One of the best dunk contests we’ve ever seen, a terrific three-point contest, a laughably high-scoring All-Star Game, a new Game of Thrones season six teaser, and a yellow lab carrying its puppies in side pockets. We’ll cover that and much more here at the Tuesday Cheat Sheet…
An A+ dunk contest (finally) headlined NBA All-Star Weekend
Through about 20 minutes of the 2016 NBA Slam Dunk Contest on Saturday night, many of us were mocking what appeared to be another fairly lame, overdone production that dragged on without many great dunks.
And then Aaron Gordon and Zach LaVine happened.
Let’s slow it down. pic.twitter.com/4lZ6iFp1wC
— Hardwood Paroxysm (@HPbasketball) February 14, 2016
WHAT. A. SHOW! https://t.co/gg72ntH55J — Michael Lee (@MrMichaelLee) February 14, 2016
Just absurd. LaVine came out the winner, although that’s certainly debatable… Gordon put together two of the best dunks we’ve ever seen in the contest. This one should’ve been a tie really, with both contestants having two all-time awesome nights.
If you want to see where those stack up with some other great dunks from the contest over the years, someone has made a 52-minute compilation featuring every perfect score in dunk history. This would be a good way to spend your lunch break.
The three-point contest on Saturday night was also a blast, with the “Splash Brothers” Steph Curry and Klay Thompson dueling it out. Steph put up a fantastic 23-point final round, only to be topped by Klay’s 27 points.
As for the actual All-Star Game on Sunday, well, it was a lot of scoring… and even (much) less defense than the usual All-Star Game (which is saying a lot). The Western Conference won 196-173, in the highest-scoring All-Star Game ever.
The game ended with Steph Curry making a halfcourt shot that the TNT cameras missed, and Kobe Bryant leaving his final All-Star Game to an awesome ovation from fans and players alike at Air Canada Centre.
Despite being on the losing team (as though it matters), Paul George came away with the MVP after scoring 41 points.
Quick Hits
– The biggest NFL-related story to come out since the Super Bowl had to do with Peyton Manning, and not at all about his NFL future. In a story involving extremely disturbing details, Manning has been cited in a University of Tennessee sexual assault lawsuit.
– Peyton Manning controversy shows complexities, inconsistencies of modern sports, media, and culture.
– And the award for dumbest player (formerly) in MLB goes to… Mets pitcher Jenrry Mejia. Mejia became the first player ever banned by MLB for PEDs, after testing positives for PEDs a third time.
– It appears that Chris Bosh is dealing with blood clots, again. This really sucks.
– More sad stuff: Joe Mauer says multiple concussions affected his hitting.
– 7 of the 11 longest consecutive NCAA Tournament streaks are in major jeopardy.
– Duke’s Grayson Allen hit a buzzer-beater to take down No. 7 Virginia.
– The latest AP top-25 poll, which keeps changing like crazy. Saturday was a great example of how the season is going (two more top-25 teams would lose after this tweet… granted one of them was playing a higher-ranked team):
Lost today No. 2 Maryland No. 3 Oklahoma No. 7 Virginia No. 11 Oregon No. 13 Louisville No. 15 Texas A&M No. 18 Purdue No. 25 Wichita State
— The Comeback (@comeback_sports) February 14, 2016
– Minnesota’s Rachel Banham had 35 points, with three of them coming on this buzzer-beating shot to lift the Golden Gophers over the Iowa Hawkeyes:
Rachel Banham scored 35 points for @GopherWBB tonight & none were bigger than the final three at the buzzer. https://t.co/Q4IpySC1VO — Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) February 16, 2016
– ECHL goalie makes overtime save that will leave you in shock.
– Soccer player kills referee in shooting rampage after receiving red card in Argentina.
– White Sox prospect accidentally rips a line drive right into his cell phone.
– Dallas Mavericks to hold special redhead night. This is… interesting.
– JIMMER won by the D-League All-Star Game MVP.
– Recapping Bill Murray’s busy weekend at Pebble Beach.
– The winners and losers of the 2016 MLB offseason.
– The best transactions of the 2016 MLB offseason.
– Excellent stuff from Joe Lucia: Tanking in baseball isn’t a problem and it cannot be “fixed”.
– Fun read from Dan Levy and Ian Casselberry, and one you will probably have some disagreement on: Better Call Saul and the 10 best spinoffs in TV history.
– Deadpool slices up superhero tropes with relish, joking the entire way.
– Somehow, severed feet continue to show up on pacific northwest shores.
– Aerial footage of thousands of sharks just chilling off the Florida coast.
– The Punisher and Daredevil duke it out in new Daredevil season two trailer.
– Game of Thrones season six teaser. We’re just 68 days from the premiere!
One last breath of gratuitous procrastination
Via Reddit… a yellow lab went for a walk on the town, carrying its two puppies in some handy side pockets. This is peak adorable:
