwards also has them adding three more offensive pieces throughout the weekend.
Round 2: Ladd McConkey | WR | Georgia Round 3: Roger Rosengarten | OT | Washington Round 5: Brenden Rice | WR | USC 📺 What we’re watching this weekend Friday
🏀 Play-In: Bulls at Heat, 7 p.m. on ESPN ⚾ Rangers at Braves, 7:20 p.m. on Apple TV+ 🏀 Play-In: Kings at Pelicans, 9:30 p.m. on TNT
Saturday
🏀 Game 1: Magic at Cavaliers, 1 p.m. on ESPN 🏀 Game 1: Suns at Timberwolves, 3:30 p.m. on ESPN ⚾ Mets at Dodgers, 4:05 p.m. on FS1 🏒 Game 1: Islanders at Hurricanes, 5 p.m. on TBS 🏀 Game 1: 76ers at Knicks, 6 p.m. on ESPN 🏒 Game 1: Maple Leafs at Bruins, 8 p.m. on TBS 🏀 Game 1: Lakers at Nuggets, 8:30 p.m. on ABC
Sunday
🏒 Game 1: Lightning at Panthers, 12:30 p.m. on ESPN 🏒 Game 1: Capitals at Rangers, 3 p.m. on ESPN 🏀 Game 1: Mavericks at Clippers, 3:30 p.m. on ABC 🏀 Game 1: Pacers at Bucks, 7 p.m. on TNT ⚾ Rangers at Braves, 7:10 p.m. on ESPN
Mississippi State has hired Oklahoma offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby as its next football coach, the school announced on Sunday. Lebby oversaw the Big 12’s top-ranked offense during the 2023 regular season, his second in Norman, as the Sooners posted a 10-2 record under second-year coach Brent Venables. Lebby is being hired on a five-year deal, according to ESPN.
Lebby, 39, replaces Zach Arnett, who was fired Nov. 13 amid a 4-6 start in his first season guiding the program. Arnett was promoted from defensive coordinator in December 2022 following the death of Mike Leach, who served as Mississippi State’s coach since the 2020 campaign. The Bulldogs were 1-6 in SEC play under Arnett.
“As we continue to invest in excellence at Mississippi State, the future of our football program is incredibly bright with the addition of Jeff Lebby at the helm,” Mississippi State athletic director Zac Selmon said in a statement. “I am confident that Jeff is the perfect leader for the next exciting chapter of Mississippi State football. He will bring an exciting brand of football, elite student-athlete development, and a winning culture to Starkville, all while doing so with high integrity. He is a dynamic recruiter who will attract an elite coaching staff and the nation’s top talent. There is no doubt in my mind that Jeff’s leadership, vision, and resilient work ethic will take this program to incredible heights. We could not be more excited to welcome Jeff, his wife Staley, and their children Kora and Kane to the Mississippi State family. It is a great time to be a Bulldog and only going to get better.”
This will be Lebby’s first head coaching job. He has previous SEC experience as the offensive coordinator at Ole Miss, a role he held under coach Lane Kiffin from 2020-21. The Rebels won 10 regular-season games and reached the Sugar Bowl during Lebby’s second and final year on staff in Oxford in 2021. Other assistant stops for Lebby include UCF (2018-19) and Baylor (2008-16), where he coached under his father-in-law, Art Briles.
Lebby’s departure comes as Oklahoma prepares to join the SEC in 2024 along with Texas. The Sooners played their final Big 12 conference game Friday in a 69-45 home win against TCU and were officially eliminated from Big 12 title contention Saturday. with Oklahoma State’s win over BYU.
Lebby’s track record of offensive success It’s not surprising that Mississippi State has settled on an offensive-minded coach like Lebby to replace Arnett after the Bulldogs faltered on that side of the ball in 2023. Mississippi State finished last in the SEC in scoring, averaging 21.8 points per game as the Bulldogs stumbled to a 4-6 finish. They were held to 10 points or less four times in their final six games of the season.
