The Cheat SheetBy Alex Putterman on

The Super Bowl is five days away, which means the next 120 hours or so of sports news will be all about the Patriots and Falcons.

But on Monday, we took one final deep breath before Super Bowl mania. In the NBA, the Cavs played the Mavs, who produced an unexpected hero. Meanwhile the St. Louis Cardinals got what was coming to them and sports and politics continued to collide.

Welcome to The Cheat Sheet.

LeBron and the Cavs return to their losing ways

DALLAS, TX - JANUARY 30: Kyrie Irving #2 of the Cleveland Cavaliers dribbles the ball against Yogi Ferrell #11 of the Dallas Mavericks in the first half at American Airlines Center on January 30, 2017 in Dallas, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
DALLAS, TX – JANUARY 30: Kyrie Irving #2 of the Cleveland Cavaliers dribbles the ball against Yogi Ferrell #11 of the Dallas Mavericks in the first half at American Airlines Center on January 30, 2017 in Dallas, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

After a brief two-game winning streak, the Cleveland Cavaliers were back to their losing ways Monday, falling to the Mavericks 104-97.

Now, maybe we shouldn’t overreact to a road loss in January on the second leg of a back-to-back, but there’s not much else going on in sports until Sunday, so we’re going to overreact to it anyway.

LeBron James said last week that the Cavs needed a playmaker, but maybe they just should have signed Yogi Ferrell. The rookie out of Indiana, signed by the Mavericks to a 10-day contract, put up 19 points, five rebounds, three assists and four steels Monday to topple King James and company.

The Mavericks were 16-30 when they signed Ferrell, who stands six feet tall on his tipey toes, was waived by Brooklyn earlier this season and until this week had played only 151 minutes in his career. Since then, they’re 2-0, with wins over the Spurs and Cavs.

Mavs coach Rick Carlisle, perhaps buying into The Yogi Effect and perhaps not, offered this evaluation of his team:

As for the Cavs, they’ve now lost seven of their last 11 games. Odds are they’ll figure things out by the playoffs and cruise to the Eastern Conference Finals and likely beyond. But there might be some bickering before then.

The Cardinals face major penalties as a result of hacking Astros

ST. LOUIS - OCTOBER 19: Stadium workers cover home plate with a tarp as security keeps a close eye on fans remaining in the stands following the St. Louis Cardinals 5-1 loss the Houston Astros during Game Six of the National League Championship Series October 19, 2005 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri. With the win the Astros won the series 4-2 and advanced to the World Series. The game was the last to be played in the 40 year history of Busch Stadium. A new Busch Stadium (under construction) will be the new home of the Cardinals starting with the opening of the 2006 MLB regular season. (Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images)
ST. LOUIS – OCTOBER 19: Stadium workers cover home plate with a tarp as security keeps a close eye on fans remaining in the stands following the St. Louis Cardinals 5-1 loss the Houston Astros during Game Six of the National League Championship Series October 19, 2005 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri. With the win the Astros won the series 4-2 and advanced to the World Series. The game was the last to be played in the 40 year history of Busch Stadium. A new Busch Stadium (under construction) will be the new home of the Cardinals starting with the opening of the 2006 MLB regular season. (Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images)

The St. Louis Cardinals, baseball’s model organization (hahaha), were hit with some substantial sanctions Monday as punishment for hacking the Houston Astros’ database in an incident that was first reported in 2015.

The Cardinals will give the Astros their top two picks in the 2017 MLB Draft, plus $2 million.

That sounds like a pretty hefty penalty, but ESPN’s Buster Olney reports that people in baseball are unimpressed.

Don’t worry too much about lack of deterrence, though. The perpetrator of the hacks, former scouting director Chris Correa, is serving 48 months in prison and is permanently ineligible for involvement in baseball.

So why did Correa feel the need to break into the Astros’ systems? Reportedly because he was bitter over Houston’s appearance on a Sports Illustrated cover. Hope that was worth it, buddy.

Quick hits:

– In news that will surprise no one, polling shows the Patriots are the NFL’s most hated team. Polling also shows that America expects them to win the Super Bowl.

– Art Modell reportedly once warned Robert Kraft against hiring Bill Belichick. Kraft is probably glad he did not listen.

– In other Kraft news, the Patriots’ owner doesn’t think his relationship with Roger Goodell will ever be the same.

– Billionaire casino mogul Sheldon Adelson has pulled out of a deal to build the Oakland Raiders a new stadium.

– Victor Cruz says the Giants receivers’ trip to Miami was not worth the fuss it caused. Ya think?

– The NFL Players Association may cut ties with Uber in a pretty bold expression of solidarity with those who oppose Donald Trump’s immigration executive order and Uber’s response to it.

– The immigration order could affect the United States’ ability to host the Olympics and other major international tournaments.

– And Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said of the order: “I think it’s shocking. It’s a horrible idea.”

– Dale Earnhardt Jr. is also not onboard with Trump’s latest.

– Tom Brady, any thoughts? Nah.

– Northwestern’s basketball team is ranked for the first time since 2009, and the AP didn’t even have a logo handy.

– The Barclays Center is kicking out the New York Islanders. The team has limited options of where to go now, given that it kind of has to be on an island.

– Former NBA player Stephen Jackson admitted he sometimes smoked weed before games. That’s not exactly surprising, but his description of it is pretty amusing.

– Formerly clean-shaven Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels apparently looks like this now. This is what we pay attention to in the baseball offseason.

– Lane Kiffin is super-duper pumped for Florida Atlantic football. OK yeah maybe we oversold that.

https://twitter.com/ericvdunn/status/826183086606077952

– Looking for a drinking game to play during the Super Bowl? We’ve got you.

One last moment of procrastination

One last shoutout to Yogi Ferrell.

About Alex Putterman

Alex is a writer and editor for The Comeback and Awful Announcing. He has written for The Atlantic, VICE Sports, MLB.com, SI.com and more. He is a proud alum of Northwestern University and The Daily Northwestern. You can find him on Twitter @AlexPutterman.

View all posts by Alex Putterman