NBA Week 15 Recap, 2020 Australian Open Review, Super Bowl 54, Premier League Week 25

Highlighted by a football game at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, this past week in sports is one to remember! The next great U.S. women’s tennis player may have emerged, Tottenham is finally back on track, and 3 of the best college basketball teams in one of the top conferences failed big time. Check out what happened this past week in sports!

Weekly Sports Update – February 3rd Edition

NBA: Teams Honor Kobe, Bucks Continue Roll

This past week, NBA teams honored the great Kobe Bryant. Some teams took 8-second half-court violations. Others took 24-second shot clock violations. The entire league, the entire world, did what they could to pay their respects to one of basketball’s greats. Kobe will be missed.

On the court, many players and teams decided to honor Kobe by playing lights out. Damian Lillard dropped 48 on Kobe’s team, the Lakers, in a Portland win. Milwaukee decided to keep beating their opponents. The Bucks are 42-7 straight up. That’s downright scary. Milwaukee is running away with the top record in the NBA.

Although the Bucks look strong, we shouldn’t jump on them against the spread. While Milwaukee has a ridiculous SU record, their ATS record isn’t that great. The team that Giannis plays for is just 27-22 ATS. They’re 2-3 ATS in their last 5.

Milwaukee is following the same pattern that other dominant teams follow. For years, the NFL’s New England Patriots  won on the moneyline. They failed against the spread. Same goes for the Golden State Warriors the year after their first NBA Championship.

Good teams face inflated spreads. Milwaukee is a great team. They’re going to continue to face inflated spreads for the rest of this season.

Djokovic & Kenin Win Aussie Open Titles

Novak Djokovic won his eighth Australian Open title by beating Dominic Thiem. It wasn’t a slam dunk for one of the greatest men’s tennis players of all time. After winning the first set 6-4, Djokovic lost the next two sets. Thiem was on a roll after winning the second set 6-4 and the third set 6-2.

But Djokovic bounced back with 6-3 fourth set and 6-4 fifth set wins. Djokovic proved that he remains the best in the world. Earlier in the tournament, he beat Roger Federer. Thiem beat Rafael Nadal. Can Djokovic keep up his dominance? Why not? No men’s player emerged to challenge him the way that a player emerged on the women’s side.

That player is Sofia Kenin. The 21-year-old American beat 2-time major championship winner Garbine Muguruza 4-6, 6-2, 6-2. Kenin knocked out Cori Gauff in Round 4. She beat 1-seed Ashleigh Barty 7-6 (8-6), 7-5 in the semifinals.

2020 could be Sofia’s year. She’s started it out like gangbusters. Consistency has been a problem for young players. Noami Osaka’s form fell off in 2019. Gauff has yet to take the next step. If Kenin can maintain consistency throughout the year, she could be the sport’s next great player.  

College Basketball: 3 Top Big East Teams Lose at Home

In college basketball, an anomaly happened on Saturday. 3 of the top Big East hoops teams lost on their home court. Creighton beat Villanova 76-61. Providence dropped Butler 65-61. Xavier sent Seton Hall out of their own building with a 74-62 loss.

All 3 home losers were favored to win. Not only that but all 3 were ranked while their opponents were unranked. Is that a sign that Nova, Butler, and Hall fans should be worried? Maybe. Year in and year out college basketball is the most parity filled sport in the United States.

Nobody really knows who will win the NCAA Men’s College Basketball Tournament. It’s February, which means we must start paying closer attention to the teams that can grab the top seeds for March Madness.

Villanova is 17-4. They could gain the top spot in the East. Based on what happened on Saturday, though, it’s hard to see them doing that. But, who knows? It’s not like any team has played like consistent ball this season.

Premier League: Tottenham Upsets Man City

Over the weekend, Manchester City’s disappointing English Premier League Season continued. Last year’s EPL winner lost to another disheartening team, Tottenham. The Hotspur beat Man City 2-0.

Tottenham has finally come together. A championship contender last season, Tottenham played badly up until the past couple of weeks. They’ve got 2 draws and 2 wins in their last 4. It’s not enough for Tottenham to have any shot at the EPL Championship. Liverpool won the title before 2020 started. But Tottenham could win the English FA Cup. They can also make noise in the Champions League where they’re 1-of-16 teams that have moved to the elimination rounds.

Barcelona and Real Madrid are a couple of other squads that have moved to the Champions League Round of 16. Real Madrid leads Barcelona by 3 points on the La Liga Standings. Real has played like one of the best teams in the world.

On Feb. 26, Real battles Man City in the Champions League. Manchester City has a chance to salvage something this soccer season while Real can continue to prove they made the right move by shipping Ronaldo to Juventus in 2018.

Super Bowl 54: Chiefs Best 49ers to Win Vince Lombardi Trophy

It took Patrick Mahomes 54 minutes but once he got going, man, he got it going! On Sunday, the 2018 NFL MVP led the Kansas City Chiefs to a 31-20 Super Bowl 54 win. How the Chiefs won had to impress even San Francisco 49er fans.

Down 20-10 with less than 7 minutes left in the game, Mahomes rallied the Chiefs by rushing for first downs, throwing pinpoint passes, and refusing to let his team lose. It was the fifth time Mahomes had rallied KC to a win in the second half of games this season.

As great as Mahomes was, though, the Chiefs would have lost if not for their defense. Defensive Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo dialed up blitz after blitz. The Chiefs more than ruffled 49ers’ quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo’s feathers. They forced the SF signal-caller into horrible decisions.

That’s what gave Mahomes the chance to rally the team. Spagnuolo’s decision to go aggressive is why Kansas City lifts the Vince Lombardi Trophy on Monday.

This week, odds will come out for Super Bowl 55. The Chiefs should be favored to repeat. But no team has repeated since the Patriots did it in 2003-2004. So, let the euphoria subside some before jumping on the Chiefs to break a 16-year streak.

Have a great week!

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