Lebby is no stranger to working with high-powered offenses that haven’t been afraid to move the ball through the air. At Oklahoma, Lebby has worked hands on with quarterback Dillon Gabriel, who just wrapped up his second-consecutive 3,000-yard passing campaign in Lebby’s system after the two also overlapped for a year at UCF in 2019. Bolstered by Gabriel’s success, the Sooners owned the Big 12’s top-ranked offense during the 2023 regular season, averaging 502.4 yards and 43.2 points per contest.
Prior to Oklahoma, Lebby oversaw success at Ole Miss with quarterback Matt Corral, who passed for more than 3,000 yards in both 2020 and 2021 under Lebby’s guidance before becoming a third-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. Lebby’s first of two seasons at UCF in 2018 featured success with quarterback McKenzie Milton, and his lengthy run at Baylor saw a number of prolific quarterbacks come through the program — most notably, Heisman-winner Robert Griffin III — as the Bears regular boasted high-powered offenses. Lebby began as an offensive quality control coach at Baylor before coaching running backs and later becoming the Bears’ passing-game coordinator.
Lebby’s association with Baylor, particularly his familial relationship with Briles, has made for a rocky road at times. Lebby was on staff in Waco, Texas, when Briles was dismissed in May 2016 amid the sexual assault scandal that rocked the program. Earlier this year, Lebby was forced to apologize after he was spotted hosting Briles on the field at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium — Briles was wearing a Sooners-branded shirt — following Oklahoma’s Week 2 victory against SMU.
Championship Week has arrived in college football with 10 conference title games set to unfold. Conference USA and the Pac-12 kick it off Friday night with the other eight games coming on Saturday. Every Power 5 conference title game could potentially impact the final College Football Playoff field. The latest SportsLine consensus Championship Week odds list No. 5 Oregon at -9.5 against No. 3 Washington in the Pac-12 title game on Friday.
On Saturday, No. 7 Texas is -14 against No. 19 Oklahoma State in the Big 12 title game, No. 1 Georgia is -5 against No. 8 Alabama in the SEC title game (4 p.m. ET, CBS), No. 4 Florida State is -3.5 against No. 15 Louisville in the ACC title game and No. 2 Michigan is -23 against No. 18 Iowa in the Big Ten title game. Before locking in any Championship Week college football picks, be sure to see the college football betting guide from legendary Vegas handicapper Bruce Marshall.
For years Vegas-based Marshall was synonymous with The Gold Sheet, the famed sports betting newsletter. With a background in play-by-play work and sports information while in college, Marshall joined TGS in 1981 when hired by the legendary Mort Olshan and served as executive editor for many years. He now supplies his unique and colorful brand of football and basketball analysis to SportsLine members.
An in-demand guest on numerous sports talk radio and TV shows across the country, Bruce’s vast array of editorial work has been featured in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the New York Post and many other outlets. He has won various handicapping titles and also is working on several book projects.
Now, using his Tech Corner technique, Marshall has turned his attention to the latest college football odds for Week 14 and evaluated each matchup. Head here to see every pick.
Top college football predictions for Championship Week One of the top college football picks Marshall is recommending for Week 14: He is backing No. 2 Michigan to cover the 23-point spread against No. 18 Iowa in the Big Ten Championship Game in Indianapolis at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday. He also likes the Under (35) in that matchup.
Michigan failed to cover in its first four games of the season, but has gone 6-2 against the spread since that point. The Wolverines tacked on a late field goal in The Game against Ohio State last week to win by six and cover the 3-point spread in that one. And while these teams didn’t meet in 2023, Michigan covered a 10.5-point spread when they played in 2022. Iowa is also on a seven-game Under streak, making that the value play on the total.
“The Wolverines are 11-3-1 vs. line in Big Ten play since early 2022, and 17-5-2 vs. points in Big Ten play since late 2021,” Marshall told SportsLine. See which other picks to make here.
How to make college football picks for Championship Week Marshall has evaluated every other matchup and he’s backing a team on a 17-7 roll against the spread. Get betting analysis for each matchup at SportsLine.
