Preview, picks for tonight’s Notre Dame-Penn State Orange Bowl; Cavaliers beat Thunder in battle of NBA’s best

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🏀 Good morning to all, but especially to …

THE CLEVELAND CAVALIERS

In the battle of the NBA’s best teams, the Cavaliers kept their good times going, topping the Thunder, 129-122, in a back-and-forth affair that very much lived up to its historic hype. Never in the history of the league, had there been a game between teams entering with winning streaks of 15 (Thunder) and 10 (Cavaliers) games.

• Cleveland got double-digit points from seven players, led by Jarrett Allen‘s 25 points (as well as 11 rebounds, six assists and three steals). Cleveland also got 32 combined points (on 12 of 14 shooting) from Ty Jerome and Max Strus off the bench.
• Leading by two with two minutes left, Cleveland scored the final five points of the game, with Evan Mobley and Darius Garland delivering big buckets.
• Cleveland (32-4) is up to 11 straight wins after halting Oklahoma City’s (30-6) 15-game winning streak. These teams meet again one week from tonight in Oklahoma City. (And perhaps in the NBA Finals after that.)

I love watching these teams. The Cavaliers are what every team should aspire to be offensively, juggernauts featuring young players working together toward a common goal. They feature magnificent ball movement — they lead the league in assist-to-turnover ratio — but that’s because they have terrific off-ball movement: They also lead the league in points per possession on cuts. Mobley has made “the leap,” providing key balance to Garland and Donovan Mitchell‘s backcourt exploits.

The Thunder, meanwhile, boast the league’s best defense (not having Chet Holmgren or Alex Caruso certainly hurt Wednesday), and a supremely skilled scorer in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (31 points), who isn’t the most athletic guy ever but has outstanding footwork, pace and body control.

Long story short, this was an excellent basketball game. It may not feature the biggest markets or the biggest stars, but these are two excellent, excellent teams any basketball fan should love. Here are Sam Quinn’s takeaways.

👍 Honorable mentions

👎 Not so honorable mentions

🏈 Orange Bowl preview, picks for Notre Dame-Penn State

It’s here! The first College Football Playoff semifinal will take place tonight with (7) Notre Dame facing (6) Penn State in the Orange Bowl. Though both programs have storied pasts and aren’t far from one another, this is their first meeting since 2007.

We’ve already talked about why either of these teams could win it all, but to even get that opportunity, they have to win tonight. As such, Cameron Salerno broke down every key matchup and who has the edge. At quarterback, he likes Drew Allar over Riley Leonard, and regarding the guys who get after the quarterback, he says …

• Salerno: “The best player in this game — regardless of position — is Abdul Carter. While his game status is up in the air after leaving the game against Boise State due to an injury, he’s a true game-wrecker when he plays. With Carter missing most of the game against Boise State, Dani Dennis-Sutton stepped up and recorded 2.5 sacks. Notre Dame’s team leader in sacks (Rylie Mills) will miss the remainder of the season after suffering an injury against Indiana last month. Penn State has more depth and the best player in this group, giving them the advantage. Edge: Penn State“

Do those two key advantages mean Penn State is headed to the title game? Our expert picks are in, as is Tom Fornelli’s best bet.

Dennis Dodd has previewed all angles of the semifinals, and here’s his pick:

• Dodd: “Marcus Freeman has low-key developed into one of the best coaches in the country. That 12-game winning streak has resulted in the largest point differential (338 points) in program history. … Penn State has a better roster and more talent, but Notre Dame is on a roll. It’s been a while, but Irish magic will carry Notre Dame to a shot at the national championship. Pick: Notre Dame 26, Penn State 24“

🏈 NFL wild card weekend: Ranking quarterback matchups, most likely upsets

Wild card weekend is nearly here, and it’s an absolute dandy. There’s not a single dud on the schedule — a rarity considering more than a third of the NFL’s teams will be in action this weekend — and Vegas agrees: Four of the six games have a spread inside five points, and the other two are in the single digits.

A big part of that is high-level quarterback play all over the place. Cody Benjamin ranked all 14 starting quarterbacks this postseason, and for my money, I think 12 of these guys can be absolutely elite on the right day. Here’s the top five:

1. Patrick Mahomes
2. Lamar Jackson
3. Josh Allen
4. Jared Goff
5. Matthew Stafford

But according to Cody the best quarterback matchup of the weekend is between two guys outside the top five:

• Benjamin: “1. Jalen Hurts (Eagles) vs. Jordan Love (Packers) — Hurts and Love went head to head in an entertaining Week 1 showdown in Brazil, and now they’re faced with a do-or-die rematch and questions about their own physical readiness. Hurts hasn’t played since before Christmas due to a concussion, while Love lost feeling in his arm after taking a shot to the funny bone in Week 18. If they’re upright, they’ve both got tantalizing playoff runs under their belt.”

Love and the Packers, however, don’t top Jared Dubin’s rankings of teams most likely to pull an upset. That belongs to …

• Dubin: “1. Commanders (+141) at Buccaneers — Washington largely played just as well as Tampa during this season — if not better. The Buccaneers can score with anyone… but so can the Commies. The Tampa defense has let just about everybody move the ball at will, and the way Washington played over the second half of the season (i.e. once Jayden Daniels got his rib injury in the rearview mirror), that’s a dangerous way to live.”

Sports impact of Los Angeles wildfires

Sports are obviously the last thing on the minds of many people in Southern California as multiple fires rage across Los Angeles County. As of late Wednesday, five people are dead as a result of the fires, per the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, and thousands of buildings have been damaged — with thousands more in harm’s way. At least 70,000 residents were ordered to evacuate as of Wednesday morning. There were five separate named fires across the county Wednesday alone.

We are thinking of those impacted at this time. It’s an extremely sad and scary time filled with uncertainty for tens of thousands of people in the nation’s most populated county. Lives and livelihoods have been indelibly altered, if not destroyed. Here are some of the impacts the fires are having on sports:

• The NFL announced a contingency plan for the Vikings-Rams wild card game scheduled for Monday. The game will be moved to State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona — home of the Cardinals — if needed. Rams players sent their thoughts to victims and thanks to first responders.
• The Chargers donated $200,000 to relief efforts.
• Kawhi Leonard left the Clippers to be with family members who evacuated.
• JJ Redick said his family was forced to evacuate. The Lakers are scheduled to host the Hornets tonight.
• The NHL postponed last night’s Los Angeles Kings home game against the Flames.

📺 What we’re watching Thursday

🏀 No. 15 Oregon at Ohio State (M), 6 p.m. on BTN
🏀 Timberwolves at Magic, 7 p.m. on NBA TV
🏀 No. 14 Duke at No. 19 North Carolina (W), 7 p.m. on ACC Network
🏈 CFP semifinal — Capital One Orange Bowl: (7) Notre Dame vs. (6) Penn State, 7:30 p.m. on ESPN