Texas A&M has hired Duke’s Mike Elko as its next football coach, the school announced on Monday. The former Aggies defensive coordinator emerged as the top choice, sources told CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd, one day after a pending deal between Texas A&M and Kentucky coach Mark Stoops reportedly fell apart.
“Coach Mike Elko is one of the best leaders and coaches in college football and has had high-level success at each stop of his career,” Texas A&M athletic director Ross Bjork said. “He is known amongst coaching circles as one of the best defensive minds in the country and has shown his ability to lead and turn around a program as a Power 5 head coach.”
Elko, 46, quickly became a favorite among Texas A&M faithful after a highly successful run with the Aggies as defensive coordinator under former coach Jimbo Fisher. He came to Texas A&M after successful stints at Wake Forest and Notre Dame as part of Fisher’s initial staff in 2018. Under his watch, the Aggies defense ranked among the best units in the country, especially against the run.
During his tenure as defensive coordinator, Texas A&M went 34-14, capped by a 9-1 Orange Bowl campaign in 2020. The Aggies also began their run recruiting at an elite level, during which they were especially effective when it came to locking down standout prospects on the defensive side of the ball.
The longtime defensive coordinator left to take over at Duke in 2022. In his first season, Elko led the Blue Devils to an impressive 9-4 campaign, its best mark since 2014. He followed it up with a 7-5 record in 2023 despite dealing with major issues at the quarterback position.
After Elko left Texas A&M, the Aggies went just 12-12 over the next two seasons. Fisher was fired just 10 games into his sixth season earlier this month. Elko is now tasked with guiding Texas A&M back to SEC contention as the league prepares to add Texas and Oklahoma in the 2024 season.
Texas A&M interim coach Elijah Robinson, who was hired away from Baylor as part of Elko’s first defensive staff with the Aggies, is expected to stay on Elko’s staff. Several players had publicly expressed support for Robinson to receive the full-time job.
Maintaining the roster Texas A&M recruited at an elite level over the past several years, reaching No. 4 in the 247Sports Team Talent Composite. Hiring Elko and retaining Robinson is a direct attempt to try and keep together one of the most talented rosters in Texas A&M history.
Star wide receiver Evan Stewart, a former five-star recruit, did not travel with the team to play against LSU. Fellow wide receiver Raymond Cottrell officially entered the portal and is rated the No. 3 overall player. More players could be on their way to the portal if things aren’t handled right. Elko is the safest option to salvage this talent and field a strong team in 2024 as he begins his quest of guiding the Aggies to prominence in an expanded SEC.
Leaning on substance Texas A&M was linked with numerous high-profile candidates over the course of the search but ultimately decided to lean with familiarity over flash. The good news? Texas A&M has found success in the past with a similar plan.
After Jackie Sherrill resigned in 1988, the Aggies promoted legendary defensive coordinator R.C. Slocum to the top position. He went on to become the most successful coach in modern program history. His 72.2% winning percentage ranks as the best since Dana X. Bible in 1928 as Slocum won four conference championships in 14 years. The Aggies have not won a conference crown since.
Key assistants One of the greatest stumbling blocks for a defensive coordinator becoming a head coach is overlooking the offense. Elko quickly dismissed that concern, hiring well-regarded offensive coordinator Kevin Johns from Memphis to run his offense at Duke. Despite playing a backup quarterback for half the season, the Blue Devils averaged nearly 28 points per game.
Elko will have an open checkbook to put together his staff, especially considering that he should come at a relative bargain. According to tax documents, Elko made just $3.5 million after signing a contract extension through 2029 at Duke. The Aggies can double his salary and still identify the top choices on the market.
A handful of former Texas A&M assistants followed Elko to Duke, including defensive coordinator Tyler Santucci and cornerbacks coach Ishmael Aristide. Elko will have to weigh bringing the band back together vs. looking forward with proven SEC pros on his first staff.
Top-ranked Georgia will try to finalize its spot in the College Football Playoff when it faces No. 8 Alabama in the SEC Championship game on Saturday afternoon (4 p.m. ET, CBS). The Bulldogs capped off their third straight undefeated regular season with a 31-23 win over Georgia Tech last week, despite missing three of their top five receivers and a starting offensive lineman. They are 5-point favorites against Alabama in the latest Championship Week college football odds from SportsLine consensus. Which team should you back with your Championship Week college football bets?
There are eight other conference title games on Saturday during the Championship Week college football schedule, along with a pair of Week 14 games on Friday night. No. 6 Oregon (-9.5) needs a win over No. 4 Washington in Friday’s Pac-12 title game to keep its CFP hopes alive. Before locking in any Championship Week college football picks on those games or others, be sure to see the latest college football predictions from SportsLine’s proven model.
The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every FBS college football game 10,000 times. Since its inception, it has generated a strong profit of well over $2,000 for $100 players on its top-rated college football picks against the spread. It finished the 2023 regular season a profitable 13-9 on top-rated spread picks. Anyone who has followed it has seen huge returns.
Now, it has turned its attention to the latest college football odds for Championship Week and locked in picks for every FBS matchup. Head here to see every pick.
Top college football predictions for Championship Week One of the college football picks the model is high on during Championship Week: No. 5 Florida State (-3) remains unbeaten with a convincing win over No. 10 Louisville in the ACC Championship on Saturday night (8 p.m. ET). The Seminoles are without star quarterback Jordan Travis (leg) for the rest of the season, but they overcame his absence in a 24-15 win at Florida last week. They trailed the Gators 12-0 in the second quarter before going on a 14-0 run to get back in the game.
Backup quarterback Tate Rodemaker did not post flashy numbers, but junior running back Trey Benson stepped up with 95 rushing yards and three touchdowns. The Seminoles have not allowed more than 20 points in a game since September, so that will be a huge hurdle for Louisville to overcome. The Cardinals are coming off their second loss of the season, and SportsLine’s model has Florida State covering in well over 50% of simulations.
Another prediction: No. 17 Iowa (+23) easily stays within the spread against No. 3 Michigan in the Big Ten title game on Saturday in an 8 p.m. ET kickoff. The Hawkeyes have won seven of their last eight games, with the lone loss coming by just two points against Minnesota in October. They extended their winning streak to four games with a 13-10 win at Nebraska last Friday, giving them an extra day to rest before the conference championship.
Meanwhile, Michigan is coming off a battle against then-No. 2 Ohio State in an emotional rivalry game, needing to withstand a late rally from the Buckeyes. The Wolverines have not scored more than 31 points in three straight games, and they are facing one of the premier defenses in college football on Saturday. The model expects this to a result in a low-scoring game that features Iowa covering the spread well over 60% of the time. See which other teams the model likes here.
How to make college football picks for Championship Week The model has also made the call on who wins and covers in every other FBS matchup in Week 14, and it’s calling for several teams to win by double digits. You can only get every pick for every game at SportsLine.
So what college football picks can you make with confidence, and which teams win by double digits? Check out the latest college football odds below, then visit SportsLine to see which teams win and cover the spread, all from a proven computer model that has returned well over $2,000 in profit since its inception, and find out.
College football odds for Championship Week See full Championship Week college football picks, odds, predictions here.
Friday, Dec. 1
2023 Conference USA Championship Game: New Mexico State at Liberty (-10.5, 54)
2023 Pac-12 Championship Game: Oregon vs. Washington (+9.5, 67)
Saturday, Dec 2
2023 MAC Championship Game: Miami (OH) vs. Toledo (-8, 46)
2023 Big 12 Championship Game: Oklahoma State vs. Texas (-14, 55)
2023 Mountain West Championship Game: Boise State at UNLV (+3, 58.5)
2023 SEC Championship Game: Georgia vs. Alabama (+5, 55.5)
2023 AAC Championship Game: SMU at Tulane (-4, 50.5)
2023 Sun Belt Championship Game: Appalachian State at Troy (-6.5, 51.5)
2023 ACC Championship Game: Louisville vs. Florida State (-3.5, 51)
2023 Big Ten Championship Game: Michigan vs. Iowa (+23, 35.5)
